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Fads Can't Replace A Balanced Diet

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@tampatrib.com

Published: December 6, 2008

Fad diets do little to educate us nutritionally and do not address the underlying psychological reasons for weight gain.

The message is that we should avoid a particular food or food group to reach our goals. Instead, take an approach where food is not the enemy. It allows you to take charge of your eating habits in more sensible ways.

The guaranteed formula for body fat loss remains the same: Calorie intake must be less than caloric expenditure. Wherever calories are cut, be it from carbohydrates, from fat, from protein or a combination of all three, the result will be the same: weight loss. Or, you could choose to burn more calories each day with exercise and keep your diet at the same level.

The best scenario is to eat a well-balanced diet from all food groups, with the focus on health and portion control, and to increase physical activity. No matter what the choice, take a hard look at the lifestyle habits that continue to promote overeating and/or under-exercising.

If you are interested in a certain diet, investigate related studies beforehand. Find the statistics that tell you how much each participant weighed at the beginning, along with height, ratio of muscle to fat and activity levels.

Cox Newspapers

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