Hunger Games

user-pic
Vote 0 Votes

grapfruit.jpg
More and more of Americans are becoming conscious of what they put into their body, and as a result, how their bodies look and react to these food intake changes. Often, quick fad diets are the most popular way to shed 10-20 pounds, but are these really the changes the body wants or needs? The answer is usually no.

A few examples of popular fad diets include the master cleanser, where a person is limited to a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 15 days. Sounds great, right? Well at the end of the day you can look forward to a warm glass of salt water, in order to trigger bowel movements. Lovely. Another popular diet is the cabbage soup diet-- an age old diet started in the 50's in which you can eat as much cabbage soup as you want, and slowly new foods are reintroduced depending on which day you are on the plan. The grapefruit diet is quite possibly the easiest to follow, by eating a grapefruit with every meal, especially protein, in order to burn as much fat as possible. The problem? You're only allotted 1,000 calories a day. It's recommended that adult females consume at least 1,200 calories a day, so this diet could get pretty messy fast. Watch out for those hunger pains. As described in the book, most of these diets make extraordinary claims, prompting "revolutionary studies" and promoting ambiguous results.

What do all of these diets have in common? Plain and simple; deprivation. Sure, you are allowing some nutrients into the body, but for the most part these "diets" should be looked at as cleanses and cleanses only. Too much of the nutrient depletion could cause your body to go into "melt-down" mode, where each calorie consumed is stored as fat, as opposed to muscle. This happens because of the calorie depletion; the body does not know when it will get it's next meal, it's basically starving itself, so all of the energy consumed is stored as fat, just in case. Do your body a favor and treat it right by following a life-long diet, rich with fruits, leafy green veggies, lean protein, low-fat dairy, and whole grains...and say goodbye to that cayenne pepper.

1 TrackBack

TrackBack URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/184499

hcg diet effectiveness from hcg diet effectiveness on November 1, 2012 4:12 AM

Hunger Games - Psychology 1001 Sections 10-11 Spring 2012 Read More

15 Comments

| Leave a comment

I've seen my mom try the HCG diet, the medifast diet along with a few others, and I think people need to realize that you can't lose weight that fast, at least in a healthy way. People often lose weight really fast, only to gain it all back, plus more. This is because our bodies are not made to lose weight like that, they strive to keep as much nutrition is us as possible. I agree with you that people mainly need to change their life-long diets, and not focus on the short term. People need to learn to be healthy.

Your title brought me in right away :). Some of the diets out there are completely outrageous. I think if people just exercise and eat healthy they can actually get at a healthy weight instead of starving themselves.

Thank you for posting this. I hate that some magazines and companies actually encourage starving your self! A good diet is one in which you aren't feeling hungry every minute of the day. There are many ways that just include self-discipline and normal food to control your weight...especially if you start thinking about it while you are young.

Thank you for posting this. I totally agree with you 100%. I have always struggled with these fad diets. Growing up I was afraid of my own body. I am in no way overweight. In fact my BMI ranges in normal to below-normal range but still I tried every single diet (and many more), that you have mentioned in your blog. I would limit myself to 600 calories a day and deprive my body of all the nutrition it needed for 20 days (or more) straight. As a result I would shed 10 pounds really fast. But what I didn't realize was that all this weight was either from dehydration or lost muscle weight. And since I would deprive myself from nutrition and just about anything else I would over eat later and gain all that lost weight back. However, recently I have realized that there is no such thing as a diet, but it is a lifestyle change. You need to eat everything, but in moderation, even fats are good, but to an extent. Working out and eating in moderation is the way to go, not fad diets. I have never felt so satisfied with my body and health.

I also agree with you. Diets now days are mostly unhealthy and are pointing people to lose weight in the wrong ways. Most times they do not even include required exercise. Furthermore, it is not healthy to lose a lot of weight fast - losing one pound a week is the preferred way to lose weight without your body regaining those previously lost pounds.

Very interesting blog post! I myself have never tried any of these ridiculous diets, but have had many friends who have gone on diets that in result deprive themselves. I find it interesting how you pointed out that all of the energy that is consumed is stored as fat.

I also agree with you. I see people I know trying out these fad diets to lose weight fast and it rarely ever works. What I think is interesting is that people try all these diets and rarely stop to think about what it is actually doing to their body. Being thin doesn't necessarily mean you are healthy and that is a concept a lot of people need to understand. My sister lost a lot of weight a couple years ago by simply changing how much she ate in one sitting and added in foods that were beneficial to her body. She would eat Special K everyday for a meal and work out at least every other day. The results lead her to be a lot thinner, but more importantly a lot healthier. Her life style changes still continue today and she has stayed healthy not by a fad diet, but by changing her life style.

This title caught my eye so I read it. This is a more real hunger game. I really found the article interesting and I think most people know that these diets don't work as a life choice, but they read something new and see results in the advertisement so they try it. I also found it interesting that you said that all of the energy that is consumed on these fad diets are stored as fat.

Your title caught my attention immediately. I agree that diets are often used improperly and lead to many different bodily issues. It is very unhealthy to deprive the human body of nutrients it needs, instead of dieting to temporarily lose weight people need to simply hit up the gym and get a little bit of exercise to lose the weight they want lose.

Fantastic post! I have only one thing to add (and many people have already mentioned it) - EXERCISE! I just do not understand how people continue to think that they can put themselves on ridiculous detox diets and many of the other popular diets out in the world and expect to lose weight (and keep it off) without exercising. Depending on your current food intake (if it's reasonably healthy and around what should be your personal daily calorie intake), you shouldn't need to go on a crazy diet. A healthy diet AND exercise will do the trick as long as you don't have a legitimate health problem that is preventing your weight loss.
PUT IN A LITTLE LEG WORK AND GET OUTSIDE - you don't need a gym membership to get in shape!

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/home.asp
http://www.igougo.com/attractions-l582-c6-Minneapolis_Outdoor_Activities.html

I loved this post!! I have many friends who are worried about their weight and have numerous times tried fad diets such as these, obviously with no success. As a health food fanatic I try to explain to them that a "diet" should not last 2 weeks but instead should be a lifelong change. Although it's difficult and I'm still not quite there it will be well worth it in the long run. I hope that pop culture stops endorsing these fasts and starts promoting healthy living

I think it will be very interesting to see the effects diets like this have on people later on in life. Sadly, I think in the future we will see an increase in health issues directly related to deprivation of food.

Great blog post! I agree with you on this topic. Not only do these fad diets usually not work, but they are unhealthy and unpleasant to be on. I think that more people should focus on exercising rather than reducing calorie intake in order to lose weight. I think that exercising allows you to eat a well-balanced meal and periodically over-indulge without packing on the weight. I regularly lift weights and I know that when I have lifted 2 or 3 days in a row I can eat a lot more food without putting on weight. I think that more focus should be shifted towards getting adequate exercise and less emphasis should be put on how we look and how many calories we are eating.

Excellent blog post it is really interesting on a topic that is in great debate today. I feel that these fad diets might help you shed weight but they will actually make you more unhealthy. These fad diets do not allow people to get enough of the vitamins and minerals you need to live a healthy lifestyle. More emphasis should be put on getting exercise instead of the amount you eat.

The title bring me in. Many of my friends told me to see that movie, although I didn't in the end. I am always concerning about my weight. I think if you have a healthy diets, you will have a satisfied weight instead of starving youself. Also doing exercise is an important factor.

Leave a comment

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by pale0084 published on April 4, 2012 8:34 AM.

Parenting Styles was the previous entry in this blog.

Hypocrite is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.