Close Menu
Million Dollar Baby Fitness
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Friday, May 9
    • Competitor Login
    • Shop
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) YouTube
    Million Dollar Baby Fitness
    • Home
    • About Us
      • About Gloria
      • About Fabian
      • Contributing Authors
        • Layne Norton Posts
        • Alan Aragon Posts
        • Nick Tumminello Posts
    • Blog
      • Training
        • Resistance Training
        • Cardio/Conditioning
      • Nutrition
      • Competing
      • Mindset
        • Inspirational Stories
        • Motivational Photos & Pics
        • Motivational Videos
      • Other Topics
        • General
        • Weight Loss
        • Physique
        • Myths & Scams
        • Rants
        • Beauty
      • Video Posts
    • Gallery
      • Fitness Celebrities
      • Figure Contests
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2013
        • 2012
      • 2012 Oxygen Mag Covergirl Competition
      • Fitness Photos
      • Non-Fitness Photos
    • Tools
      • BMI Calculator
      • Body Fat Percentage Calculator
      • Calorie Burn Calculator
      • Calorie Burn Chart
      • Ideal Weight Calculator
      • Personal BMR Calculator
      • Training Zone Calculator
    • Shop
    Million Dollar Baby Fitness
    Home»Weight Loss»The Summer Crash Dieting Curse
    Weight Loss

    The Summer Crash Dieting Curse

    GloriaBy Gloria4 March, 20125 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Summer Dieting
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Now that summer has just begun again in the US, many women’s focus has suddenly shifted to trying to look good for the beach. Traditionally, this is the time of the year when diets and weight loss plans are put into action, in the hope of losing those extra kilos that inevitably went on over the winter.

    Now of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose a few kilos of body fat. The problem however, is that most women tend to leave things until summer actually arrives, and then expect to get into shape for their bikini in no time at all.

    This is where the trouble starts.

    A realistic goal is to lose about 0.5 to 1 kilo of body fat per week. That’s with a sensible, calorie-controlled diet, cardio exercise, and resistance exercise – in other words, a genuine, effective weight loss plan. In their effort to shortcut the process however, women instead tend to go for crash diets and/or programs that promise unrealistic results in just a few weeks.

    Some months ago, just before our (Australia’s) Summer (interesting timing) I saw an ad on the TV for a very well-known Australian weight loss program that’s available both online and in Australian retail book stores. The creator of the product claimed in the ad that 800 customers of his product were surveyed, and were found to have lost an average of 6kg in the first week!

    This of course is an absolutely absurd claim, especially for an average value over a large group of people. For this to be true, you would expect that a number of individuals in the group would have lost 10kg or more in the first week.

    Yeah, right!

    Even if it were true however, only a small percentage of this figure would actually be fat loss. The majority of the weight loss would be due to water loss, muscle loss (which is extremely bad if your goal is to lose fat permanently) and a reduction of undigested food in the digestive system.

    One of the most damaging aspects of ads such as these is that they condition women to believe that they can in fact lose excess body fat unrealistically quickly. If you had put on say 5 or 6 kilos over winter, for example, and you saw this ad on TV, you would naturally think that all your problems were over – 6 months of bad habits and overeating could easily be reversed in just one week!

    But if it were really that simple, how is it that the Western world is in the middle of an obesity epidemic?

    The fact is, it isn’t that simple.

    While it is possible to lose several kilograms of weight in a week, it isn’t possible to lose several kilograms of body fat in a week. And that’s the only type of weight loss that counts. Everything else isn’t real, and it isn’t sustainable.

    Crash diets and weight loss programs that allow you to lose weight rapidly do so by causing you to lose both body fat and muscle, rather than just body fat alone. This fools you with impressive numbers when you step on the scale, especially over the first few weeks, but they keep a hidden secret from you.

    And that secret is that whenever you’re on a weight loss program and you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down – which means that your weight loss slows down as well. Left to continue, you’ll gradually lose less and less weight each week until your weight loss stalls altogether. This is commonly known as weight loss plateau, or dieter’s plateau.

    At that point, with even a slight increase in your calorie intake you’ll gain the weight back quite quickly. In fact you’ll often gain more weight than you lost in the first place.

    This is why losing muscle as part of your weight loss may seem impressive in the first few weeks in terms of the amount of weight you can lose, but doesn’t allow you to sustain that loss. It’s therefore only a very short-term solution, and usually leaves you with an even bigger problem than you had when you first started.

    A genuine weight loss program, on the other hand, will include strategies and appropriate exercise (resistance training) to prevent you from losing any muscle. This will ensure that most, if not all, of your weight loss is purely from body fat. And that’s the goal of any genuine, effective weight loss plan.

    On a real weight loss program your weight loss will be limited to about 0.5 to 1 kg per week, but the benefit is that it will continue each week without stalling, and your body won’t have a tendency to put the weight back on in the future.

    The best and most sensible approach then to looking great in your bikini next summer is to understand that to lose weight the correct way, you won’t be losing 2, 3 or more kilos of weight each week. You’ll need to prepare well ahead of time therefore, and not wait until it’s too late.

    Forget about crash dieting and the rapid weight loss myth. By falling for these traps you’ll only succeed in perpetuating the cycle of weight loss and weight gain each year, which will pretty much guarantee that you’ll be facing exactly the same problem next summer.

    Wouldn’t it be much better to do the job once and do it properly?

    Imagine, next year you could be the first one to the beach in your new bikini, rather than still being at home during the Summer, starving yourself and once again stressing over your belly fat.

    Enjoy our articles?

    Sign up to get the latest updates!


    Your email address will be totally secure. We hate spam as much as you do, and we will NEVER pass your details on to anyone else.

    dieting fat loss
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleThe Weight Loss & Fitness Testimonial Scam
    Next Article What’s Your Fuel Economy?
    Gloria
    • Facebook
    • Instagram

    Gloria Kaneko is a lifetime 100% natural IFBB Figure athlete, certified gym instructor and personal trainer, and fitness model. She has also studied clinical psychology, is an NLP Master Practitioner, and has several certifications in Hypnotherapy and the Silva Method. Gloria is a co-owner and co-founder of Million Dollar Baby Fitness.

    Related Posts

    The 2 Biggest Misunderstandings About Good Foods and Bad Foods

    16 November, 2017

    Whey Protein – What it Can and Can’t Do For You

    22 September, 2017

    The 5 Biggest Health and Fitness Lies You’ll Come Across

    10 September, 2017

    10 Comments

    1. Brenda on 4 March, 2012 1:52 pm

      This is a really awesome post. Seems like you’ve been posting for a while, if not, keep it up because this is fantastic stuff.

      Reply
      • Gloria on 4 March, 2012 10:22 pm

        Thanks Brenda! 🙂

        Reply
    2. karen millen on 5 March, 2012 6:19 am

      Thank you for your information.

      Reply
    3. Tamara on 7 March, 2012 11:12 pm

      Inspirtaional Read and very helpful. Your blog always helps me. Regular reader of your blog. Thanks for the posting all the good reads.

      Reply
    4. James Hamilton on 8 March, 2012 8:24 am

      It looks like you spend a lot of effort and time on your blog. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new posts (SOON PLEASE!). Keep up the good work!

      Reply
    5. Jessica on 15 March, 2012 7:47 am

      Good post. Do you have a Twitter?

      Reply
      • Gloria on 18 March, 2012 10:23 am

        Yes I do Jessica, it’s http://www.twitter.com/gloriakaneko

        Reply
    6. Sammy on 4 April, 2012 9:54 am

      It makes me happy that well-informed people talk about this topic for once.

      Reply
    7. Jessica on 12 April, 2012 11:57 am

      Thanks for sharing

      Reply
    8. Myong Cudan on 24 October, 2012 9:35 pm

      Nice post!

      Reply
    Reply To karen millen Cancel Reply

    Free E-Books!

    21 Signs That You Need to Fire Your Coach or Trainer

    For gym-goers - from casuals, to fitness models, to competition athletes
    (Updated 2021 Edition)

    The Essential Exercise Handbook

    How to Go From Couch Potato to Workout Warrior the RIGHT Way

    Your email address will be totally secure. We will NEVER pass your details on to anyone else.

    Tags
    abs (6) athletes (13) attitude (52) beliefs (9) body composition (6) carbohydrates (15) cellulite (2) cheat meals (4) clean eating (3) dietary fat (8) dietary fiber (1) dieting (18) false advertising (6) fat loss (42) fitness lifestyle (31) flexible dieting (1) foods (11) Gloria Kaneko (17) glycemic index (8) goals (16) gym life (26) hiit (12) leg/glute training (6) mental conditioning (6) mental programming (14) mental toughness (12) metabolic damage (8) metabolism (18) muscle building (4) never quit (13) obesity (1) overcoming obstacles (17) protein (9) role models (3) self-motivation (12) supplements (4) support network (5) training equipment (9) training technique (24) training zones (6) wellbeing (15) workout program (10)
    stronger. braver. FIGHTER. Blog
    About
    About

    We inspire and empower women who want to start living life as it was meant to be, to rebuild themselves physically, mentally and emotionally through fitness.

    We're social, connect with us:

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    Latest Posts

    My 3-Year Fight for Life Against Depression

    15 May, 2021

    My Battle with Anxiety and Depression

    15 July, 2018

    Lunges – Glute Exercise or Quad Exercise?

    11 December, 2017
    Instagram
    Instagram post 18009479675728046 Instagram post 18009479675728046
    Instagram post 18059567051276635 Instagram post 18059567051276635
    Instagram post 18453463936073061 Instagram post 18453463936073061
    Instagram post 17910369705103630 Instagram post 17910369705103630
    Instagram post 17946327665977447 Instagram post 17946327665977447
    Instagram post 18267533020302422 Instagram post 18267533020302422
    Instagram post 18478591528069891 Instagram post 18478591528069891
    Instagram post 17857910472420250 Instagram post 17857910472420250
    Instagram post 17895170367101645 Instagram post 17895170367101645
    Instagram post 18058941676942161 Instagram post 18058941676942161
    Instagram post 18111254218489179 Instagram post 18111254218489179
    Instagram post 18042315179449402 Instagram post 18042315179449402
    © 2025 Million Dollar Baby Fitness
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.