Monday, December 1, 2008

Is Fat Loss 4 Idiots an Effective Diet Plan?

By Cristina Conley

One of the hot diets out on the market is Fat Loss 4 Idiots, and it's surrounded by an immense amount of hype, but in actuality, this diet (not unlike most diets) is not the panacea that it's advertised to be, but it is an attractive diet for the right type of dieter.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots claims to be the only diet available that will help you lose 9 pounds every 11 days. To clarify: that's not 9 pounds in 11 days, that's 9 pounds each 11-day period while on the diet. Obviously, this is a significant reason to be wary of this diet plan, or at least skeptical that its claims might be exaggerated, even for a fast weight loss diet!

When you examine the diet, you begin to understand that this claim is moderated due to the nature of the diet. Fat Loss 4 Idiot espouses "off" days, where you are free to eat whatever you desire. Each two-week period, you are to take three of these off days.

We all know that during the first four to five days on a diet, the pounds glide off easily, resulting from cleansing your colon and eliminating water weight. On the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet then, you experience this initial drop during each 2-week period.

So this might look a little like this: begin the diet and drop 9 pounds in 11 days, and gain 3 back during the next 3 days; lose 9 pounds during the second period and gain 3 back during the off days. The final result is indeed 9 pounds lost every 11 days, but a total weight loss of only 6 pounds every two weeks. Of course, even those figures would be very difficult to maintain over the long term, but it does illustrate how the diet creators approach weight loss.

A very positive part of this plan is the off days. During each two week period, you spend 11 days on the diet and 3 days off the diet. This is an effective, but little-used approach, and is one that is shared by another innovative diet, the Cheat to Lose Diet. The principle is that you keep your body from entering starvation or conservation mode with the off days, and because you can satisfy your cravings as often as every two weeks, the diet is easier to stick to than other fast weight lose diets over the long-term.

The diet is also very simple for nearly anyone to use because it spends no time, and I mean absolutely none, educating you about how the diet works. It simply tells you what to eat. On the plus side, this is the fastest, brain-dead-simple way to start a diet; but it is far from perfect for those dieters who are interested in the facts behind why a diet works the way it does. If you are an information consumer, this do-what-I-say approach can grow tired quickly.

A final point to note about the diet is the simplicity of it. It's fast and easy to begin, and it's a low-maintenance plan because Fat Loss 4 Idiots doesn't place much emphasis on carbohydrate and calorie counting or even portion size; instead, the program frequently encourages you to "eat short of being full."

The major difference between the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet plan and other weight loss programs is that the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet formula is specifically designed to keep your body guessing so it never thinks it's starving.

You should also note that this is a diet, plain and simple. It's not a weight loss plan and there is no exercise element involved. If your goal is fast weight loss, you are likely aware that you will need to add an exercise component like strength training and intervals to your complete plan.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots, like any other diet, works only if you work it. But Fat Loss 4 Idiots is simpler to work due to its low amount of required maintenance, regular off days, and easy plans. But you will be wise to avoid this diet if you want to see the details under the surface. Personally, I like facts, and I need facts to stick with a plan. If you're similar, you would be wise to consider another diet plan.

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