This is an archived article and the information in the story may be outdated. Please check the time stamp on the story to see when it was updated last.
Figuring out how to help your metabolism run most efficiently can be challenging. Although you may think you’re doing everything right in order to lose weight, there are some surprising habits that can prevent rather than support weight loss. Specifically, following a strict restrictive diet can hurt your chances of seeing sustainable weight loss.
According to Alesa Taylor, RD, this type of dieting can prevent weight loss by slowing down your metabolism.
Chronic Dieting
Taylor explains the problem with chronic dieting, "Many evidence-based studies have shown that the biggest mistake a person can do that harms their metabolism is starting a strict diet."
She continues, " When on a strict diet, our metabolism slows to reserve energy because it thinks we are entering a time of famine."
Even when your diet ends, your metabolism may remain in this slower state.
"Once the diet has been completed and we return to our normal eating habits, the metabolism remains slow so our body can gain extra energy in preparation for the next 'famine' AKA restrictive diet that it encounters," Taylor tells SheFinds.
With that in mind, chronic dieting does not really work for weight loss.
Instead, focusing on the types of food you eat--and eliminating over processed foods--can be a more sustainable approach to long-term weight loss.
Working toward creating a more balanced lifestyle--including diet and exercise--is the key to long-term weight loss.
To make that easier, consulting a nutritionist on healthy diet changes is a great option, and definitely a smarter route than chronic and ineffective dieting.
