Weight Loss

In Australia 64% of men and 47% of women are overweight. Many of those overweight people are all too familiar with the yoyo syndrome. They go on low-carbohydrate diets, lose weight quickly but put it all back on again soon afterwards. Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton explained that with these crazy quick weight loss diets you lose mainly water and lean muscle tissue, not fat. When you start to eat normally again the water returns, but the lean tissue does not. Lean tissue burns kilojoules, so the more lean tissue you lose the harder it becomes to maintain a normal weight.

Low-carbohydrate diets

• don't work for permanent weight loss
• promote rapid weight loss instead of fat loss
• cause loss of fluid and lean muscle tissue
• result in a greater likelihood of putting the weight back on

Low-fat diets

• work well for long-term fat loss
• generate slow weight loss
• allow you to eat plenty of filling foods
• result in a greater likelihood of the weight staying off

Rosemary's advice

1. Only try to lose excess fat if you are genuinely too fat. Lots of women think they're too fat when they're not.

2. Cut back on the amount of fat you eat. The average Australian eats about 100g of fat a day, and 50-60g would be much healthier. If you need to lose weight you may need to cut your fat to 30 to 40 grams a day, but no lower, because some fats are essential for good health.

3. Exercise more.

Further information

Rosemary Stanton's Fat & Fibre Counter - Revised edition 1999, published by Information Australia, cost $3.95.

Copyright CTC Productions 1999