Forget The Fad Diets - Work The Muscles Instead

Unfortunately in today's world there seems to be a near obsession with losing weight. More books have been written about diet and weight loss than practically any other subject. Most people have had it pounded into them that thin is in, but the lengths that some people go to in order to achieve the thinness can be down right dangerous. A far healthier approach to achieving the body that you want is through a combination of exercise and sensible eating, not fad or starvation diets.

One of the problems with such an emphasis on dieting is that the fixation often leads to decisions that can ultimately put your health at risk. At times it is difficult to differentiate between some diets and poor nutrition. If you focus the time, energy and stress that are part and parcel of many diet states of mind and put that into fitness, exercise, weightlifting and moderate bodybuilding, you will have a far better chance of achieving a more fit, healthier and attractive physique. Throw in the fact that most studies show that a regular disciplined, well thought out workout routine greatly reduces stress, focusing on your muscles wins out over diets any day of the week.

The perception that many people have of diets is that if and when they achieve the stated goal of their diet then they will feel better about themselves. The reality is often pretty much the opposite. Many diets involve the loss of lean muscle mass, water, density of bones, and, in severe cases, loss of organ tissue. Some of these are at minor levels, but a typical physical effect is that you feel listless, lifeless and even a little depressed when you have reached your goal.

With muscle building and regular exercise with overall body fitness as a goal, you build lean muscle mass, reduce fat, and feel more energized and more positive about life in general. Many dieting plans put undue stress on your immune system whereas responsible weightlifting and fitness work has been shown to boost your immune system.

And, with most diets, especially if you don't make the commitment to incorporate weights and cardio work into your life result in a rebound effect where you end up gaining all the weight back and, at times, even more. Make the shift to focusing on your muscles -- all of them -- an forget about all the crazy diets. Change your lifestyle and change you life by moving and lifting and bending and stretching.

Start to rework your definition of diet as simply eating food that is good fuel for your body -- fuel to keep give you energy to build your muscles so you continue to look good, feel good and stay healthy.