The weight loss industry knows what it is doing. They provide tons of options with meal plans stocked with prepared meals that are all low calorie, knowing that everyone wants the easy way out, the easy way to lose weight. They will ask general questions to put you into a vague category with other people who want to lose weight, and once you give them that information, out pops a meaningless number, which they claim is your new daily calorie level.



So with this magic bullet called low calorie meals, it is undeniable that you definitely will lose weight. But, and there is a big but. Here is the little caveat they do not tell you: these low calorie meal plans will stop working very shortly after you start them. It is a little known fact that they fail to disclose because, hey, you are happy, they are happy, why rock the happy boat, right?

The truth is, those low calorie meal plans are only designed to make you lose weight initially but your body cannot be sustained on those calorie levels. Your body has a set number of calories it needs daily and these meal plans were designed to be full of much fewer calories, which they know cannot sustain healthy weight loss.

What you are really losing during those initial few days is body fat but that is only because the drastic change in calorie level sends your body into starvation mode, which is when your body, without enough calories to keep you going, begins to use or burn your body fat as an energy source. That is kind of the idea for burning body fat but the key here is how you are doing it. By eating less calories, it is a very dangerous way to burn fat because you are also not getting the necessary nutrients that you body needs.

It is a very dangerous way to lose weight because you cannot control what it is that you are actually losing. That initial weight loss will more than likely be body fat, but if you continue with it and do not make changes, you will begin to lose muscle mass instead of body fat. This is completely self-defeating when you get to that point because one of the key tools of losing weight is your metabolism, which will become useless if you do not have any muscle mass left!

A better, more effective and safer way to burn fat and lose weight is by eating 5-6 small, healthy meals per day, full of great nutrients and calories AND working out at the same time. This way, you are still fulfilling your regularly required calorie level but you are burning fat at the same time through exercise, and more importantly, you are not losing things that are essential to healthy weight loss and also general well-being.

Keep in mind that someone who asks for your general information, such as age, height and weight, to provide you with a diet plan, is someone you should walk away from. No one can give valid and valuable advice on weight loss or even general health based on those three things; each person is different because of genetics, personal health history, for starters, so those three so called standards are useless without further information. If you decide to hire a personal trainer, they will be able to give you valid advice if you discuss with them your health history, not medical but general health. So just remember that someone who gives you an estimate of required calorie intake based off of age, height and weight is only trying to make you lose weight as fast as you can to hook you into his or her little low calorie meal plan. Because they are thinking that if you lose weight fast, you will be hooked and believe in their idea. So do not fall victim to this ploy!

The best way to lose weight safely and healthfully is by eating plenty of calories through 5-6 small, healthy meals and working out. See? There is not complicated equation to figure out or for someone else to use to give you some vague estimate. Really, it is just two very simple, very easy things to do to make sure you are as healthy as can be with weight loss!