The less you eat, the more you lose, right? Wrong. When it comes to weight loss, faster is not necessarily better. That's because extreme weight loss can only be achieved by extreme measures, such as very restrictive eating or over-exercising, according to Karen Miller-Kovach, Chief Scientist for Weight Watchers International.

"These extreme measures come with substantial physical and psychological risks," she warns, including the danger of nutritional deficiencies, gallstones and binge eating.

A moderate rate of weight loss, however, avoids such pitfalls. How moderate? "The recommended rate of weight loss by the American Heart Association is one to two pounds per week [for males as well as females]," says Dr. Robert H. Eckel, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and chairman of the American Heart Association's Nutrition Committee. This moderate rate helps you develop the behavioral skills necessary to maintain weight loss.

Why Crash Diets Crash
But what about all those wonder diets promoted in the latest best -sellers? Most are low in carbohydrates, and their quick initial drop in weight is simply loss of water, according to Jack Osman, professor of health science at Towson University in Maryland. "It takes a while to mobilize fat," he explains. "The function of fat is to store calories as a reserve against lean times, so the fat cells are reluctant to part with their warehouse of calories until it's absolutely necessary to release them."

Many fad diets are low in calories. Drastically cutting calories slows your metabolism as the body, fearing famine, burns less energy. The result? The more you deprive yourself, the more efficient your body becomes with each calorie you do eat, making weight loss that much tougher.

Winning the Race
You didn't put on weight overnight, so you shouldn't expect to lose it overnight either. Taking it slow, by following a balanced diet including grains, fruits and vegetables, is the best way to shift fat, according to registered dietitian Jackie Newgent, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). "When you start losing weight too quickly, you tend to lose a greater proportion of water and lean muscle mass, which you don't want to lose," she explains.

Another problem with drastically restricting calories is that your diet is likely to lack nutrients. This can cause weakness, making it more difficult to exercise, an essential component of weight loss. It can also lead to binge eating among people who are already susceptible to this eating disorder because items that are forbidden on many drastic diets become irresistible.

"Including all foods in a weight-loss diet teaches the dieter to manage problem foods, usually in smaller portions, versus bingeing on them," comments fellow ADA spokesperson Althea Zanecosky.

Studies show that the faster the weight is lost, the faster it is regained. However, the reverse is also true of dieters who lose slowly, says Miller-Kovach: "According to our study of Lifetime Members after five years, almost 20 percent have kept all the weight off that they lost; more than 70 percent still weigh less than they did when they joined Weight Watchers."
So if you want to be one of them, take it nice and slow!

Keeping It Off
Losing weight involves more than just eating less; it also requires increased activity and behavior modification or weight regain is likely. "The most successful people don't have a 'diet,' but they do have a plan; they also walk an average of 28 miles per week!" says Professor Osman. "If you make a commitment to change your lifestyle by walking a total of 10,000 steps per day, you will lose weight slowly, but successfully, over the long haul."