It's all about balance - Dieting

When dieting, one of the most important things to always keep in mind is balance. Try to keep things reasonable, in the middle, and don't push yourself to the extreme. Quite a few of these fad diets that we see coming and going these days really go all out in one direction, and as a result leave so many important things behind in the dust. People say we need to have "a well balanced diet", and though this is usually said to refer to our regular day to day eating habits, it still holds true when we are dieting and trying to lose weight.

If you are eating well to begin with, you shouldn't radically change your eating habits when dieting. Focus instead on eating slightly less at each meal, such as smaller portions, or trying to cut out unnecessary calories like desserts and some of those sugary, iced-cappuccinos that we all love so much in the summertime. But don't cut back on the portions too much! Going hungry all the time isn't a productive way to diet. Not only will you risk having some unpleasant mood swings, but it might lead to binge eating or cause harm to your body. It's especially dangerous to cut back too heavily if you are hypoglycemic or have other blood sugar problems, because it can lead you to being drowsy all the time and lacking focus or worse.

It is recommended that if you are trying to lose weight, that you shouldn't cut your daily caloric intake below 1200. At that level you can still feel full after every meal, and afford to burn off some extra calories through exercise.

Another thing to definitely avoid doing is to hop onto one of those fad diets where "all you have to do" is to eat one thing and LOTS of it to lose weight. Bad idea. Our bodies need a wide variety of vitamins and nutrients to function properly. Say, for instance, you hop onto the "Atkins Diet" where you all eat for a few weeks is meat, with some small portion of salad greens just to "keep things balanced". Well... I hate to break it to you, but 2000 calories of meat a day and a bowl of salad isn't exactly a well balanced diet. Or worse yet, some of these "cookie" diets have you eat, well, cookies all day that somehow manage to fill you up so that you won't want to eat anymore. Again, not great.

Too much of one thing can be a bad thing.