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Trying to fit into that dress or suit you have lined up for your class reunion? Getting ready to hit the beach in that bikini or swim trunks? If so, then you may be thinking about losing a few extra pounds before you slip into that form-fitting outfit. You may even be considering going on a crash diet in order to lose the pounds as quickly as possible. However, crash dieting is an extremely dangerous way to go about losing weight, and can lead to yo-yo dieting and a number of serious health problems. So before you decide to plunge into a crash diet like the HCG Diet, The Master Cleanse, grapefruit diet, lemonade fast, Hollywood diet, or cabbage soup diet, here are some facts that you need to know.

What is a Crash Diet?
A crash diet is one of the most restrictive types of weight loss plans that you can follow. It involves drastically cutting back on the amount of calories and fat that you take in on a daily basis. Similar to a starvation diet, a crash diet is often paired with other weight loss “fixes,” including extreme exercise routines and the use of diuretics or dangerous diet pills. Thousands of men and women follow crash diets every year in the hopes that they will lose a significant amount of weight in a very short period of time. However, crash diets are recognized by health care professionals and dieticians as being a very dangerous way of trying to lose the excess pounds.

Do Crash Diets Work?: The Yo-Yo Diet Cycle
If you follow a crash diet, you will probably notice that you do lose a significant amount of weight in the first week or so. In fact, many men and women notice that they lose five pounds or even more during the first few days of their crash diet. However, this weight loss isn’t true weight loss ‘ instead, it can be attributed to the loss of water weight that happens during crash diets. This is because low-calorie diets cause the body to burn up excess glycogen, a type of glucose that absorbs excess fluid inside the body.

Additionally, weight loss during crash diets doesn’t continue for a very long time. Eventually, you will find yourself hitting a weight loss plateau, during which it will become more and more difficult for you to lose weight. The majority of crash dieters find that this weight loss plateau is followed by a period of weight gain. Many followers of crash diets even end up putting back on all of the weight they lost, along with additional pounds. This is known as the yo-yo diet effect: just like the up and down motion of a yo-yo, crash dieters find that their weight is constantly fluctuating with each diet that they go on.

What Causes The Yo-Yo Effect?
Crash diets are linked to the yo-yo diet effect because of the impact that this type of starvation diet has on your body’s metabolism and muscle loss. In order to support all of the functions that your body performs on a daily basis, your body needs to burn a certain amount of calories. The rate at which your body burns calories is known as your metabolism.

During crash diets, your body eventually clues in to the fact that it is receiving a very low number of calories. As a result, your body actually uses your muscle tissue for energy and adjusts its metabolism, so that it burns fewer calories in order to perform all of its necessary bodily functions. This means that it takes fewer calories for you to gain weight, making it more and more likely that you will put on weight at the end of your diet. Your body can maintain this decreased metabolism for a number of months, or even years, after a serious low-calorie diet.

How Low-Calorie Diets and Crash Diets Affect Weight Loss

Contrary to popular belief, low-calorie diets don’t help you lose weight. Adults need a minimum of between 1,000 and 1,500 calories per day, depending on their gender, age, and level of physical activity. When you don’t eat enough daily calories, your body doesn’t get the nutrition it needs to survive and thrive. Eating very low-calorie diets can lower your metabolism, sending your body into what fitness experts think of as “famine mode.”

Famine mode is how your body responds to the threat of starvation. It’s the product of thousands of years of evolution. If you aren’t getting enough to eat over a sustained period of time, your body assumes that’s because there isn’t enough food available. Remember, your brain might know that you’re dieting, but your body doesn’t.

When your body goes into famine mode, it slows down your metabolism to make more efficient use of every calorie you eat. Your body will attempt to conserve fat reserves, and you’ll begin to lose muscle instead. You’ll burn fewer calories and lose less weight.

How Muscle Affects Metabolism

The amount and density of your muscle tissue affects your metabolism. Muscles burn lots of calories when they function, so if you have a high proportion of muscle mass on your body, you’ll automatically burn more calories since your body will need more energy. That’s why strength training can be crucial to weight loss.

When you lose muscle, however, your metabolism slows down. That’s why low-calorie diets and yo-yo dieting can cause weight gain rather than weight loss. Low-calorie diets temporarily lower your metabolism, and they’re impossible to maintain. When you cheat on your low-calorie diet or go off the diet, you’ll gain more weight than you would have had you never dieted at all.

You should also remember that as you build strength and fitness and your metabolism goes up, you’ll need to eat more. That’s because your body will require more energy to function on a basic level.

What are the Health Risks of Crash Diets

Crash diets aren’t only a poor way of losing weight and maintaining healthy weight loss, but they are also very dangerous for your body. There are both short-term and long-term health effects that you could experience by following a strict crash diet.

Mental Health Problems
Crash diets are extremely hard on your overall mental and emotional health. Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood: you may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual when you are on a crash diet. Crash diets can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

Nutritional Deficiency
Low calorie diets tend to be very restrictive, and you will find that you will be unable to eat healthy foods. In fact, long-term crash dieting can result in serious nutritional deficiencies, as a result of eating a poor variety of foods. In particular, crash dieters are putting themselves at risk for:

• iron deficiency anemia
• vitamin B12 deficiency
• potassium deficiency

Potassium deficiency is particularly dangerous. These electrolytes are used by your body to ensure proper nerve and muscle function. They play a particularly important role in regulating the way that your heart beats. If potassium and sodium levels become low enough, you could suffer from a heart attack.

Vital Organ Damage
Crash diets are extremely dangerous for your vital organs, including your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain. In order to perform their daily functions, your vital organs rely on energy from your carbohydrate intake. During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low, that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. As a result, your organs begin to burn muscle tissue in order to get adequate amounts of energy to perform vital functions. If your calorie intake becomes low enough, your body will even begin to burn the muscle tissue that makes up your actual organs in order to provide your brain with sufficient energy to function. This can result in serious health problems, including:

• liver failure
• kidney failure
• heart attack
• stroke

Osteoporosis
Long-term crash dieters frequently suffer from osteoporosis, a disease that causes the bones in your body to become extremely brittle. This is because fast crash diets severely limit your intake of calcium. As a result, calcium begins to leach out of the bones in your body, leaving them particularly fragile. Many crash dieters suffer broken bones, particularly hips and wrists, as a result of their osteoporosis.

Avoiding Crash Diets: Losing Weight the Healthy Way
If you are intent on losing some weight, it is best to avoid crash and yo-yo diets at all costs. Instead, engage in healthy weight loss methods by following these tips:

Speak with your doctor before beginning any weight loss plan. She can provide you with tips on how to lose weight safely, like with the Body By Vi Challenge.  The Body By Vi Challenge Weight Loss System is fully guaranteed with a 30 day money back guarantee.  Losing 4-6 pounds a week is common and safe because the Challenge is based on getting the best nutrition with the Vi-Shape shake that will keep your lean muscle and drop the fat.  You have nothing to lose but the weight!

• Don’t cut back on calories too quickly strictly or follow an extreme eating plan. Instead, eat regularly or replace meals with a nutritional weight loss shake so your body’s metabolism doesn’t slow down.
• Focus on limiting portion sizes and choosing healthier food options. Pair this with regular exercise and you will find that the weight drops off!
• Look at your weight loss plan not as a diet, but as a healthy new lifestyle. This will encourage you to continue to with healthy eating habits on a long-term basis.

The Body By Vi Challenge Weight Loss System is fully guaranteed with a 30 day money back guarantee.  Losing 4-6 pounds a week is common and safe because the Challenge is based on getting the best nutrition with the Vi-Shape shake that will keep your lean muscle and drop the fat.  You have nothing to lose but the weight!

Vi-Slim Metab-Awake! Tablets Boost Your Metabolism Naturally

“Awaken” your metabolism and help your body burn fat naturally!

A sluggish metabolism can occur when you cut food intake, yo-yo diet, lack exercise, and even happens with aging. Vi-Slim® Metab-Awake Tablets offer a healthy boost to your metabolism that will burn fat and promote lean muscle mass without leaving you jittery. You can increase your daily amount of calories used by as many as 85–125 calories, which equates to about 10–15 pounds of weight per year.

Why is our formula better than others?

1. Ephedra and stimulant free. Won’t cause jitters that other brands can.
2. Helps your body’s natural fat burning process.
3. Can help you lose up to an extra 10–15 pounds per year.
4. Can be used to lose or maintain weight.
5. Contains Yerba Mate extract, a powerful herbal antioxidant.

What’s in Vi-Slim®?

1. Proprietary Ephedra-free formula.
2. Contains the only patented, clinical research validated form of Coleus Forskohlii extract in the world! This patented phytonutrient extract has been clinically proven to help promote lean body mass, and enhance mood.
3. Yerba Mate and Cocoa Extract to get your metabolism running, suppress appetite, and enhance mood.
4. Green Tea for natural extra fat burning!
5. ForsLean™ clinically proven to burn fat and promote lean muscle mass
6. Chocoamine™, a cocoa extract that helps boost your metabolism and increase energy
7. Evodiamine extract increases metabolic rate and helps burn fat.

ViSalus Vi-Slim FAQ

1. What are Vi-Slim® Supplements?

Vi-Slim® is our proprietary, specially designed supplement to support a healthy metabolism. While exercise may be a good way to boost our metabolism and help the body burn fat, the majority of adults do not have the time to do strenuous exercise. And, as we get older our metabolism may slow. ViSalus created a supplement that can help you boost your metabolism to help the body burn fat. While other products on the market use harsh stimulants, or high levels of caffeine, ViSalus does not. Vi-Slim combines herbs and ingredients to help your body burn fat, naturally. By adding Vi-Slim, you can help your body burn an extra 85-125 calories per day. While this may sound slow, it can add up to an extra 10-15 lbs. of fat loss per year!

2. What are the ingredients in Vi-Slim® that are in the product that are so unique?

»»Clinically proven ForsLean™ (Coleus Forskohlii) burns fat and promotes lean muscle mass. Well-known Ayurvedic herb.
»» Yerba Mate extract which suppresses appetite, stimulates energy release and enhances mood. Powerful herbal antioxidant.
»» Chocoamine™ a cocoa extract that helps boost your metabolism, improve your mood and increase your energy— naturally!
»» Green Tea Extract for thermogenic activity (burns calories)
»» Evodiamine extract (Evodia fructus) increases metabolic rate and helps burn fat. Well-known Chinese herb.
»» Non-Jittery Proprietary Formula – No added caffeine, no dangerous or harsh stimulants.

3. What are the primary benefits of Vi-Slim®?

»» It helps your body burn fat
»» Boosts your thermogenic system
»» Helps wake up a tired metabolism
»» Supports healthy blood sugar levels
»» Supports natural insulin function
»» Supports energy while dieting
»» Promotes lean muscle mass
»» Has antioxidant properties
»» Helps inhibit fat production

4. Who can use Vi-Slim®?

As with all products, we recommend that if you are pregnant or lactating, are a minor or child, have a serious medical condition such as cardiovascular disease, or have had a gastric bypass, that you speak to your physician before using this or any weight loss or nutritional supplement product. The products are intended to be used by many people. We do not recommend children under 18 needing the Vi-Slim® metabolism booster, as they tend to have very active metabolisms as they are growing.

5. How many can I take per day?

For maximum results, take a maximum of 4 tablets of Vi-Slim® Metabolism Boost tablets per day (2 tablets per serving). Taking more than the maximum will not add additional benefits. If you experience gas, or stomach rumbling, this is normal. However, if you want, you can build up to the 4 tablets per day starting with 1 tablet twice per day for a week, then moving to 4 tablets.

To get your Metab-Awake Tablets, join the Body By Vi Challenge with a Transformation Kit.

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