Is dieting healthy? Well, that all depends on how you choose to go about dieting. There are several fad diets out there that claim to give you guaranteed results, but at what price? Lets take a look at 3 different diet fads and see which ones really are healthy for you.

One of the most common diet fads I see anymore is the diet pill. There are several of these on the market these days giving you the promise that they will help you lose weight at a record pace. What they fail to mention is all of the nasty side effects that can go along with them.

A lot of diet pills are packed full of caffeine which can cause insomnia. Diet pills can cause wreak havoc on your heart causing high blood pressure and irregular heartbeats. The can also give you headaches, blurred vision and some may even cause dizziness.

Diet pills may help you lose a few pounds, but the adverse effects on your health just aren’t worth the risk. Losing weight should help you feel better, not make you feel worse every day.

Another diet fad I have heard a lot about is the starvation diet. With this diet, you eat nothing and consume only water for a set amount of days. That is a definite way to lose weight, but what are the health risk that go along with it?

The food we eat supplies our body of essential vitamins and minerals to help keep it functioning. When you go on a starvation diet, you are depleting your body of them. This can lead to a whole array of problems and you could very well end up in the hospital. If your body is not getting the fuel it needs every day, it will start feeding off of your stored fat, but can also start breaking down muscle.

The main problem with the starvation diet is keeping the weight off once you quit starving yourself. Your body will want to ward off another starvation attempt and it will literally cling to everything you eat. Not only will you gain back the weight you initially lost, but you stand a good chance of gaining more.

That leaves us with the balanced diet and exercise approach. There are no quick fixes here, but if you want to lose weight the healthy way and keep it off, this is your best option.

Delicious fruits and vegetables mixed in with whole grains and low fat or fat free dairy products are a great start to losing weight. Try to stay lean with proteins by eating lean meat, fish, poultry and beans. When cooking the meat, try baking or grilling it instead of deep frying it. You may find out you like it better and it is much healthier than greasy food.

While eating a healthier diet is a major step in losing weight, you need to get moving. A light exercise program will help you reach your weight loss goals faster than dieting alone. There a couple of easy ways to get in some exercise without even knowing you’re exercising! Instead of taking a coffee break at work, take a walk. Better yet, instead of watching your kids playing in the floor, get down and roll around with them. This is great way to burn calories and you will probably enjoy it too!