Revenge Diet' not so simple, says local doctor

"The Revenge Diet" " heralded by a book of the same name by author Monica Grenfell " promises its adherents will lose 15 pounds in a month on a daily intake of 1,200 calories.

Maybe, said Dr. Brendon McCollom with St. Anthony Hospital. But a loss of 15 pounds in a month is stretching it, he said.

"You can safely lose up to two pounds a week," McCollom said. "When you look at someone who lost 15 pounds in a month and then eight pounds in the same time, there is a tremendous difference in the way they look. One person will have lost a lot of water weight, and it's not a healthy loss and they will get that right back. Someone who lost eight pounds of fat the right way is going to look a lot better, fit in their clothes a lot better, and they'll have better self-esteem."

THE SECRET
The key, he said, is don't eat more than your body can get rid of. If you do, the body will convert the extra calories into fat and then you'll have to lose it by eating less than you did or by working out more, and most likely both. But working out on its own isn't enough.

"Everybody is hitting the gym right now, thinking they will go and work out and burn the fat off," McCollom said. "But you have to go back to the basics and say, 'What kind of fuel am I putting in?' It supplements diet, but is not a replacement for the diet." "Ben Fenwick

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