A healthy diet is an integral part of any weight loss program. Generally, a balanced diet composed of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and lean meat will give an individual the necessary energy to perform the daily activities and function at his most optimum level. More than this, well-planned meals protect against diseases. It also aids in tissue and muscle repair to enable an individual to rapidly recover from illnesses.

But society has put such importance on losing weight that desperate souls go on crash diets just to stay thin. There is such a pressure to maintain a 36-24-36 figure for most girls that attaining it has become a worldwide obsession. This has led to all sorts of eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia and all kinds of health issues that, in severe instances, culminate in death.

Dieting becomes unhealthy when it is done solely to focus on losing weight and not for overall body fitness. Perspective matters a lot here, and it is unfortunately, what is lacking in those who use diet to keep the fat off. When individuals look at dieting as part of an overall fitness plan to stay healthy physically, psychologically and emotionally, they will choose foods from all sources and keep them in moderate proportions because they know it is good for their bodies. They know that spreading out their meals evenly throughout the day and drinking sufficient amounts of water will keep their metabolism running, causing them to burn fat. They couple healthy diet with exercise because they know that aside from burning the fat, exercise keeps the blood oxygenated which is crucial to disease prevention. They know that exercise keeps blood pressure and blood sugar at stable levels.

On the other hand, those who see dieting as only a means to losing weight, will resort to unhealthy dieting practices that wreck havoc on their body systems. They go on a crash diet that literally starves their body of the most basic nutrients it needs in order to function. Desperate girls skip breakfast, have a cracker for lunch and a meal replacement bar for dinner in the hope of registering a 24 when they measure waistline. They rely on diet pills to burn the fat away. They don't factor in exercise (primarily because they don't have the energy to do it) and walk like half-dead zombies as they literally waste their muscles away because of their detrimental and when left unchecked, fatal dieting practices.

Educating individuals about the pitfalls of crash diets and other unhealthy dieting practices that only serve to harm rather than help is an integral part of any overall health program. People, especially those who are desperate to lose the flab, must be made to understand that eating is not a sin. What is sinful is eating in excess. Gluttony has placed those fats there and only by a complete fitness program that includes proper diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle practices can anyone ever hope to remove them there. Only when individuals hold this perspective can unhealthy dieting habits be corrected.