Why Diets Do Not Work ?Making Weight Loss Last a Lifetime

If your mother ever said that there are no quick fixes in life, she was right. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to weight loss. Fad diets are based around immediate results, but they do not give you any tools to maintain the goal weight you have achieved. Any diet can produce short term weight-loss, but this frightening statistic should tell you all you need to know about the long-term effectiveness of diets ?90% of dieters put the weight back on within 5 years.

Most diets are based on the principle that the less you eat, the more your body will burn its fat reserves. What no one抯 telling you is that the human metabolism is a sneaky character. The more drastically it is deprived of the energy stocks it is used to, the faster it goes into starvation mode, and slows down the rate at which it metabolises food. The result is that once you start eating more again ?and you will, because no one can live on soups and shakes forever ?your metabolism isn抰 ready for it, and the extra food goes back onto your body as fat.

Therefore weight-loss has to be based around a two main objectives if it is ever going to work ?a sustainable, lifelong eating routine, and an exercise programme that will get that metabolism going. Abandon all ideas of crash diets, quick fixes and miracle weight-loss programmes. Accept that if you are really serious about losing weight, it is going to be a lifetime commitment. See your doctor before you get started; each person will have different food needs according to their age, gender and health. There is no one-size-fits-all diet, and there may be some trial and error involved, so get all the help you can from the professionals.

That said, there are some things everyone can try, whichever eating lifestyle they are going to adapt. Start by:

Blitzing your food cupboards and starting again. If it is not there, it can not tempt you! Leave processed and junk food out, and start buying fresh ingredients. Get some recipe books and cook from scratch ?this puts you, not food manufacturers, in control.

Keep the occasional 憈reat?around so you do not feel totally deprived. If you are never allowed chocolate, you will crave it even more, so ration yourself the occasional indulgence. If you do not trust yourself, lock the treats away and give the key to someone you trust!

Move, wherever possible. Whether it is walking to the post-box, cleaning the windows or washing the car, the simplest forms of exercise are free and effective. Forget expensive gym memberships and classes ?prove to yourself first that you can exercise regularly without paying!

Keep a food diary. Be completely honest about when and where you eat, and you may start to see patterns. Again, it is about putting yourself in control. If you know that 2.30 pm is your weak moment for snacking, schedule an activity for that time, or call a friend for support.

Give yourself non-food rewards. 5lbs off? Go catch a movie. 10lbs? A new hairstyle. Be kind to yourself ?weight-loss should not be a process of self-flagellation.

Keep going. Tomorrow is another day ?do not spiral into a panic because you have slipped. You wouldn抰 burn a 20 page presentation that you worked hard on just because there抯 a typo on Page 7, so do not abandon your weight-loss achievements ?keep calm, and start afresh.

Losing weight is only part of the journey ?keeping it off is the much harder part. Only by taking the time to work out a weight loss programme which works for you, and slowly working at it day by day, will you train your mind and body to approach food differently. Mum was right ?there are no quick fixes, but then isn抰 something worth much more if you have taken the time to stick at it?

 

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