Dieting Doesn’t Work

While obesity rates climb and climb, we Americans spend over $50 billion a year on diet plans, special foods, and supplements. Fad diets come and go, but the vast majority of dieters regain the weight they lose within the same time they take to lose it. All diets are based on the concept that one or another category of food is “bad” and must be avoided; and all of them are likely to appear effective in the short term. But the short term doesn’t solve the problem of overweight.

I see two possible approaches. First, one could try a whole series of diets, each for a short period, switching from one to the next before the benefit wanes. Second, change one’s lifestyle, rather than what one eats. This seems to me a much better line of attack.

Remember that we eat for reasons other than just getting nourishment from food. There are external cues – such as seeing others eating, tempting smells from the kitchen, or a clock signaling it’s time for a coffee break. And there’s the use of eating to help cope with stress and negative emotions, such as loneliness, anxiety, anger, or depression. Dieting won’t help these situations, and may actually make the negative emotions worse. Long-term weight loss must involve creative, dynamic solutions that maintain our interest in calorie restriction and exercise.

Focusing on the ‘calories in – calories out’ equation means one will address the amount of food eaten, and the amount of exercise taken. Successful weight-losers report that modest self-directed lifestyle changes can help maintain weight-loss results over 5 years or longer. So, eat less (smaller portions) and exercise more!