Diets Don't Work!
By Chad Tackett
Many Americans view a healthy lifestyle as something difficult to attain--and
something that's not much fun. Traditional diets have taught us that to lose
weight, we must count calories, keep track of everything we eat, and deprive
ourselves by limiting the amount--and kinds--of foods we eat. Diets tell us
exactly what and how much food to eat, regardless of our preferences and
individual relationships with hunger and satiety. Dieting can help us lose
weight (fat, muscle, and water) in the short term but is so unnatural and so
unrealistic that it can never become a lifestyle that we can live with, let
alone enjoy!
While very few diets teach healthy low-fat shopping, cooking, and dining-out
strategies, many offer unrealistic recommendations and encourage
health-threatening restrictions. Even more important, diets don't teach us the
safest, most effective ways to exercise; they don't teach us how to deal with
our cravings and our desires, or how to attend to our feelings of hunger and
fullness. Eventually, we become tired of the complexity, the hunger, the lack of
flavor, the lack of flexibility, the lack of energy, and the feeling of
deprivation. We quit our diets and gain back the weight we've lost; sometimes we
gain even more!
Each time we go on another diet of deprivation, the weight becomes more
difficult to lose, and we become even more frustrated and discouraged. Then we
eat more and exercise less, causing ourselves more frustration, discouragement,
depression. Soon we are in a vicious cycle. We begin to ask ourselves, "Why
bother?" We begin to blame ourselves for having no will power when what we
really need is clear, scientifically-based information that will help us develop
a healthier lifestyle we can live with for the rest of our lives.
Deliberate restriction of food intake in order to lose weight or to prevent
weight gain, known as dieting, is the path that millions of people all over the
world are taking in order to reach a desired body weight or appearance.
Preoccupation with body shape, size, and weight creates an unhealthy lifestyle
of emotional and physical deprivation. Diets take control away from us.
Many of us who diet get caught in a "yo-yo" cycle that begins with low
self-acceptance and results in structured eating and living because we lack
trust in our body and are unwilling to listen and adhere to our body's signals
of hunger and fullness. On diets, we distrust and ignore internal signs of
appetite, hunger, and our need to be physically and psychologically satisfied.
Instead, we depend on diet plans, measured portions, and a prescribed frequency
for eating.
As a result, many of us have lost the ability to eat in response to our physical
needs; we experience feelings of deprivation, then binge, and finally terminate
our "health" program. This in turn leads to guilt, defeat, weight
gain, low self-esteem, and then we're back to the beginning of the yo-yo diet
cycle. Rather than making us feel better about ourselves, diets set us up for
failure and erode our self-esteem.
The attitudes and practices acquired through years of dieting are likely to
result in a body weight and size obsession, low self-esteem, poor nutrition and
excessive or inadequate exercise. Weight loss from following a rigid diet is
usually temporary. Most diets are too drastic to maintain; they are unrealistic
and unpleasant; they are physically and emotionally stressful. And most of us
just resume our old eating and activity patterns. Diets control us; we are not
in control. People who try to live by diet lists and rules learn little or
nothing about proper nutrition and how to enjoy their meals, physical activity,
and a healthy lifestyle. No one can realistically live in the diet mode for the
rest of their life, depriving themselves of the true pleasures of healthy eating
and activity.
We Don't Fail Diets; They Fail Us!
Decades of research have shown that diets, both self-initiated and
professionally-led, are ineffective at producing long-term health and weight
loss (or weight control). When your diet fails to keep the weight off, you may
say to yourself, "If only I didn't love food so much . . . If I could just
exercise more often . . . If I just had more will power." The problem is
not personal weakness or lack of will power. Only 5 percent of people who go on
diets are successful. Please understand that we are not failing diets; diets are
failing us.
The reason 95 percent of all traditional diets fail is simple. When you go on a
low-calorie diet, your body thinks you are starving; it actually becomes more
efficient at storing fat by slowing down your metabolism. When you stop this
unrealistic eating plan, your metabolism is still slow and inefficient that you
gain the weight back even faster, even though you may still be eating less than
you were before you went on the diet.
In addition, low-calorie diets cause you to lose both muscle and fat in equal
amounts. However, when you eventually gain back the weight, it is all fat and
not muscle, causing your metabolism to slow down even more. Now you have extra
weight, a less healthy body composition, and a less attractive physique.
Diets require you to sacrifice by being hungry; they don't allow you to enjoy
the foods you love. This does not teach you habits which you can maintain after
the diet is over. Most diet programs force you to lower your caloric intake to
dangerously low levels. The common theory is that if you eat fewer calories than
you burn, you will lose weight. But when you eat fewer calories than your body
needs to maintain its life-sustaining activities, you're actually losing muscle
in addition to fat. Your body breaks down its own muscles to provide the needed
energy for survival.
Traditional diets which use calorie restriction to produce weight loss are no
longer appropriate. Most weight-loss programs measure success solely in terms of
the number of pounds lost per weight loss attempt. Diets don't take into account
the quality of the process used to achieve that weight loss or the very small
likelihood of sustained weight loss. For long-term good health, you need to move
away from low-calorie diets and focus on enjoyable physical activity and good
nutrition. Exercising regularly and eating lean-supporting calories, protein and
carbohydrates, and reducing fat-supporting calories will not only help you look
and feel better, it will also significantly reduce your risk of disease.
America spends billions of dollars on different ways to fix people. If we
focused more on prevention and on improving our day-to-day behaviors, we could
cut health care costs in half. Contrary to popular belief, leading a healthy
lifestyle doesn't have to be difficult; it doesn't have to painful or
time-consuming. Making gradual, simple changes in your diet and physical
activity will make great improvements in your health and well-being, and they
can drastically reduce your risk of disease.
If your weight management program is to be a success, everything you eat and
every exercise you do must be a pleasurable experience. If you're not enjoying
yourself, it is unlikely that you'll continue your program. It's that simple.
These small, gradual changes are not painful or overwhelming but rather the core
of an exciting lifestyle that you will look forward to.
Take the frustration, guilt, and deprivation out of weight management, and allow
yourself to adopt gradual, realistic changes into your life that will make
healthy eating and physical activity a permanent pleasure. You will soon
discover what your body is capable of and begin to look, act, and feel your very
best. Good luck and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy, active
lifestyle.
* Be sure to check with your health care professional before making any
changes in your activity habits.
Chad Tackett, the President of Global Health and Fitness (GHF), has degrees in
Exercise and Heath Science and Nutrition, is a Certified Personal Trainer, and
is a regular guest lecturer to both professional and lay audiences on the
principles of effective exercise and good nutrition. Visit GHF (http://www.global-fitness.com)
and you'll find easy to follow fitness recommendations, hundreds of exercise
instructions and video demonstrations, customized programs, healthy recipes and
meal plans, a free nutrition analysis, health club and personal trainer
directories, and much more!