M
ost people who read my articles and e-books know me as a science
guy who likes to quote studies and apply research to everyday problems
such as weight loss, bodybuilding, and other health/fitness related
topics. However, sometimes you have to step back from the science and
look at the big picture to help bring people back into focus, so they
can see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
For most people
reading this article, finding an effective diet that works most of the
time must seem as complicated as nuclear physics. It's not, but there
are a bewildering number of choices for diets out there. High fat or no
fat? High carbohydrate or no carbohydrate? Low protein or high protein?
To make matters worse, there are a million variations and combinations
to the above diet scenarios to add to the confusion. It seems endless
and causes many people to throw up their hands in frustration and give
up. In this article I will attempt to change all that.
There are
some general guidelines, rules of thumb, and ways of viewing a diet
program that will allow you to decide, once and for all, if it's the
right diet for you. You may not always like what I have to say, and you
should be under no illusions this is another quick fix, "lose 100 lbs.
in 20 days," guide of some sort. However, if you are sick and tired of
being confused, tired of taking the weight off only to put it back on,
and tired of wondering how to take the first steps to deciding the right
diet for you that will result in permanent weight loss, then this is
the article that could change your life...
Does your diet pass "The Test"?
What is the number one reason diets fail long term; above all else?
The number one reason is...drum roll...a lack of long term compliance.
The numbers don't lie; the vast majority of people who lose weight will
regain it - and often exceed what they lost. You knew that already
didn't you?
Yet, what are you doing to avoid it? Here's another
reality check: virtually any diet you pick which follows the basic
concept of "burning" more calories then you consume - the well accepted
"calories in calories out" mantra - will cause you to lose weight. To
some degree, they all work: Atkins-style, no carb diets, low fat high
carb diets, all manner of fad diets - it simply does not matter in the
short term.
If your goal is to lose some weight quickly, then pick
one and follow it. I guarantee you will lose some weight. Studies
generally find any of the commercial weight loss diets will get
approximately the same amount of weight off after 6 months to a year.
For example, a recent study found the Atkins' Diet, Slim-Fast plan,
Weight Watchers Pure Points program, and Rosemary Conley's Eat Yourself
Slim diet, were all equally effective. (1)
Other studies comparing
other popular diets have come to essentially the same conclusions. For
example, a study that compared the Atkins diet, the Ornish diet, Weight
Watchers, and The Zone Diet, found them to be essentially the same in
their ability to take weight off after one year. (2)
Recall what I
said about the number one reason diets fail, which is a lack of
compliance. The lead researcher of this recent study stated:
"Our trial found that adherence level rather than diet type was the primary predictor of weight loss"(3)
Translated,
it's not which diet they chose per se, but their ability to actually
stick to a diet that predicted their weight loss success. I can just see
the hands going up now, "but Will, some diets must be better than
others, right?" Are some diets better then others? Absolutely. Some
diets are healthier then others, some diets are better at preserving
lean body mass, some diets are better at suppressing appetite - there
are many differences between diets. However, while most of the popular
diets will work for taking weight off, what is abundantly clear is that
adhering to the diet is the most important aspect for keeping the weight
off long term.
What is a diet?
A diet is a short term strategy to lose weight. Long term weight
loss is the result of an alteration in lifestyle. We are concerned with
life long weight management, not quick fix weight loss here. I don't
like the term diet, as it represents a short term attempt to lose weight
vs. a change in lifestyle. Want to lose a bunch of weight quickly?
Heck, I will give you the information on how to do that here and now for
no charge.
For the next 90 to 120 days eat 12 scrambled egg
whites, one whole grapefruit, and a gallon of water twice a a day. You
will lose plenty of weight. Will it be healthy? Nope. Will the weight
stay off once you are done with this diet and are then forced to go back
to your "normal" way of eating? Not a chance. Will the weight you lose
come from fat or will it be muscle, water, bone, and (hopefully!) some
fat? The point being, there are many diets out there that are perfectly
capable of getting weight off you, but when considering any eating plan
designed to lose weight, you must ask yourself:
"Is this a way of eating I can follow long term?"
Which brings me to my test: I call it the "Can I eat that way for
the rest of my life?" Test. I know, it does not exactly roll off your
tongue, but it gets the point across.
The lesson here is: any
nutritional plan you pick to lose weight must be part of a lifestyle
change you will be able to follow - in one form or another - forever.
That is, if it's not a way of eating you can comply with indefinitely,
even after you get to your target weight, then it's worthless.
Thus,
many fad diets you see out there are immediately eliminated, and you
don't have to worry about them. The question is not whether the diet is
effective in the short term, but if the diet can be followed
indefinitely as a lifelong way of eating. Going from "their" way of
eating back to "your" way of eating after you reach your target weight
is a recipe for disaster and the cause of the well established yo-yo
dieting syndrome. Bottom line: there are no short cuts, there is no free
lunch, and only a commitment to a lifestyle change is going to keep the
fat off long term. I realize that's not what most people want to hear,
but it's the truth, like it or not.
The statistics don't lie:
getting the weight off is not the hardest part, keeping the weight off
is! If you take a close look at the many well known fad/commercial diets
out there, and you are honest with yourself, and apply my test above,
you will find most of them no longer appeal to you as they once did. It
also brings me to an example that adds additional clarity: If you have
diet A that will cause the most weight loss in the shortest amount of
time but is unbalanced and essentially impossible to follow long term
vs. diet B, which will take the weight off at a slower pace, but is
easier to follow, balanced, healthy, and something you can comply with
year after year, which is superior? If diet A gets 30 lbs off you in 30
days, but by next year you have gained back all 30 lbs, but diet B gets
20 lbs off you in the next 3 months with another 20 lbs 3 months after
that and the weight stays off by the end of that year, which is the
better diet?
If you don't know the answer to those questions, you
have totally missed the point of this article and the lesson it's trying
to teach you, and are set up for failure. Go back and read this section
again...By default, diet B is superior.
Teach a man to Fish...
A well known Chinese Proverb is - Give a man a fish and you feed him
for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
This
expression fits perfectly with the next essential step in how to decide
what eating plan you should follow to lose weight permanently. Will the
diet plan you are considering teach you how to eat long term, or does
it spoon-feed you information? Will the diet rely on special bars,
shakes, supplements or pre-made foods they supply?
Let's do
another diet A vs. diet B comparison. Diet A is going to supply you with
their foods, as well as their special drink or bars to eat, and tell
you exactly when to eat them. You will lose - say - 30 lbs in two
months. Diet B is going to attempt to help you learn which foods you
should eat, how many calories you need to eat, why you need to eat them,
and generally attempt to help teach you how to eat as part of a total
lifestyle change that will allow you to make informed decisions about
your nutrition. Diet B causes a slow steady weight loss of 8 -10 lbs per
month for the next 6 months and the weight stays off because you now
know how to eat properly.
Recall the Chinese proverb. Both diets
will assist you to lose weight. Only one diet, however, will teach you
how to be self-reliant after your experience is over. Diet A is easier,
to be sure, and causes faster weight loss than diet B, and diet B takes
longer and requires some thinking and learning on your part. However,
when diet A is over, you are right back where you started and have been
given no skills to fish. Diet companies don't make their profits by
teaching you to fish, they make their money by handing you a fish so you
must rely on them indefinitely or come back to them after you gain all
the weight back.
Thus, diet B is superior for allowing you to
succeed where other diets failed, with knowledge gained that you can
apply long term. Diet programs that attempt to spoon feed you a diet
without any attempt to teach you how to eat without their help and/or
rely on their shakes, bars, cookies, or pre-made foods, is another diet
you can eliminate from your list of choices.
Diet plans that offer
weight loss by drinking their product for several meals followed by a
"sensible dinner;" diets that allow you to eat their special cookies for
most meals along with their pre-planned menu; or diets that attempt to
have you eating their bars, drink, or pre-made meals, are of the diet A
variety covered above. They're easy to follow but destined for failure,
long term. They all fail the "Can I eat that way for the rest of my
life?" test, unless you really think you can eat cookies and shakes for
the rest of your life...Bottom line here is, if the nutritional approach
you use to lose weight, be it from a book, a class, a clinic, or an
e-book, does not teach you how to eat, it's a loser for long term weight
loss and it should be avoided.
The missing link for long term weight loss
We now make our way to another test to help you choose a nutrition
program for long term weight loss, and it does not actually involve
nutrition. The missing link for long term weight loss is exercise.
Exercise is the essential component of long term weight loss. Many diet
programs do not contain an exercise component, which means they are
losers for long term weight loss from the very start. Any program that
has its focus on weight loss but does not include a comprehensive
exercise plan is like buying a car without tires, or a plane without
wings. People who have successfully kept the weight off overwhelmingly
have incorporated exercise into their lives, and the studies that look
at people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off invariably
find these people were consistent with their diet and exercise plans.
(4)
I am not going to list all the benefits of regular exercise
here, but regular exercise has positive effects on your metabolism,
allows you to eat more calories yet still be in a calorie deficit, and
can help preserve lean body mass (LBM) which is essential to your health
and metabolism. The many health benefits of regular exercise are well
known, so I won't bother adding them here. The bottom line here is, (a)
if you have any intentions of getting the most from your goal of losing
weight and (b) plan to keep it off long term, regular exercise must be
an integral part of the weight loss strategy. So, you can eliminate any
program, be it book, e-book, clinic, etc. that does not offer you
direction and help with this essential part of long term weight loss.
Side Bar: A quick note on exercise:
Any exercise is better than no exercise. However, like diet plans,
not all exercise is created equal, and many people often choose the
wrong form of exercise to maximize their efforts to lose weight. For
example, they will do aerobics exclusively and ignore resistance
training. Resistance training is an essential component of fat loss, as
it builds muscle essential to your metabolism, increases 24 hour energy
expenditure, and has health benefits beyond aerobics.
The reader
will also note I said fat loss above not weight loss. Though I use the
term 'weight loss' throughout this article, I do so only because it is a
familiar term most people understand. However, the true focus and goal
of a properly set up nutrition and exercise plan should be on fat loss,
not weight loss. A focus on losing weight, which may include a loss
essential muscle, water, and even bone, as well as fat, is the wrong
approach. Losing the fat and keeping the all important lean body mass
(LBM), is the goal, and the method for achieving that can be found in my
ebook(s) on the topic, and is beyond the scope of this article. Bottom
line: the type of exercise, intensity of that exercise, length of time
doing that exercise, etc., are essential variables here when attempting
to lose FAT while retaining (LBM).
Psychology 101 of long term weight loss
Many diet programs out there don't address the psychological aspect
of why people fail to be successful with long term weight loss. However,
quite a few studies exist that have looked at just that. In many
respects, the psychological aspect is the most important for long term
weight loss, and probably the most underappreciated component.
Studies
that compare the psychological characteristics of people who have
successfully kept the weight off to people who have regained the weight,
see clear differences between these two groups. For example, one study
that looked at 28 obese women who had lost weight but regained the
weight that they had lost, compared to 28 formerly obese women who had
lost weight and maintained their weight for at least one year and 20
women with a stable weight in the healthy range, found the women who
regained the weight:
o Had a tendency to evaluate self-worth in terms of weight and shape
o Had a lack of vigilance with regard to weight control
o had a dichotomous (black-and-white) thinking style
o Had the tendency to use eating to regulate mood.
The researchers concluded:
"The
results suggest that psychological factors may provide some explanation
as to why many people with obesity regain weight following successful
weight loss."
This particular study was done on women, so it
reflects some of the specific psychological issues women have - but make
no mistake here - men also have their own psychological issues that can
sabotage their long term weight loss efforts. (6)
Additional
studies on men and women find psychological characteristics such as
"having unrealistic weight goals, poor coping or problem-solving skills
and low self-efficacy" often predict failure with long term weight loss.
(7) On the other hand, psychological traits common to people who
experienced successful long term weight loss include "...an internal
motivation to lose weight, social support, better coping strategies and
ability to handle life stress, self-efficacy, autonomy, assuming
responsibility in life, and overall more psychological strength and
stability." (8)
The main point of this section is to illustrate
that psychology plays a major role in determining if people are
successful with long term weight loss. If it's not addressed as part of
the overall plan, it can be the factor that makes or breaks your
success. This, however, is not an area most nutrition programs can
adequately tackle and should not be expected to. However, the better
programs do generally attempt to help with motivation, goal setting, and
support. If you see yourself in the above lists from the groups that
failed to maintain their weight long term, then know you will need to
address those issues via counseling, support groups, etc. Don't expect
any weight loss program to cover this topic adequately but do look for
programs that attempt to offer support, goal setting, and resources that
will keep you on track.
"There's a sucker born every minute"
So why don't you see this type of honest information about the
realities of long term weight loss more often? Let's be honest here,
telling the truth is not the best way to sell bars, shakes, books,
supplements, and programs. Hell, if by some miracle everyone who read
this article actually followed it, and sent it on to millions of other
people who actually followed it, makers of said products could be in
financial trouble quickly. However, they also know - as the man said -
"there's a sucker born every minute," so I doubt they will be kept up at
night worrying about the effects that I, or this article, will have on
their business.
So let's recap what has been learned here: the big
picture realities of permanent weight loss and how you can look at a
weight loss program and decide for yourself if it's for you based on
what has been covered above:
o Permanent weight loss is not about
finding a quick fix diet, but making a commitment to life style changes
that include nutrition and exercise
o Any weight loss program you choose must pass the "Can I eat that way for the rest of my life?" test,
o
The weight loss program you choose should ultimately teach you how to
eat and be self reliant so you can make informed long term choices about
your nutrition.
o The weight loss program you choose should not
leave you reliant on commercial bars, shakes, supplements, or pre-made
foods, for your long term success.
o The weight loss program you choose must have an effective exercise component.
o
The weight loss program you choose should attempt to help with
motivation, goal setting, and support, but can't be a replacement for
psychological counseling if needed.
Conclusion
I want to take this final section to add some additional points and
clarity. For starters, the above advice is not for everyone. It's not
intended for those who really have their nutrition dialed in, such as
competitive bodybuilders and other athletes who benefit from fairly
dramatic changes in their nutrition, such as 'off season' and
'pre-contest' and so on.
The article is also not intended for
those with medical issues who may be on a specific diet to treat or
manage a specific medical condition. The article is intended for the
average person who wants to get off the Yo-Yo diet merry-go-round once
and for all. As that's probably 99% of the population, it will cover
millions of people.
People should also not be scared off by my
"you have to eat this way forever" advice. This does not mean you will
be dieting for the rest of your life and have nothing but starvation to
look forward to. What it does mean, however, is you will have to learn
to eat properly even after you reach your target weight and that way of
eating should not be a huge departure from how you ate to lose the
weight in the first place. Once you get to your target weight - and or
your target bodyfat levels - you will go onto a maintenance phase which
generally has more calories and choices of food, even the occasional
treat, like a slice of pizza or whatever.
Maintenance diets are a
logical extension of the diet you used to lose the weight, but they are
not based on the diet you followed that put the weight on in the first
place!
Regardless of which program you choose, use the above 'big
picture' approach which will keep you on track for long term weight
loss. See you in the gym!
References
(1) Truby H, et al.
Randomised controlled trial of four commercial weight loss programmes in
the UK: initial findings from the BBC "diet trials" BMJ
2006;332:1309-1314 (3 June),
(2) Michael D., et al, Comparison of
the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone Diets for Weight Loss and
Heart Disease Risk Reduction. A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2005;293:43-53.
(3) Comparison of Diets for Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction-Reply. Michael Dansinger. JAMA. 2005;293:1590-1591.
(4)
Kruger J. et al. Dietary and physical activity behaviors among adults
successful at weight loss maintenance. International Journal of
Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2006, 3:17
doi:10.1186/1479-5868-3-17
(5) Byrne S, et al. Weight maintenance
and relapse in obesity: a qualitative study. Int J Obes Relat Metab
Disord. 2003 Aug;27(8):955-62.
(6) Borg P, et al. Food selection
and eating behaviour during weight maintenance intervention and 2-y
follow-up in obese men.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004
Dec;28(12):1548-54.
(7) Byrne SM. Psychological aspects of weight maintenance and relapse in obesity. J Psychosom Res. 2002 Nov;53(5):1029-36.
(8)
Elfhag K, et al. Who succeeds in maintaining weight loss? A conceptual
review of factors associated with weight loss maintenance and weight
regain. Obes Rev. 2005 Feb;6(1):67-85
