Your-Mind-and-Body

Yes, you can lose weight by going on a diet. Every year millions of people across the world buy into a diet plan. In the forefront of their mind is the thought of permanent weight loss. The reality is short-term weight loss. The main beneficiary of the diet is not the dieter.

Permanent weight loss is very elusive. The majority of people who go on a diet never achieve it. What diets fail to address are the reasons why weight gain occured in the first place.

Most diets fail to deliver permanent weight loss because they don’t address the need for behavior change. Traci Mann, a psychologist at the University of California (UCLA) who analyzed 31 long-term studies that followed people on a range of diets for between two and five years found that : ‘Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.’

So what can you expect if you go on a diet? Short-term weight loss is the short answer. You may be able to lose up to 10% of your body weight. You might think that’s a pretty good result until you realise that within a very short space of time you will have put the weight back on again - with interest! This is what happens in the majority of cases - well over 90% in fact.

We live in interesting times. Change is happening all around us and is accellerating every day, yet we seem to be reluctant to embrace change when it comes to our own lives. Scientists - specifically neuroscientists and psychologists - have made some amazing discoveries in recent years: discoveries that have opened up the workings of how our brain and body function and interact, for example. They have given us the opportunity to use this new found knowledge to develop ways of helping us to make change by learning new habits - slim habits, if you like.

Successful change should come from a program of learning and discovery. It needs to provide a knowledge base, easy ‘what to do’ steps, a personal exercise plan, a journal and an online support program which should include everything from essential social support to healthy recipes, to ensure long-term success.

Habit change is not difficult, but it takes commitment - as does anything that is worthwhile. Permanent weight loss doesn’t come from a formula or by spending eight weeks restricting your calorie intake, it comes from learning new habits.

The big weight could soon be over for those who really want to make change.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 at 2:50 am and is filed under Wellness, Fitness and Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.