Dieting Makes you Fat, Why Diets Fail, How to Diet Successfully

People throughout the world spend billions on weight-loss products every year. Governments around the globe spend billions on trying to get people to lose weight because of the staggering cost of the obesity epidemic. TV programs such as 'The Biggest Loser, Excess Baggage, the Weight is Over' are like watching modern gladiators do battle with their bulges, but the advice is misleading - extreme exercise does not work in the long term.

There is so much advice and methods available - low-calorie pre-prepared meals, meal-replacement shakes, supplements, diet books, dieting programs and schemes. But most people are doomed to failure with at least 90% of all people who try to lose weight failing and reverting to their original weight or putting on more weight. Research has shown that dieting makes some people fatter. So what works and what can be done to lose weight and keep it off.

It is hard to lose weight. It takes a long time and too keep it off requires permanent lifestyle changes including regular exercise.

Recent research has identified the cause of the global obesity epidemic as passive over-consumption of modern foods that are too rich in fat and calories. See At Last - Cause of Global Obesity Identified - We Passively Eat Too Many Calories

People everywhere are getting heavier simply by eating normal food and normal meals. But the modern food we eat (since the 1970s) is highly processed and contains many more calories per weight and volume. Modern food processing has increased the calorie density of food so that its much higher than whole foods. This includes white four, bread and biscuits, white rice and packaged foods with added sugars and fats. Now when people eat normal meals, that is not fast foods, but home prepared meals, they passively consume too many calories. The term 'passive' means that people are not deliberately eating high fat and high calorie foods. Additionally both meal frequencies (snacks) and portion sizes increased substantially. Western diets, processed foods and western lifestyles cause obesity in most countries.

So people eat more, they eat more often, and most of what people eat is full of fat and calories for the same volume and weight of the food. Is it any wonder most people get fatter each year and that there is a world wide obesity epidemic?

The persistent increase in weight with age seems to be inevitable for all people including runners and those who exercise regularly.

A research study of some 22,000 men and women over a 5 year period, aged from 20-69 years, showed that their mean annual weight gain was about 400 g in women and 390 g in men. See At Last - Cause of Global Obesity Identified - We Passively Eat Too Many Calories

These weight increases even apply to people who exercise regularly.

A study of 4,769 regular runners, aged from 18 and 50 years, showed that the average male runner gained about 3.3 pounds (1.5 kg ) and increase their waist measurement by 3/4 inch (2cm) every 10 years.

Over a ten year period about 30% of the runners became moderately overweight as they gained weight every year. The study concluded that the only way to stop the inevitable weight gain was to run more and more as they got older. Running distance would have to be increased by 1.4 miles per week. This meant that runners who averaged 10 miles per week as 30 year olds would have to double their weekly distance to about 24 miles by the age of 40 years, just to maintain their original weight.

Clearly exercise helps in a weight loss program but it exercising will not keep the weight off and stop the inevitable gain in weight with age.

As the figures show exercising is a very inefficient way to lose weight and must be accompanied by reductions in food and calories eaten.

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The generally recommended daily calorie intake for men is about 2550 calories per day for men and 1940 calories per day for women. The number of calories needed varies greatly depending on lifestyle, age, weight, your body composition and your basic level of daily activity.

So to lose weight and keep it off people should reduce their calorie intake by a 20 - 25%. This is equivalent to about one meal a day, given that the between-meal snacks and drinks add an extra meal to the three meals most people eat.

This has lead some to suggest not eating lunch or cutting out one of the other daily meals see ( Quickest Way to Lose Weight - Don't Eat Lunch ). Others have suggested reducing portion sizes at every meal by 25% - eating less at every meal ( Desize Me - Diets that Work by Reducing Portion Sizes - Only Eat the Better Half ). The other strategy is to replace what we eat now with whole foods or health foods to generate the same calorie reduction.

Basically what we have to do is eat 25% LESS than we eat now ALL the TIME.

Will-Power versus Surgery

Diets don't work in the long run because:

• They are meant to be temporary BUT longterm, whole of lifestyle changes are required
• The weird foods and meals are not designed to be sustained. When people stop the diet they revert to the food and meals they consumed before and put it all back on again.
• People assume that they can diet without feeling hungry. If you eat 25% less you have to expect you will feel hungry and be prepared for a long battle to cope with the hunger
• A study of 4129 individual twins in Finland, looked at how the number of weight loss episodes of 5kg affected their final weight. It showed that dieting itself may induce small subsequent weight gain, independent of genetic factors. People who tend to gain weight, diet more frequently, fail and then put on more weight. This creates a positive relationship between dieting and weight gain in the lone term
• Diets don't deal with willpower and the psychological changes required to change behaviour, habits, eating patterns and lifestyles - permanently.

To eat 25% less, consistently and permanently requires extraordinary will power and dealing with hunger-pangs.

There is not enough emphasis on the permanent will power required. A fundamental change in lifestyle and attitude to food is required. There are no short cuts or tricks that will work in the long term.

This is why many people have chosen the "Don't Eat Lunch" approach which is easier to do and monitor than trying to reduce the portion size of every meal by 25-30%, or replace high calorie and fat foods with low calorie density foods.

The various surgical procedures for weight loss are described below. A new study conducted in Europe has raised issues about the long-term effectiveness of Lap-Band weight-loss device. It found that many patients had major complications and problems and about half of them eventually had to have the device removed. How long can people wear these devices - 10 , 20, 30 years? Should they be fitted to children?

As shown in the figures many people who undergo these surgical procedures actually put some of the weight back on in the longer term. People over-eat and stretch their smaller stomachs or they eat foods that are extremely high in calories and fat. So even after surgery will-power remains an issue.

It is known that about 5-10% of surgery patients regain weight, largely because the things that caused them to be overweight in the first place remain after surgery. About 80% of patients an upward creep in weight so that they gain 5-10 pounds. About 20% of patients continue to increase in weight. The new tiny stomach expands by 10-15% in most patients. Excess eating can stretch the stomach even more. Eating too much of the wrong foods such as high-sugar and high-fat treats can bring the weight back.

So even surgery patients are required and encouraged to change their eating and exercise habits to maintain their new weight.

How to Lose Weight Successfully and Permanently without Surgery

The answer is simple:

Develop the Willpower to Reduce your Daily Calorie Intake by 20%.
Easy to Say! Hard to Do!

Government intervention to change the calorie density of processed foods and reverse the trend that have cause the global obesity epidemic will probably never happen. However it has working with anti-smoking campaigns.

For other articles on Foods and Diets see:

Whole Foods Diet, Cooking, Recipes, Healing Powers of Whole Food

Low GI Food List and Diet Tips using the Glycemic Index

Vegan Food Pyramid for Vegetarian Diets

Paleo Diet Food List, Menu, Recipes | Caveman, Paleolithic Foods

Dieting Makes you Fat, Why Diets Fail, How to Diet Successfully

Immune Boosting Foods - Fact or Fiction?

Low GI Food List and Diet Tips using the Glycemic Index

High Protein Low Calorie Foods