How many stories and articles have you read that say diets don’t work? In the past week alone I have read a total of 7. That phrase I think is very misleading. In my opinion I think diets do work, some very well.
It all depends on how you look at them and what you are trying to accomplish. A diet is nothing more than a plan or program that either changes how you eat, how much you eat or how you workout. I am not talking about diet pills here as you can read how I feel about them at: Why diet pills are so popular. Unfortunately people look at diets as the solution to their weight issue and think that it will help them keep the fat off for good (this time).
Why Do Diets Work?
There are basically 2 types of diets one that restricts your food intake or one that makes you increase your exercise to either build muscle or burn extra calories.
The diets themselves do work when followed as designed. If people weren’t seeing results they would not be as popular as they are. Think about that for a minute. Do you know someone that has lost weight on Atkins or the South Beach Diet? I know many people that have followed these plans with great success. Many of them have gained their weight back once they went off the program, but that doesn’t mean that the diet didn’t do what it was intended to do. That is, make you lose weight.
When Diets Are Not The Answer
If you are looking to make a lifestyle change and not just lose weight that is when you should avoid diets. Making a change of that magnitude covers many areas of your life. Including how you view food (as fuel more than a comfort) and your notions of exercise as a useful tool to improve all aspects of your health.
This is what I like to promote as long term it is by far the most effective. It’s sad that there are no infomercials created to promote it though.
Popular Diets Plans
Here are some of the more popular diet plans and programs that are currently out there. Plug these into Google and You come up with 1,000,000 plus pages about them. If you do decide to follow one of these please use caution and do your research.
- Atkins
- The South Beach Diet
- The Abs Diet
- The Zone Diet
- Weight Watchers
- La Weight Loss
- Calorie Shifting
Change Your Expectations
Don’t expect a diet to be the solution. Even though it might work short term in most cases if you return to your old eating and exercise habits the weight will come back. People who experience this again and again are known as yo-yo dieters and that is not what you want to be. (hopefully)
If you change your expectations of what a diet means to you and what you hope to achieve by following it then you can save yourself the disappointment if it doesn’t deliver on it’s promises.
Hopefully you will realize that a lifestyle change is what you really need and you’ll take the necessary steps towards getting the healthy life that you want.
I agree that diets do work and its really the people using them that don’t work. Diets are strategies. The best thing to do is pick a strategy that fits your likes/dislikes. For example if you like bread and pasta whats the point of following Atkins?
Hey Joe,
Nice to hear from you again. You hit it right on the head. If you are going to choose a diet to follow it’s best to personalize it as best you can.
Everyone’s life is different and not every diet plan will work for you.
I have to agree that “DIETS DO WORK”. I think people feel that if they don’t see results in 2 weeks then the diet don’t work. People have to remember that it took us years to become overweight and it will take time to lose it. The only trick is having patience and not giving up. If you stick to the diet and put 100% into it you will eventually see results.
Mr. Meltdown you raise a really good point about patience being important when trying to lose weight. I think people give up way too easily.
I’ve been guilty of that myself in the past. We are a “now now now” society when results don’t come right away we label that as a failure.
In our defense though a lot of diet plans promise to see results right away. So we are set up to fail right from the start.
Thanks for your thoughts
Steve,
This article serves as a great reminder that a healthy “diet” is really not a diet at all. Instead it’s a lifestyle. This is the only way to ensure permanent results.
Sadly, most of America utilizes the “Get more while doing less” mindset, and this is why so many diets gain popularity.
Thanks for the article!
Hey Rahul,
I think people are looking for the easy way out and think that these diets are the be all end all solution.
I’ve found that people need to find out on their own that diets aren’t the answer for long term success.
I can’t argue that they don’t work in helping people lose weight though. I have seen first hand that they work when followed. But the weight comes back so quickly once they stop.
You can only say a diet works if it actually keeps the weight off permanently.
and you know why people stop losing weight, or actually gain all that weight back? because when you go ON a diet, you will go OFF it.
the ONLY way you can lose weight is to permanently change your eating habits (combined with regular exercise of course).
so i’d say screw diets and just start eating healthy.
mario
Mario I agree with your thought process. Diets won’t take the weight off for good. But they do take the weight off short term. So I can’t say they are a complete failure.
I want people to realize that a lifestyle change is the only real way you are going to keep the weight off. Sometimes they need to find that out for themselves though.
I came to this conclusion after many failed diet attempts. I did lose weight with them but it did come back.
Thanks for the comment
Steve
haha. steve. that’s exactly my point too!
for me, something works only if it doesnt stop working after a while. you know what i mean right?
cheers
mario
I think diets do work, but it all boils down to who is using which diet plan. Not all diet plans work for everyone. I have also seen a diet plan that is based on your own blood group. Pardon me, does that fall in any of the mentioned popular diet plans?
Yes, diets do definitely work. Although really depends on the diet. However, I think the reason that most people fail to lose weight when dieting is because they aren’t willing to put in the effort. They either think that the diet will solve all of their problems or they just don’t stick to it.