Weight Loss Diets - Do They Work?
The diet trap - It's a place many us have been caught up in. Amy takes us through the good and the bad attributes to look out for when it comes to fuelling ourselves for life!
I’m not about to argue that diets don’t cause weight loss.....
If you follow a plan that restricts your food intake to a level below that which would maintain your current weight, you will lose weight.
However that is not how I would judge the effectiveness of a weight loss diet.......
I have some standards for diet effectiveness that I think most women who’ve been through the diet ringer start to appreciate.
- Firstly, the weight lost should be easily maintainable.
- Secondly, the diet should take care of your physical health covering all nutrient requirements.
- Thirdly, the diet should not create unhealthy relationships with food.
- Fourthly, the diet should be very similar to the lifestyle you want to lead going forward so that the transition off the diet is smooth and manageable (no binges and rapid weight gain!).
I would argue that the majority of diets do not work because they do not fulfill these standards.
We’ve all heard the horror stories of ‘The Biggest Loser’ contestants regaining all their weight and more. Having said that, The National Weight Control Registry provides data that support that around 20% of overweight people who have lost over 10% of their body weight are able to keep it off at the 1 year mark (1). Additionally, a study into long term weight loss found that 30% of dieters had not regained all their weight after 2 and half years (2). Which is better than the commonly quoted ‘95% of all diets fail’ mantra, that is based on one study from 1959 (3). Additionally, If you can keep the lost weight off for over 2 years, research shows that you are exponentially more likely to succeed at keeping that weight off at the 5 year and 10 year mark.
However, the unfortunate truth is that most people will struggle to successfully reach that 2 year mark, or even get anywhere close. Now rather than holding a black and white stance of ‘diets don’t work’ and you should stop trying, I'd like to take a more diplomatic approach. If most diets fail then that means some diets do work! Now all we have to do is isolate what makes these few diets work and we’ve cracked it. Maybe?
Basically
Most weight loss diets do not work, this may be because they do not prioritise health and longevity. However some diets do work. Working out why some of them do may be helpful in deciding whether a diet is a good or bad idea.
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Read on to find out the good and bad aspects of diets to look out for!
Characteristics of Diets that Don’t Work
Rigid Rules
Extremely rigid diet rules and control of food, predicts weight regain most likely because it is unsustainable. After the diet has ended for people who cannot sustain their rigid dieting plan we see a gradual decay of adherence, leading to increased food intake and a slow regain of weight.
You're Not Ready
Weight loss diets don’t seem to work for certain people who may not emotionally or physically be in the right place to start out on a weight loss journey. This may include those who have had multiple failed weight loss attempts, those with depression or mental health issues, those with restrained eating habits and those with disinhibited eating habits, such as binge eating. These people are far more likely to immediately regain weight once the diet is over, perhaps due to being ill equipped to make the necessary lifestyle changes to maintain the weight loss. Unfortunately it is often people who fall into these categories that feel pressured to begin weight loss diets, which in my mind is not in their best interests at all!
Pushing Restriction
Weight loss diets that restrict food intake further if you begin to regain weight is another risk factor for a diet that will not work long term. It is obvious that the current approach is not working if you are getting the opposite from the desired outcome, weight loss. There may be other barriers to weight loss being overlooked such as your relationship with food, lack of behaviour change or lack of nutritional knowledge. If a diet is not working the answer is rarely to push harder.
Lack of Nutritional Knowledge
Just telling people to eat less kcals doesn’t seem to work in the long run. In one study those that had lost around 13 Kg during a diet were told to restrict kcals to keep the weight off but were given no guidance in how to do this. After 2 years the majority had put back on around 11 kg of the weight lost, whereas another group taught to eat a high fibre, healthy diet and not told to restrict their food intake regained much less weight.
Basically
Research shows that people regain weight after a diet if they followed highly rigid dietary rules that are unsustainable, the person dieting was not in a position to start a diet, the diet is too restrictive or the person does not have enough knowledge to maintain a healthy eating plan after the diet.
Characteristics of Diets That Do Work
Here are 6 great points to consider when thinking about your new style of sustainable eating, fuelling for your life!
Behaviour Change
The more healthy behaviour changes you make and entrench into your lifestyle the more likely you are to be successful after your weight loss diet. One study found that those who had kept weight off after 3 years had made between 5-8 behaviour changes such as mindful eating and meal regularity.
Less Sedentary
Watching lower amounts of television or decreasing television screen time seems to improve your chances of successfully keeping weight off. The national average for television watching is 28 hours per week, whereas one study found that those who successfully kept weight loss off were far more likely to be watching less than 10 hours of television per week (4).
Get Professional Help
Frequent contact with professional support is a large predictor of success of a weight loss diet. This is shown in one successful diet intervention that included small groups of 10-20 people that met 3 x per month for 6 months, 2 x a month for the following 6 months, and then once a month for next 7 years after that. Additionally they had options to contact their professionals for extra help. The people who kept weight off for the long run were those that took the initiative to utilise all these sessions and the professional help available.
Sustainable Exit Strategy
People who remain successful a year after dieting are more likely to be successful long term and this likelihood increases exponentially after 2 years. This means that your post weight loss diet strategy is more important than your actual weight loss diet strategy for your long term success. You need a plan for when your diet finishes and you need it to be sustainable for the next 2 years! This means eat enough food to make sure you can stick with your new healthy plan for the long haul. An ill planned nutrition strategy, despite being based on healthy foods, can still lead to unsustainability.
Regular Exerciser
Weight loss is significantly more likely to be maintained if you have a regular exercise programme, especially if you exercise more than the recommended guidelines of 150 minutes per week. Staying motivated and focusing on health and fitness seems to keep you on track with healthy eating too.
Good Mental Wellbeing
Not surprisingly those with lower levels of depressions and emotional disorders are more likely to maintain weight loss. It is so important to prioritise wellbeing over weight changes. Weight fluctuations, eating and our emotions are all highly linked. I would suggest working on mental health and wellbeing and ensuring you are in a stable place before attempting any weight loss plans. Even the healthy ones.
Basically
Research has shown that you are more likely to keep weight off after a diet if you have made long term behaviour changes, you watch less television, you seek professional help, you have a sustainable exit strategy, you are a regular exerciser or you have good mental wellbeing.
Let's sum it up!
Research has shown that you are more likely to keep weight off after a diet if you have made long term behaviour changes, you watch less television, you seek professional help, you have a sustainable exit strategy, you are a regular exerciser or you have good mental wellbeing.
If you would like to learn more about dieting please listen to Amy’s DediKate Eat Great chat - Episode #47 on Weight Loss Diets.
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Still wondering which diet to follow?
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