effective diet plan for weight loss
Mostrr 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
Author Bio
Will Brink is an author, columnist and expert in the supplement,
fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively
published. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration
in the natural sciences.
His often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as
Lets Live, Muscle Media , MuscleMag International, The Life Extension
Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Exercise For Men Only, and numerous others.
He has been co author of several studies relating to sports nutrition
and health found in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as having
commentary published in JAMA. Will formerly trained high level Olympic
athletes, bodybuilders and fitness and now runs seminars for (SWAT).
He is the author of Bodybuilding Revealed which teaches you how to gain
solid muscle mass drug free and Fat Loss Revealed which reveals exactly
how to get lean, ripped and healthy completely naturally.