No More Diets

How do I stop losing the same weight over and over again and just keep it off? I can’t get to my goal weight because I start eating too much as soon as it looks like I am getting even close to my goal.

That’s a question I often get asked - “How do I lose weight permanently”. Many people manage to lose weight  but so few keep it off.

There may be a number of factors working against you here, separately or in combination.

1. There is the feeling of deprivation after “being good” for so long and the feeling that you deserve a reward
2. Boredom with whatever diet you have chosen
3. Rebellion against rules (even though they are self-imposed)
4. Seeing a diet as a temporary measure needed to reach a target weight rather than a lifestyle change
5. Self-sabotage where a person finds it a bit uncomfortable to experience the attention being more attractive brings.
6. Just slipping back into what you are comfortable with - your habits, how you look etc

It’s no wonder that more than 95% of dieters fail to keep off the weight they worked so hard to lose - you’re in good company.

To become one of the few who succeed, you need to

1. Choose changes to your eating and exercise habits which are you happy to live with forever. This generally means making small changes and getting used to them one at a time.
2. See weight control as a lifetime project not as a one-off goal
3. Continue to monitor your weight weekly (or even daily) and take action if you see you are slipping
4. Don’t set rules - make choices based on your own best (long-term) interests
5. Allow yourself to get comfortable with changes by going slowly and work on improving your confidence at the same time as you improve your shape

How Fast Can I Lose Weight?

This can vary a great deal. Those who starve themselves and take strenuous exercise like those on shows like the Biggest Loser can drop a huge amount of weight quite quickly but of course they are doing that under very special circumstances and with medical supervision.

A lot depends on how much you have to lose. If you are very overweight you can lose weight faster than someone who only has a few pounds to go but much of the weight loss in the early weeks will be water.

The problem with losing weight too quickly is that

a) you tend to lose muscle along with the fat. Muscle is needed to keep your metabolism running high. Lose muscle and you will start and burn fewer calories each day (muscle burns calories even when you are not doing anything). Muscle is also needed to keep your body and your skin firm and taut. So you want to preserve your muscle tissue as much as possible. This is why the Biggest Loser contestants have to keep up their exercises - not just to burn calories but also to preserve their muscle tissue.

b) you tend to give yourself a weight loss program which you just can’t keep up and live a normal life. If you are trying to lose a pound a week you can do that without affecting your life too much. If you try to lose a lot more than that it’s very difficult to eat at parties and weddings, business trips or weekends away and much of your free time will be given over to exercise. Result - you will probably give up too soon to make any lasting difference to your weight.

c) you tend to put the weight back on much quicker. This is especially true if you have lost muscle (due to burning fewer calories) but it is also because you will probably not have learned a way of eating which you want to keep going for the rest of your life. Strict diets are usually followed only until you get to your target weight (if you keep them up at all). As soon as you go off your strict weight loss program, you will pile on the pounds if you go back to eating the food and the quantities which made you overweight in the first place. In fact over 95% of people do exactly this after reaching their target weight.

In my Diet Exit Program I show you a different approach to losing weight. The best way to lose weight is to make small gradual changes to your lifestyle and habits which you are prepared to live with for ever. These changes accumulate to make a significant difference to your weight without taking over your life. Result - you lose weight steadily pound by pound and stay slim forever.

Can I Lose Weight Permanently?

Losing weight permanently is one of the hardest things - that’s because it’s easier to lose weight than it is to keep it off.

Now if you’ve ever struggled to lose weight you might think that strange - and that once you lose weight your problems will be over but over 95 people out of 100 who diet and reach their target weight gain all the weight back quite quickly (and usually end up heavier than ever).

The thing is it’s one thing to make an effort to meet a specific weight loss goal - you can see an end to your “suffering” and you have a great slim body to look forward to. But once you achieve that there’s seems to be no need to stick to your diet - and so you go back to eating just like you were before - the very eating habits that got you overweight in the first place.

So the answer to losing weight permanently is to change your eating habits (and to a lesser extent your activity habits) permanently.

Does it mean you have to be on a diet for the rest of your life?

No - in fact I would suggest giving the whole diet idea a miss even while you are losing weight.

Just examine your habits and decide which of them are contributing to your weight problems and then change these gradually one by one. Every habit you change is another step towards enjoying great health and a slim body permanently. The aim is to never have to think about dieting again because you are simply living your life just like the slim people you see around you everywhere.

There is nothing special about them - they just have different habits from you. That’s all.