Dieting does not work, overall unhealthy, researchers report

"Will you lose weight and keep it off if you diet? No, probably not, UCLA researchers report in the April issue of American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association. Good. Now I can go back to my Chee-tos and Red Bull guilt-free."
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Color me not that surprised by this article. People have known this for ages…yet they still continue to diet in record numbers, especially following all of the fad diets that come along. I’ve also seen people tortured because diets don’t work for them, or they’re more unhappy than ever after they’ve gained more weight back before a diet.

“People on diets typically lose 5 to 10 percent of their starting weight in the first six months, the researchers found. However, at least one-third to two-thirds of people on diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years, and the true number may well be significantly higher, they said.”

That’s always been one of the general concerns with dieting. Most people can initially lose weight, it’s keeping it off that’s the problem. Fad diets are even worse with this because they usually promise, and can sometimes backup, quick results…but the crash to your system is that much worse when the weight comes back as fast as it left.

The way to keep weight off permanently is to be all around generally more healthy, or don’t think of a diet as a short-term thing and keep it up for the rest of your life.

Anyway, onto making life changes and being generally more healthy!

Don’t cut anything out completely because then you’ll just crave it more, but eating in moderation is key. One such way to help moderate is keeping a food diary. There are plenty of free online ones now-a-days.

Another way to be more healthy is find a way to get some more exercise. Walk, run, play basketball, volleyball, join leagues, do anything you can to get yourself moving! Moving not only burns calories, but will help raise your metabolism to help your body burn more even when you’re not working out.

There are some other good tips here, which is one of the many I found when I searched Digg for other dieting articles. I prescribe to some of these myself, most importantly to weigh myself every day, and to not diet on the weekends. Also, drink lots of water. That’s not even a diet tip, that’s another tip for general health!