Do diets work for you?

[Maria29]

Imagine this:

It is a fantastic morning - bright sunshine and warm weather. Imagine seeing the entire Greater London from above: all the 32 boroughs and the beautiful City of London. Imagine that you can see Greater London’s entire population rushing on noisy streets, making their way to work in the crowded public transport. See them buzzing in supermarkets, parks and pubs. Together they are 7.7 million people. Now, take a deep breath...and imagine 5 million of these 7.7 million people die in one year. That is 13,699 deaths per day. The World Health Report forecasted that worldwide deaths which are weight related could rise to 5 million annually by 2020.

Following the current trends, by 2050, in the UK, 60% of the male and 50% of the female population will be overweight.

• Do you go from diet to binge eating?
• Do you constantly think: ‘If only I lost weight, my life would be great!’?
• Does your weight concern affect your confidence, self-esteem and social life?
• Does your weight concern keep you away from achieving your full potential?
• Do you overeat when feeling sad, bored, angry, stressed or lonely?
• Do you feel helpless in finding a lasting solution to your weight problem?

You are not the only one! Out of the 6.85 billion people worldwide, 1.15 billion people are experiencing similar weight related frustrations.

Americans spent more than $ 60 billion on diet related products in 2009, and, in the UK, the diet foods and drinks market is estimated at £ 4.6 billion.

Well , if so many people are still overweight even after spending so much money on diets and dieting producs...there is an obvious conclusion - diets and dieting products do not work.

 

[thoomas32]

there is an obvious conclusion - diets and dieting products do not work.

weight loss is a massive problem?

 

[blessedxbeauty]

ughhhh, incorrect. diets do work, but there are a ton of people out there that think they could just buy some "miracle" product like hydroxcut or lipo6x and think that they will work without even working out. there's no miracle weight loss. what causes weight loss? diet & exercise. lots of hard work!!

 

[Ando3242]

Sure diets would work if people could actually follow them. But, in the end weight loss is simply burning more than you take in be it diet food or junk. It usually boils down to not what you are eating, but how much. Fad diets or just a regular balanced diet could give you the same results. As for exercise, if I bought a treadmill and all it did was collect dust, I wouldn't blame it on the treadmill.

There is no miracle cure, and as we all know losing weight takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and will power, no matter what the diet is.

 

[Maria29]

You are right!

ughhhh, incorrect. diets do work, but there are a ton of people out there that think they could just buy some "miracle" product like hydroxcut or lipo6x and think that they will work without even working out. there's no miracle weight loss. what causes weight loss? diet & exercise. lots of hard work!!

I have not expressed myself appropriately. Yes, consuming less calories than the ingested amount is the way towards weight loss and weight loss maintenance. What I intended to underline is the fact that crash diets are disregarding our human nature. Emotions lead us to perform certain behaviours.

The problem with diets is that those who propose them seem to think that we function like a machine. Yes, it is very easy to theoretically say that we will only have an apple for brunch, but when work or family related stress kicks in, the first thing we reach for is an yummy milk chocolate bar.

Yes, we might feel motivated to go to the gym in the evening, but, after a day of juggling work and family tasks, we deserve a treat and if watching TV and having an ice cream is the most enjoyable and easy to access form of entertainment in our life, that is exactly what we are going to do. No rocket science, is it?!

Yes, you can stop eating at night and having snacks, you can cut out on sweets and reduce your portion sizes. Great, but the problem is that you rely on your willpower to make these changes and willpower is not long lasting. As soon as you lose your willpower, you automatically go back to your old habits.

 

[biggestloser105]

Diets work when it comes to losing weight, but statistically they have a 95% failure rate when it comes to keeping it off long term.

I was not overweight as a teenager, but I wasn't thin and so was constantly battling my weight (I ranged from 130-150lbs in high school, which is within healthy BMI for my height).

In my 20's I went up to 225, hard to say what caused it, it came with a new medication that I started so it could be that. But also as a teenager I didn't have much money, but later I had unlimited money to buy all the junk I could dream of.

I was very fat for a few years, losing about 30 pounds at one point and gaining it back later.

I'm now losing it again, 50lbs down so far and another 50 to go. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it off and that scares me. So far I am noticing that by removing all junk food from my diet and environment I got unaddicted to it and stopped craving it.

But I definitely have the traits of an emotional/addicted overeater. I still want to eat for pleasure from time to time, and that scares me. I know that I'm one step away from returning to my old habits of eating candy, pastry, ice cream and other desserts and ballooning back up to a weight that can kill me.

I think this will be a life long struggle for me unfortunately, because once I reach my goal weight my maintenance calories will be fairly low and so I will always have to struggle not to overeat.

 

[Maria29]

Congratulations for trying again!

Diets work when it comes to losing weight, but statistically they have a 95% failure rate when it comes to keeping it off long term.

I was not overweight as a teenager, but I wasn't thin and so was constantly battling my weight (I ranged from 130-150lbs in high school, which is within healthy BMI for my height).

In my 20's I went up to 225, hard to say what caused it, it came with a new medication that I started so it could be that. But also as a teenager I didn't have much money, but later I had unlimited money to buy all the junk I could dream of.

I was very fat for a few years, losing about 30 pounds at one point and gaining it back later.

I'm now losing it again, 50lbs down so far and another 50 to go. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it off and that scares me. So far I am noticing that by removing all junk food from my diet and environment I got unaddicted to it and stopped craving it.

But I definitely have the traits of an emotional/addicted overeater. I still want to eat for pleasure from time to time, and that scares me. I know that I'm one step away from returning to my old habits of eating candy, pastry, ice cream and other desserts and ballooning back up to a weight that can kill me.

I think this will be a life long struggle for me unfortunately, because once I reach my goal weight my maintenance calories will be fairly low and so I will always have to struggle not to overeat.

[

Congratulations for your weight loss and for having the strenght to try again.
I wish you all the best in achieving your desired figure.
I understand how frustrating it is to see a huge FORBIDDEN FOOD stamped on your favourite foods.

I find this paragraph quite depictive for what I have been getting through:

Professor Dr David Charles Dodson is one of the millions of experts who are convinced that the overweight epidemic is generated and maintained by psychological issues which cannot be solved by a crash diet. He says: ‘Most people with weight problems have struggled to lose it for years and in the process have become quite expert in the fields of diet and exercise... yet their weight remains out of control. This implies a sort of mental block, an inability to apply the knowledge one has. For example, if a 150 lb person on a 2100-calorie-a-day diet walked for one hour a day, that person would lose 36 lb in a year: at 30 minutes a day 18 lb. Many people know this, yet how many are doing it?’

I know exactly how you feel!

I have been struggling to lose weight for 5 years. Failing so many times in keeping crash diets has destroyed my self-esteem and consequently my ability to be confident in romantic relations.

Media and the openly embraced discrimination towards overweight people have created the perfect medium for me to develop Body Dysmorphic Disorder, depression and suicidal thoughts.

I would like to share my personal story, but allow me to firstly state this:

I AM PURELY GIVING MY OPINION. THIS IS THE WAY I SEE THE WEIGHT LOSS/ WEIGHT MAINTENANCE PROCESS AND IT IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPEREINCE OF SUCCEDING TO LOSE WEIGHT and ON MY PERSONAL RESEARCH ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND PSYCO-CHEMICAL PROCESSES.

Until the age of 15 and a half, I was a happy, lively, confident and driven girl. I was always surrounded by friends.

At the age of 15 and a half, during the stressful College exams period, I started eating more than usual. In a few months my weight jumped up 11 kg. I could not fit in my clothes anymore.

As I had been a skinny girl for my entire life, I was feeling uncomfortable in my new body, so, I decided to do what everyone else was doing, including my best friend: go on a crash diet.

It was a terrible experience, I felt weak, starved, sad and irritate. I was thinking about the 'forbidden' foods every two seconds and the worst part was that, after five days of diet, I did not lose the diet-promised 10 pounds. It was my first major failure. It made me feel confused, disappointed and guilty. The magazines, the diet books and the slim girls on the TV were saying that it is easy to keep a diet and that only by keeping a diet one can lose weight.

As I had piled up the cravings for all those dieting days, I went back to eating whatever, whenever.

I was ashamed of my new body, so I continued the vicious cycle of dieting-binge eating, which eventually became inescapable.

I was fluctuating from ingesting a tiny bit of food during some days to huge amounts of food during other days.

I had tried everything: Atkins, cabbage soup, liquid diet, apple vinegar pills, lotions, gym, low fat, G.I. diet... You name it!

With every new failure in keeping a diet or maintaining the weight loss, I reinforced a lower and lower self-esteem.

I was being known as a strong-willed person and I could not bear the thought that others will see my uncontrolled eating behaviour, so I started hiding food and eating alone.

I was obsessed about my weight and about food.

I could not explain myself how I got there, but I was feeling trapped, desperate, helpless, hopeless, guilty, empty, worthless and terribly ugly and fat. What has started as a diet, has led me to Body Dysmorphic Disorder and depression. I would rarely smile. I was not the lively girl anymore. My social life had to suffer. During those times, nothing but my weight loss mattered.

My low self-esteem made me insecure in relations. I was dumped for these reasons several times and this made my situation even worst.

At 19 years old I was experiencing suicidal thoughts. At the age of 20 and a half, after being dumped yet again, I went back to eating, but this time was different. I was tired of the same pattern of experiences.

I needed to find an effective solution to permanently losing weight as diets were not the answer.

So, I started researching.

I discovered a shocking fact: Over 95 % Of The People Who Lose Weight Gain It Back.

This means that there are two weight 'losers' categories:

Permanent Weight Loss Achievers cumulating less than 5 % of those who lose weight

Permanent Strugglers cumulating more than 95 % of those who lose weight

I wanted to find out what is it that those 5 % previous weight strugglers did differently to those who are doomed to struggle with their weight for the rest of their life.

Everyone knows that there are only 2 ways of losing weight:




•A fast way - through crash dieting.
•And a slower way - through lifestyle change - Healthier Eating + Exercising.

Even weight loss surgery requires a lifestyle change.



Why 95 % of those who lose weight gain it back?

Because 95 % of the people who want to lose weight force themselves into a crash diet or into a healthier and more active lifestyle.

Anything that is forced will be rebelled against, as you have seen in my dieting story.

While on diet/ healthy lifestyle, all these people think about is the forbidden food. They hate the new lifestyle and they can't wait to finish the diet in order to eat all the things that they really enjoy eating. They feel psychologically and physically tortured. They feel deprived of what makes them happy. They need constant external motivation and support in order to consciously and with loads of effort keep on dieting or maintain the new lifestyle. So, as soon as the diet ends or motivation and support lack, they go back to their old eating and sedentary habits.

This is a typical mindset which promotes weight gain. This weight Gain Mindset makes weight loss and weight maintenance a struggle.

Why 5 % of those who lose weight never gain it back?

They experience an irreversible change in their mindset.

They create a mindset which promotes natural and easy weight loss.

They genuinely fall in love with the healthier lifestyle.

The new lifestyle becomes natural, subconscious, an autopilot drive towards healthier choices.

After understanding what the Permanent Weight Loss achievers do in order to maintain their desired weight, I managed to lose 7 KG in only 3 months without any external slimming product: no diet, no exercise, no slimming pills, no detox tea, no cellulite lotions, no potions, no shakes, no meal replacements, no surgery.

Not only that, but I was eating what I wanted, whenever I wanted and how much I wanted.

I also got back my confidence and liveliness.

I have maintained the same weight for more than 3 years now.

How can you BECOME ONE OF THE 5 % WHO ACHIEVE PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS?

Create a weight loss Mindset.


To Your Success!

P.S.: THIS IS FROM MY PERSONAL EXPEREINCE OF SUCCEDING TO LOSE WEIGHT. I AM PURELY GIVING MY OPINION. THIS IS THE RATIONAL WAY I SEE THE WEIGHT LOSS/ WEIGHT MAINTENANCE PROCESS AND IT IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL RESEARCH ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND PSYCO-CHEMICAL PROCESSES.​

 

[Maria29]

How to create a Weight Loss Mindset

You can learn how to create the same mindset and lose that extra weight for ever


How did you gain weight?

Habits (e.g.: overeating) are the visible cause of results (e.g.: weight gain).

Habits are behaviours which have been done so regularly that get to be performed without thinking/ without requiring active attention.

All behaviours have an internal cause: innate drives (e.g.: hunger, thirst) or emotions (love, fear, anger, emotional stress)

Emotions are often a result of beliefs.

Beliefs are thoughts accepted as being true facts (e.g.: eating is my only way of coping with loneliness/ sadness). They lead our behaviours in an automatic manner - they are the autopilot in our brain, they are subconscious.

Beliefs are determined by external stimuli, by experiences/ events/ situations we encounter (e.g.: being constantly neglected and feeling better only when eating).

In other words: situations lead to thoughts/ beliefs, thoughts/ beliefs lead to feelings/ emotions, feelings/ emotions lead to behaviours, behaviours lead to habits and habits lead to visible results.

In your case: certain situations led you to form disempowering beliefs. These disempowering beliefs led you to feel negative emotions. Negative emotions led you to perform unhealthy behaviours. With time, through a repeated sequence of situation-behaviour, your behaviours became unhealthy habits. As a result of your habits you acquired unwanted results.

The real cause of your weight gain is your mindset.

But, what does Mindset actually mean?

Mindset:


•Is a fixed mental attitude
•Is an inclination to do something in a habitual manner
•Is formed as a result of experience, education and/ or prejudice
•It Includes thoughts/ beliefs, feelings/ emotions and habits
•It incorporates your beliefs about yourself and about how you can quickly and successfully cope with certain experiences
•It determines how you will interpret and respond to situations


P.S.:
I AM PURELY GIVING MY OPINION. THIS IS THE WAY I SEE THE WEIGHT LOSS/ WEIGHT MAINTENANCE PROCESS AND IT IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPEREINCE OF SUCCEDING TO LOSE WEIGHT and ON MY PERSONAL RESEARCH ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND PSYCO-CHEMICAL PROCESSES.

 

[Maria29]

The Vicious circle of beliefs



Beliefs lead not only to habits but also to something I like to depict as "Weight Gain Feeders".

Your Weight Gain Feeders are nothing but your beliefs and choices in life. Your beliefs have led you to make certain choices and have certain expectations in life. Choices and expectations confirm and maintain your beliefs. We always settle for what you believe we deserve.

For example, if abuse has led you to believe that you are unworthy of love, this will be reflected by the type of romantic relation you choose. You are more susceptible to accept being neglected or abused, because, as you believe that you are unworthy of love, you have no expectations for a loving relation. Staying in an abusive relation will maintain your belief, as abuse will make you constantly feel unworthy of love. If you have always found comfort from abuse in eating, this habit will be perpetuated because of this abusive relation you are trapped in.

Examples of Weight Gain Feeders:


1.Your past and present choices in life: lousy/ abusive romantic relation, boring job, diets obsession, fear of being yourself, feeling like a victim, self-imposed isolation, shyness, shame of being different, self-hatred, etc.
2.Your future expectations: no hope for having a fulfilling romantic relation, no hope for finding an enjoyable job, no hope for being truly, madly, deeply happy, etc.

Example of situation- visible results chain:

As a child, Mary has been constantly physically abused by her father. She believed that she was unworthy of being loved. She felt insecure and she hated herself. She found comfort in eating. She gained weight. Her self-hatred made her seek for constant external approval and love from others. She accepted an abusive partner just because she desperately wanted to have someone in her life and because she was afraid of not finding someone else who would want to marry her (weight gain feeder). She worked for 20 years in a job in which her boss has never appreciated her (weight gain feeder). Now, in her 40's, she still feels unworthy of being loved and her only comfort/ escape/ joy is eating.

What does this mean for you?

Your current weight is the result of your mindset.

Beliefs are thoughts about yourself and about how you can successfully cope with certain experiences.

Beliefs are the root of your mindset.

Your beliefs were learned and can be changed.

How to achieve a weight loss mindset? Simply, change your beliefs.

Why diets don't work?

Diets require you to rectify our habits, not the reason why you perform those habits. They force your willpower/ motivation. As soon as motivation is gone, our beliefs lead us straight back to performing the same deeply embedded habits.

They do not address the cause of the habit.

In conclusion, by changing your beliefs, new feelings, new behaviours and new habits will naturally follow. By having the right beliefs, you will achieve an automatic predisposition towards healthier habits and you will acquire a mindset which will effortlessly lead you to Permanent Weight Loss.

Summary

Now you understand: why diets cannot work on the long term, why your mindset is the real cause of your weight gain and why creating the right beliefs is the only way to achieve a weight loss.mindset.[/CENTER]

P.S.:
I AM PURELY GIVING MY OPINION. THIS IS THE WAY I SEE THE WEIGHT LOSS/ WEIGHT MAINTENANCE PROCESS AND IT IS BASED ON MY PERSONAL EXPEREINCE OF SUCCEDING TO LOSE WEIGHT and ON MY PERSONAL RESEARCH ON COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY AND PSYCO-CHEMICAL PROCESSES.