Weight loss

Weight loss and healthy eating is such a hot topic. Unfortunately, there are so many diets out there that it can make your head spin. What’s healthy, what’s not healthy, what’s going to make me lose weight really quickly, what’s going to help me keep the weight off in the long run, what can I afford? These are all questions that the overweight person has to think about before embarking on a change in lifestyle and diet.

Anyone who knows me will tell you how I work as a dietitian. I am not the person who will give someone a ‘diet’ and send them out the door. Losing weight is a difficult battle and it takes a lot of hard work and isn’t going to happen overnight. We learn unhealthy habits during our life and need to change those habits. It’s not something that’s easy. I tell my patients this when I see them. Some get angry that I don’t like to give out a menu plan (you can get that on the internet). I give out medical nutrition therapy, not diets. I discuss food and feelings and other things that are going on in one’s life and help the patient find trends in their eating habits. I also refer most of my patients to psychotherapists because if it was ‘just about the food’ and it was easy to change eating habits, I would just be handing out menus everyday.

I have this discussion with my patients daily. Honestly, anything that cuts calories and helps you expend more calories than you take in will help you lose weight. If my patients feel that whatever they are doing helps them lose weight and the scale goes down, I think it’s great. However, what are they going to be able to continue to do for a lifetime?

There are so many fads out there. I hate to call them fads because the majority of them work to help people lose weight. However, the question is how long can they continue to change their eating habits before they fall into the same habits that they had before they started?

I always tell my patients ‘restriction leads to overeating’, the trick is to not restrict so much that you end up overdoing it in the end. Finding balance in one’s diet is extremely important. There are many quick fixes, liquid diets, and meal plans. We have to remember what’s really important……changing behavior. Until behavior changes, weight isn’t going to.

People Who Succeeded Would Agree with You
Rachel, People who have succeeded at losing weight and keeping it off echo what you are saying. None of them named a fad diet that worked. These quotes are from the National Weight Control Registry, which studies people who manage to keep weight in control.

"It wasn't until 1984, when Michal changed her mindset and her priorities ..."

"She attributes her success largely to a change in attitude and outlook"

Read more here: http://www.nwcr.ws/stories.htm

Agreed
I completely agree with you. The national weight registry is fantastic. I always encourage people to register. What we find is that those who keep off the weight HAVE to exercise to keep it off as well as changing their diet.

98% of Registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.

94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.