What do most people do when they want to lose weight? They go on a diet.
And for the vast majority, it won't be the first diet they've been on. And the reason they are planning to start another diet? Because they believe diets work.
But if that's true, why would people ever need to embark on more than one? Chantal Cooke of Beauty4Media shares how we should really think about losing weight.
"In fact diets do work, but only in the short term, and only temporarily - leading to a cycle of yo-yo dieting along with the cycle of guilt and the judgemental self-talk about being 'good' or 'bad' with food," Cooke explained.
However according to health and wellness coach Joanne Henson, author of What's Your Excuse For Not Eating Healthily? the problem is actually the whole concept of dieting, not the dieter. And this is why:
Diets are restrictive. "When something is declared off limits, guess what? You can't stop thinking about it," Henson noted.
In the words of one of the dieters Joanne interviewed for her book'; "When you're told you can't have things you immediately want them." Ain't it the truth!
Diets require food intake to be constantly monitored. "Points, calories, red and green days, fat grams, etc. So guess what? You end up thinking about food all the time," Henson said.
And that's another problem with diets. "They generally concentrate on reducing food intake, either generally or for certain food groups, so you're constantly feeling deprived," the author said.
Do any of these dieting observations ring true for you? Look out for how to properly think about losing weight in Part 2 of our story Monday.
