A common expression is that we are “going on a diet.” The phrase suggests that, like a vacation trip, there is a beginning and an end. We dream of the day we will reach our goal weight and how wonderful it will be when we don’t have to lead a life of painful deprivation.
In the back of our minds is a comforting little tape that promises that when our weight-loss campaign is over, we’ll be able to stop counting calories, carbs, or fat. We long for the day when we no longer have to grit our teeth when refusing a favorite dish that always makes us salivate in our sleep. We reach for the carrots and celery sticks without anticipation or enthusiasm as we torture ourselves with visions of the special treats we’ll enjoy when the diet is over.
Hello?
Allowing ourselves to think of a diet as a delimited and restricted period within our total lifespan is a sure way back to the tent city (which refers to what we wear, not where we live). To have any hope of permanent weight control, we must approach it as a lifelong effort, watching our intake day after day, week after week, year after year.
You feel your heart sink into your chest. You think: “If I have to live like this all the time, it’s just not worth it!” That little voice promises you that you are different. You can relax because now that you know how to lose weight, you can do it whenever you want. Put on five pounds and you’ll be back on your diet and back on target in no time.
But you will not! Think about your proven weight history. We all believe that once we have lost weight, it will be very easy to go on a short diet if we gain a few pounds back. It doesn’t work that way though, right? We start to gain a pound here and a pound there, but then some special events are coming up and a diet would be very inconvenient. We don’t “do” our diet again until we’ve gained enough weight to develop the self-disgust that warrants another period of severe deprivation. We’ve become a full member of the yo-yo club, that vast majority of dieters who can’t keep the weight off for more than a few weeks.
The reasons why we “on” and “off” diets are numerous: they are boring, depressing, and very uncomfortable. They set us apart from friends, family, and co-workers who continue to eat, eat, and celebrate. We feel how diets make us feel and how they impact our daily lives.
Let’s look at the whole picture from a different perspective for a minute.
Instead of “a diet,” imagine a way of eating that involves living on a diet for the rest of your life. While the prospect may attract you, don’t say you can’t do it yet.
First, consider another general concept that many of us accept. To lose a substantial amount of weight in a relatively short time, we need to select the diet that feels right for us and then follow it, religiously, until we’ve reached our goal.
Now let’s take these two concepts, squash them, and then invert them.
We are not “going on a diet.” We started our diet for life. Then we choose a diet, any diet, and commit to sticking to that diet for one week, and one week only. At the end of the week, we will choose a completely different diet to which we again commit to only for a period of one week. This goes on for pretty much the rest of our lives with select diets changing on a weekly basis.
What does this achieve? A lot of things:
1. By selecting a different diet each week, you remove those common doubts that maybe we should have gone in a different direction. We worry that we are not getting the right nutrients or that we will get sick or develop a rare disease. We read the diet ratings and panic at the warnings posted for all the popular programs. With our new approach, you don’t have to worry about whether you made a good or bad decision because you will make a new decision in a week.
2. If there are particularly painful “No-Nos” in this week’s diet, resolve to try something next week that allows for a currently prohibited fruit. For example, a mostly protein regimen has proven successful for many participants who often lose five to ten pounds in a week. However, they miss the vegetables and salad they enjoy. Next week could be an all-veggie and salad routine, also successful for quick weight loss but a little poorer in the protein your body needs for self-repair.
You may find yourself craving good bread later, so switch to the Subway diet for a week until your craving is satisfied. Move on to something completely different: the cabbage soup diet or liquid smoothies. Since there are literally thousands of diets, some are sure to include the food you crave.
You will never be more than a week away from having what you feel you absolutely must have to keep going. You can include spartan fad diets that move fat fast and you can include calorie counting or Weight Watcher diets that allow for just about anything, as long as you adjust your intake to stay within specified totals.
3. Frequent changes in your eating patterns throw your body out of balance. Give the body plenty of time and advance notice and it will adapt to anything, turning protein into carbs and storing even low-calorie carbs as little pockets of fat. By completely changing what you eat on a regular basis, the body stops trying to figure out how to frustrate you and spends its time efficiently processing what you give it. He’s effectively using his smart little mind to outmaneuver his not-so-little smart body.
4. Constant changes force you to buy food in smaller packages. It is pointless and wasteful to buy those family packs of anything. That will help you with overall portion reduction, a must for any dieter. Your shopping goal is to only buy items that you can consume in a week. If you see something you want in particular but it’s not on your allowed list, make a mental note to find a diet for the next week that can accommodate it.
5. The need for a new diet every week requires you to read and research many diets. Reading acts as a reinforcement for your goals and will ensure your continued education on nutrition and fitness. When you see something that intrigues you or just makes a lot of sense, give it a try. Perhaps a week involves only slightly restricted eating but requires a lot of exercise. Cheer up, it’s only a week.
6. You are in the happy position of having ample options available but also the necessary structure of an organized plan to follow. Regulated feeding is part of the diet for each week; the power of choice is operative when you decide what the next week’s program will be.
7. Can you follow a diet permanently? Yes you can, because you are not restricting yourself from anything for life, just for a week at a time. Should you be on a diet for the rest of your life? Yes, you probably should, as long as you’re getting a balance of foods from a smart mix of alternative diet plans. If you like one diet more than another, or if a particular program works exceptionally well for you, by all means, make that diet part of your routine on a regular basis. Just make sure you don’t use the same plan more than once a month or your body will be ready for it and Zap! you find that it no longer works so well.
8. Can you exceed the diet? We’ve all seen (although they seem to be harder to find these days) cadaverous, overly thin dieters with sunken cheeks and loose skin. That can be avoided by making your selected diets very diverse so that you never run out of necessary nutrients for long. For example, many retirement homes and assisted living cooperatives produce thin elderly people with pale skin and protruding abdomens. Replace your bland, starchy meals with any of the myriad diets rich in protein and vegetables and fruits and your color will improve, your energy will increase and your stomachs will plump.
9. Can you ever be too skinny? Visit an eating disorder center and you will see the results of anorexia nervosa, it is not a pretty sight and it is very dangerous from a medical point of view. If you have a history of being overweight, you may be telling yourself that being too skinny is never in your cards. However, it’s not uncommon for heavy perennials to become anorexic from too many diets, with the consequent anxiety to get back even an ounce of the meat they so painfully discarded. If you have a distorted body image and trusted friends are concerned that you’re too skinny, seek professional help.
10. It all comes down to using your brain wisely. When you’re at your heaviest, with more to lose, the logical choice is a fairly Spartan program that will make the fat move fast. As you lose, more moderate programs can be interspersed to give your skin and cheeks a chance to tighten and fill out as weight stores are redistributed. If a particular part of your body is resistant to reduction, exercise may become a bigger part of your plan than just a dietary approach. Once you’re hovering around your goal weight, simple calorie counting or joining a support group may be all you need.
The secret is to be rational about everything and use that wonderful mind of yours to set the program for your not-so-smart body with its insatiable appetite and craving for weight conservation. Don’t try to cheat unless you want to cheat yourself and then be honest and admit that, for whatever reason, you want to avoid further weight loss. When you want and need to lose fifty pounds, a diet of ice cream and chocolate is not rational. When you’re at or below your ideal weight, a strict fad diet doesn’t make sense.
Will all this mixing of diets result in consistent weight loss? There is never consistency in weight loss because too many factors are involved: water retention, digestive inefficiencies, the amount of energy expended, and individual body quirks. Over time, you will lose constantly, but there will always be ups and downs along the way.
Once the concept of “going on a diet” has been discarded, you can adopt a lifelong eating plan, guaranteed to leave you in control of your weight for the rest of your long, lean life.
