I was at a women's business dinner the other day and I listened to three different women talk about the virtues of the diets they were on. They all wanted to lose weight and all were eliminating some particular food from their diets. I got confused quickly and could not keep up with all of the rules and regulations. All three were convinced that they had finally found the secret to losing weight.
I smiled at one in particular when she declared that she had lost ten pounds in her first week. Her variation included ingesting pregnancy hormones along with a severe calorie restriction. She gave the entire credit to the hormones she was taking. What she didn’t realize is that she would lose weight on any diet that restricted her calorie intake. The hormones were just a way for the company to make money by selling her something.
All diets work initially because they all restrict something. The followers are led to believe that it's the extra something that causes the weight loss. That belief causes them to stay on the diet and buy that extra something. All of this is fine and many people do need a boost to get started. The rules and regulations give them the guidance they need to get into a better eating routine. Therefore, they seem valuable and harmless enough.
The rub is when the dieters get bored, hit a plateau, or actually reach the weight they desire. At some point, they realize they can't do this forever. Even the people who have told me they have so much weight to lose they need a quick jumpstart. What they don't realize is that they need the long time to lose weight to teach them how to change their eating habits. Their habits caused them to become over weight. Habits take a long time to learn and they can be unlearned, but that takes time. You must lose weight slowly in order to re-teach yourself how to eat. Eliminating foods is not going to do it because you won't want to keep those foods out of your life forever. You have to learn how to eat them in a way to enjoy them but not go crazy with them. Only time and a change in habits will do that for you.
The answer to losing weight and keeping it off forever is to eat real food with real flavor. Eat from smaller plates and bowls. The smaller dishes will keep your potion sizes smaller. Keep sweets and salty snacks in your diet in small quantities and eat them only occasionally. Cook your food with fat and salt for flavor and satiety. Just teach yourself to be normal with food and not obsessive. Learning to be in control of what you eat takes time, but the results are worth it and will last you a lifetime.
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