The Secret About Diets Thats Never Discussed
Last Updated April 3, 2018 By Brad Elgan
I recently read a study from UCLA, published in the American Psychologist entitled “Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments; Diets are not the answer”. The study sought to examine medicare’s ability to fund obesity treatments that have proven effectiveness. What did the study discover? Surprise, surprise, diets don’t work. I won’t give you the details of the study, all you need to read is the last line in the introduction: “In sum, there is little support for the notion that diets lead to lasting weight loss or health benefits.”
But this isn’t news. We all know diets don’t work. At best they will help you lose weight for a short amount of time and once the diet is complete you’ll gain it back. In fact, the above referenced study claims that one third to two thirds of people regain more weight than they lost. I can cite study after study that claims diets don’t work, but our own anecdotal evidence already tells us that.
Think about it, how many people do you know who lost weight on a diet and gained the weight back? And for those in the minority who HAVE kept it off, what would you call that? It’s success, but a different kind of success.
Those people may have dieted in the beginning, but now it’s their lifestyle. There’s no such thing as a lifetime diet.
The very nature of a diet is short-lived, so why would we diet in the first place?
Maybe because we know that after the diet is complete and assuming we’ve lost weight, we can go back to our old habits and eat whatever we want. But if you really wanted to lose weight for whatever reason, wouldn’t you want to keep it off? Why try so hard to lose weight for a short amount of time when you know you’ll just gain it back? I’d argue that it’s easier to make a lifestyle change and keep a healthy bodyweight forever than engage in a tedious diet. If you are planning on losing a little bit of weight on a diet you probably plan on gaining it back, so why bother in the first place? Your mindset should be, “how do I not only lose weight, but keep it off long term”?
The very nature of a diet is short-lived, so why would we diet in the first place?
Maybe because we know that after the diet is complete and assuming we’ve lost weight, we can go back to our old habits and eat whatever we want. But if you really wanted to lose weight for whatever reason, wouldn’t you want to keep it off? Why try so hard to lose weight for a short amount of time when you know you’ll just gain it back? I’d argue that it’s easier to make a lifestyle change and keep a healthy bodyweight forever than engage in a tedious diet. If you are planning on losing a little bit of weight on a diet you probably plan on gaining it back, so why bother in the first place? Your mindset should be, “how do I not only lose weight, but keep it off long term”?
The problem may lie in the fact that we are surrounded by too many weight loss options. On a daily basis I see ads for Weight Watchers and fat burners like Hydroxycut, Slimquick, and Xenadrine. Not to mention the countless other gimmicks available for quick weight loss. It’s easy to blame these companies and their quick solutions, but we also have to start taking responsibility for buying into these gimmicks. We all know diets don’t work. They are short term in nature, so once the diet is over, what else would we expect to happen other than gain weight?
Who Is Bernie Madoff And What Could He Possibly Have To Do With Diets?
On December 11, 2008, Bernie Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud. Bernie Madoff is currently serving a 150 year sentence for running the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history. It has been noted that he may have started the ponzi scheme as far back as the 1970’s. Essentially what Madoff did was take money from clients, deposit it in a Chase account, and use that money to pay other clients who had asked for a return on their investment. A classic ponzi scheme that worked well until Madoff himself admitted that he could no longer pay clients their “profits”. Essentially he ran out of new clients to pay old clients. The scheme worked well. For years Madoff and clients who got in on the scam early enjoyed the benefits.
However, once the pool of new clients dried up, the scheme blew up, the money stopped flowing, and the party was over. Much the same way diets currently work. Life is great when diets work. We lose weight, feel good about ourselves, brag about our results, but when it ends, the weight often comes back. Life was great for Bernie Madoff when the ponzi scheme was working, but when it ended, much like when diets end, the party is over.
On December 11, 2008, Bernie Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud. Bernie Madoff is currently serving a 150 year sentence for running the largest ponzi scheme in U.S. history. It has been noted that he may have started the ponzi scheme as far back as the 1970’s. Essentially what Madoff did was take money from clients, deposit it in a Chase account, and use that money to pay other clients who had asked for a return on their investment. A classic ponzi scheme that worked well until Madoff himself admitted that he could no longer pay clients their “profits”. Essentially he ran out of new clients to pay old clients. The scheme worked well. For years Madoff and clients who got in on the scam early enjoyed the benefits.
However, once the pool of new clients dried up, the scheme blew up, the money stopped flowing, and the party was over. Much the same way diets currently work. Life is great when diets work. We lose weight, feel good about ourselves, brag about our results, but when it ends, the weight often comes back. Life was great for Bernie Madoff when the ponzi scheme was working, but when it ended, much like when diets end, the party is over.
The Cleveland Cavaliers And Diets?!
In 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers struck gold. With the first round in the NBA draft, they drafted LeBron James, arguably one of the greatest basketball players ever. With James leading the Cavaliers, they reached the playoffs in five of his 7 years in Cleveland. They became a lock to reach the playoffs every year and contend for a championship as one of the best teams in the league under his leadership.
It was almost a foregone conclusion that they would enjoy this success and remain an elite team in the NBA. His impact on the Cavaliers was not simply basketball success either. When James was a rookie, the team doubled its number of wins over the previous year, sold out 16 home games, and saw its average attendance per game soar by 7,000 fans to 18, 288. Certainly the Cleveland franchise enjoyed the monetary effects of his presence.
However, in 2010, the party was over. James famously decided to “take my talents to South Beach”, and play for the Miami Heat. The 2009-2010 Cavaliers went 61-21, the league’s best record. In 2010-2011, they were 19-63 in the first year without LeBron James. Record, notwithstanding, the economic effects for the Cavaliers, and Cleveland market in general became dismal.
In 2003, the Cleveland Cavaliers struck gold. With the first round in the NBA draft, they drafted LeBron James, arguably one of the greatest basketball players ever. With James leading the Cavaliers, they reached the playoffs in five of his 7 years in Cleveland. They became a lock to reach the playoffs every year and contend for a championship as one of the best teams in the league under his leadership.
It was almost a foregone conclusion that they would enjoy this success and remain an elite team in the NBA. His impact on the Cavaliers was not simply basketball success either. When James was a rookie, the team doubled its number of wins over the previous year, sold out 16 home games, and saw its average attendance per game soar by 7,000 fans to 18, 288. Certainly the Cleveland franchise enjoyed the monetary effects of his presence.
However, in 2010, the party was over. James famously decided to “take my talents to South Beach”, and play for the Miami Heat. The 2009-2010 Cavaliers went 61-21, the league’s best record. In 2010-2011, they were 19-63 in the first year without LeBron James. Record, notwithstanding, the economic effects for the Cavaliers, and Cleveland market in general became dismal.
Imagine taking fat burners for a few months, and losing a bunch of weight. Life is good, you feel confident and successful that you have reached your weight loss dreams. This is the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James. Now you can only take fat burners for so long before A)You can’t afford them anymore, B)You are tired of the side effects, or C)They lose their effectiveness. You decide to ditch them and assume you’ll keep the weight off . A month goes by and surprise, surprise, you gain much of what you lost, back.
This is the Cavaliers after LeBron James. For 7 years the Cavaliers enjoyed the success that came with a superstar. But once he left, the success left with him. Once a diet ends, whatever success one may have achieved ends too.
In my research for this article, I asked many people what their plan is when they start a diet. I specifically wanted to discover what they expected to happen when the diet ends. In my unofficial research I asked 42 people “What is your plan for keeping weight off when your diet ends?” 34 people or 82% did not have a plan. 6 people or 14% said they planned on maintaining some sort of diet/healthy lifestyle/healthy eating plan, but couldn’t give me any specifics,, and the remaining 2 people, or 4% could actually tell me what their plan was for keeping the weight off.
Although this was a small sample size, I think it represents our larger society as a whole with regards to weight loss and dieting. Many people simply don’t plan for long term weight loss. They simply start a diet, may or may not have success, and repeat this process with a different diet months later when the initial diet failed.
Although this was a small sample size, I think it represents our larger society as a whole with regards to weight loss and dieting. Many people simply don’t plan for long term weight loss. They simply start a diet, may or may not have success, and repeat this process with a different diet months later when the initial diet failed.
Much like Bernie Madoff, or the Cleveland Cavaliers, we need to both enjoy our success, but also look towards the future. What Madoff and the Cavaliers failed to do was have a long term plan for success. What we need to do is begin developing a long term plan and perspective for a healthy lifestyle. The last thing we need to do is continue down the same path of diet, success, fail, diet, success, fail. Do you want to end up like Madoff , the Cavaliers, or 82% of the people in my poll, or do you want sustained long term success ?