Exposed: The 95% Dieting Lie Thats Keeping You Fat
Repeat a lie often enough and people take it as truth. This describes the plight of the hackneyed statistic that 95% of all diets fail.
Writers still tout this number as "Paul’s Gospel" even though this study happened over 50 years ago. Dr. Albert Stunkard, Emeritus Director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, crafted this investigation in the 1950’s.
After examining 100 dieters, Dr. Stunkard found that only two people out of 100 sustained their ideal dieting weight after two years.
Much in the world of dieting has changed since then, and new research heralds more change. Even Dr. Stunkard is a part of these advances. In 1996, he participated in a study that concluded that yo-yo dieting, or weight cycling, does not adversely affect the body’s metabolism or body fat distribution.
Other dieting insights published in the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter discussed the finding of researchers at the University of Kentucky.
The investigators collected data from 29 weight-loss studies involving thousands of dieters. These participants followed detailed meal-planning instructions that lasted from eight to thirty weeks.
Five years after dieting, people kept off an average of about seven of the pounds they had originally lost. This is noteworthy, considering that many people naturally gain weight with age.
The study further demonstrated that those who exercised the most frequently kept an average of 33 pounds off. Yet, the people on stringent calorie restricted diets tended to lose an average of more than 40 pounds and, five years later, kept off only 15 of the pounds they lost.
To further expound upon the determinants of dieting success, psychologist Andrew J. Hill questioned the belief that dieting makes a person fat and published his finding in the British Journal of Nutrition.
As Hill- a lecturer at Leeds University School of Medicine at Leeds, England-sees it, we’ve oversimplified the environmental, social and psychological factors that influence our self-image and weight. Also, would-be dieters too often assume that thin people never diet, when in fact, these svelte folks may be dieting experts.
Similarly, Erin Putterman and Wolfgang Linden investigated whether dieting for health or vanity creates the negative situations associated with chronic dieting such as fasting and purging.
Their findings, released in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, concluded that when health-consciousness inspires a woman to diet, she is less likely to engage in desperate dieting attempts.
Skinny Fat Chicks aims to expose self-sabotaging dieting habits of women while offering methods for sustaining dieting motivation for life.
In short, it proposes that women who failed at dieting have failed to resolve three critical issues- their identity crisis, educational crisis and celebration crisis.
Excepted from Skinny Fat Chicks: Why We’re Still Not Getting This Dieting Thing by Naweko San-Joyz
Are you a pro at yo-yo dieting? Let Naweko show you how to go from slob to sexy using the secret mind tools that even fitness models won’t tell you about. Get the real scoop on how to lose weight and keep it off at Noixia.com, home of "Skinny Fat Chicks: Why We’re Still Not Getting This Dieting Thing" ISBN:0974912212.
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Is Emotional Eating Causing You to Blow Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan?
You’ve done everything right this time. You’re eating lots of salad, fruit, and protein; using only low fat dressings and even staying away from white flour and refined sugar.
But then?you have an argument with your spouse. You are bored, stressed, depressed and giving up. You walk by the pantry and see nothing that will satisfy the sudden urge for sugar, salt, potato chips, candy, or whatever your particular poison of choice. So you go down to the grocery store and find what you need, go home and pig out! Maybe you don’t need to go to the store… maybe you’ve thought ahead because you knew this moment would come and you have a secret cabinet with all kinds of binge eating goodies!
Ok, well that might be a little dramatic. But most people have found themselves following a good, healthy diet and all of a sudden, because of some emotional upheaval, they’ve found themselves in the middle of an overeating binge. It can really blow your whole healthy eating plan. So what’s happening when you find yourself in this situation?And how can you stop emotional eating?
First of all, when you go on an emotional eating binge, strong emotions are causing you to experience stress. This is when your body goes into "fight or flight" response. You either "fight"or you "fly". All your energy is directed towards one of these responses. Cortisol is released and normally, this causes the energy exerted in fighting or flying to be replaced with an increase in appetite. You are supposed to eat to replace the energy burned.
However, in modern-day times, we are unable to follow through with the "fight or flight" response. Everything happens as it is designed to happen, except that instead of energy being burned, it is "stuffed" and we are left with an urge to eat.
So what can you do to stop emotional eating? I have found a very helpful book, "Lose It For Life" written by Stephen Arterburn and Dr. Linda Mintle, who suggest making a list of alternate activities when you find yourself in such a situation, such as taking a walk, take three deep breaths or call a friend. One other very effective way to battle these urges is to pray. As a Christian, when I find myself having a problem with unpleasant emtions, I seek release and findstrength when I turn to God. A moment of prayer can really help you find the balance you need to continue with your healthy weight loss plan.
Sometimes we turn to food out of loneliness or boredom. The same technique could apply. Talking to your friend or playing with your dog could be infinitely more interesting than stuffing your face with a cookie.
Copyright 2005 by Eunice Coughlin. Healthy Living for Moms encourages healthy living habits for moms of all ages and stages. For more information about emotional eating and other healthy living topics, check out healthy-living-for-moms.com/emotional_eating.html
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