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Diet Success is it all in the mind?
Why do so many diets fail? In theory losing weight is easy.
Simply eat slightly less than the body needs over a sustained
period. Yet in reality only a small percentage of people lose
weight and keep it off. And whilst it's true that most diets
would be successful if followed, many fail to acknowledge the
psychological impact of weight loss. As Oprah Winfrey once
famously said "Diet's don't work, you've got to get to the
reason that lies behind overeating." She had rightly
identified what many scientific studies had already indicated.
By changing our mental attitude to food we can change our
behaviour. Without that change in attitude there is little
chance of long term success.
The Scientific Evidence
A laboratory controlled study conducted at the Littlemore
Hospital, Oxford, England concluded that the effect of just food
restrictive, weight loss programmes were "surprisingly
ineffective as a means of achieving sustained weight loss".
That's because dieters seem to exhibit one of two distinct
behavioural styles.
Behavioural Style One. The dieter starts full of
enthusiasm only to revert to their previous eating style before
reaching their desired weight. A chart that plots the fallout
rates shows that 82% will lose heart in the first five
weeks. Typically a specific food or event would trigger the
initial break in their resolve, after which the dieter would
increasingly revert to their old behaviour.
Behavioural Style Two. Between 3% and 8% of dieters would
stick to their diet and achieve their desired weight. Then over
time - usually between six months and two years later 70% of
this group would have gained
most or all of the weight they had
previously lost. This leaves only 2% of dieters with sustained,
permanent weight loss.
This study is backed up by a substantial study conducted by The
University of London, England. Its theme was effective and
permanent weight reduction. They were evaluating the
effectiveness of combining traditional diet control with
positive psychology. Their findings overwhelmingly determined
that by combining these techniques weight loss was much more
effective and sustainable than just using a calorie controlled
diet in isolation.
For permanent weight loss combine diet and positive
psychology
Whilst many people can and do lose weight using a controlled
diet this doesn't address the psychological issues that surround
eating patterns. For example, the act of eating produces complex
'psychological anchors'that link the process to emotions like
pleasure, satisfaction, self-esteem. Break or change these
anchors and losing weight becomes much easier.
Increasingly there are a number of useful courses and
books that focus on this area. So if you are serious
about sustained and permanent weight loss, take a tip from The
University of London study and combine diet control with a
change in your mental attitude. Because based on the research it
seems that successful weight loss really is all in the mind.
About the author:
Jim Brackin contributes help, advice and articles on popular
psychology to publications such as Cosmopolitan and Womans Own.
He is used by Sky News as a body language expert and helped to
develop www.personaliteye.com a
visually based psychometric profile.
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