If we were in a room full of people and asked the question, “How many of you have been on a diet?” almost everyone would raise their hands. If we then asked, “How many of you gained the weight back?” almost every hand would go back up. That is the constant fact of dieting, it’s a cycle.
A diet is something you do for a set period of time, like a month or a season. Immediately after that time period people go back to the habits that got them in trouble in the first place and the weight pours back on. That cycle leads to several problems.
The first problem we’ll look at is that most diets are built around removing certain things from your nutrition plan. Some diets have you remove carbs, some have you remove fat, some have you remove protein, and some have you remove almost all nutrients. You body needs those things to function properly. Denying your body the nutrients it needs is not a good idea.
The second problem is more cosmetic. The cycle of gaining and losing weight is a sure way to make yourself look older. As you gain weight your skin has to stretch, then when you loose that extra skin has to be readjusted to fit your new size. That cycle can make you look older than you are. A constant weight leads to healthier, younger looking skin.
The key is to not diet but define and stick to a lifelong habit of healthy eating. Plan your nutrition based on the following factors:
- Gender
- Activity level
- Height
- Age
- Health Concerns (this part should involve your doctor)
Once you have a plan stick to it, making only small adjustments over time as your age and general activity levels change. If you do this, you will find your weight, and more importantly, your health at a much better level.