3 Dieting Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
As a nutritionist who was once fat, I have examined the weight issue from every angle. I have worked with thousands of clients in successfully fighting fat and I am now, myself, tiny and fit, a mere fraction of my once fat self.
A big part of the problem is that dieters do nothing to change their mental state. Your body's set point is created first in your mind. New research in cell biology shows our perceptions activate our genes, health and behavior. You can't get your body to change without getting your mind on board.
The second problem is low-calorie, low-fat diets slow metabolism, block fat-burning and stimulate appetite, making weight loss more difficult on multiple levels.
Here are three common mistakes:
1. Calorie Counting
Counting calories is one of the biggest dieting mistakes. Research shows low-calorie, low-fat diets not only don't work, they can make you fatter. The following are results of studies on calorie-restricted diets, including the very first study conducted by Ancel Keys in 1944 with 32 men following a 1600-calorie low-fat diet:*- A slowing in metabolism by at least half
- Depression
- Apathy, fatigue, lethargy
- A net gain in percent body fat
- Loss of muscle mass
- A startling increase in appetite and cravings
- A new obsession with food and cooking
- Overall weight gain
Sound familiar? The body stores fat when insulin levels rise, which results from eating refined carbohydrates, not from eating too many fat calories. Look at any impoverished nation. Adults living on bread, pasta, and sweets tend to be overweight even though they don't overeat.
2. Weighing In
Pounds lost do not always correlate with inches lost. Some people lose a lot of inches but not many pounds. Muscle weighs more than fat but takes up less space. Isn't the whole idea to become smaller around? To observe less belly flab? To see leaner, smaller hips? Who cares what the scale says if your jeans are less snug? If you are gaining muscle mass (a healthy process that boosts metabolism), your body is likely getting smaller, but you may not see big result on your scale.Weighing in creates psychological tension. Watching the scale can make it seem to take forever to see results, creating dissatisfaction that prompts a desire for comfort food for relief. If the scale does drop, nothing feels better than a sweet reward. Watching the scale creates a kind of diet-stress mentality that sets up a desire to eat.
3. Starting the Plan
One of the early signposts to failure is when a client identifies the "start" to her plan. Along with "starting" comes "stopping". Ever said, I'll start my diet tomorrow? Or, On Monday? Or, after the holidays?. It is important to be eating the best you can during all of life's interruptions: holidays (doesn't everyone give up on holidays?), a job loss, a new job, transitions, kid stress, relationship stress... because life IS all that, right?Faulty Food Logs
When I ask clients to send me their food log, 98% of the time they say, "Oh, I can't send it; this week is not typical." So what I am hearing is 98% of the time things aren't normal. If you can learn to nourish your body healthfully in any situation, you will master the art of staying healthy forever.
Always make the best choice you can. It may be a half an ice cream sundae, not a full one. It may be a fast food burger, but with no bun. A snack might be a handful of nuts instead of a brownie. Each day choose the most supportive foods available to you. This includes your birthday, holidays, and stressful days. Life is filled with reasons to be "off your diet." Whether celebrating or stressed, why not eat to feel light and lean rather than fat and lethargic?
Do you want to be slim? Change what you can today. Now. Stop waiting for the right time to start a diet. And throw out your scale and stop counting calories.
*References: The Great Starvation Experiment, by Todd Tucker, 2008, University of Minnesota Press.
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47 Comments
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Created / Updated: November 3, 2011
Awesome! I'm a firm believer that the first change needs to happen in the mind. Thanks a lot for this awesome post!
ReplyI too agree changing your mental state is the first, and the most crucial, step. If deep down you don't WANT to lose weight enough, you simply won't manage to stick with it.
I had to calorie count to diet successfully (I'm a short, small-framed woman, and I have PCOS which makes it hard to lose weight). I do agree that it's better not to, though, or not for too long at a time ... it can certainly lead to an unhealthy obession with calories, rather than with nutrition.
Ali
ReplyLow calorie does not necessarily mean low fat...and calories do count...calories in versus calories out is 95 % of the fat loss equation
ReplyI agree 100%, I think it's irresponsible to tell people counting calories doesn't help. It's actually the most important thing. If you create a caloric deficit and maintain it for the long run, you are GOING to lose weight. It's a fact.
ReplyVery cleary put! I agree 200% with all.....
ReplyWould you mind if I translate this in french and publish it on my site? With a link to your site of course!
Soan:
ReplyYes, feel free to run my article on your site - see my comment below - it ended up at the end.
I haven't read Todd Tucker's book, it sounds interesting... but, a web site on Ancel Keys contradicts what you cited here:
There's a lot of people who have decreased their percent body fat and increased their muscle mass through counting calories and increasing exercise. I'm one of them.ReplyQuito:
ReplyKudos to you on your success with calorie counting. You are not in the majority. As for Ancel Keys, his participants were subject to a rehabilitation period in which unlimited feeding was restricted so weight gain was unlikely. However after the restriction was lifted, participants ate until they "weighed 5 percent more than they had when they arrived...." and "had 50 percent more body fat." cites Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories.
Linda, I think my experiences aren't that unusual. One thing I've tallied in my food diary is calories, which was an excellent way for me to gain insight into portion size. Of course, you mean something different by "calorie counting" than I do, and most of my friends are athletic...
I'll look for Taube's book on Key's research. From what I have found about Key's project, though, I have a hard time relating it to dieting. The stress his subjects were under, for example, was quite different from that felt by people I know who are adjusting what they eat while increasing exercise. I know that per capita calorie consumption was adjusted in 1970 to take wastage into account, and the difference is, roughly, 30%. It's the only way I can rationalize 1,600 calories a day being 50% of the normal calories for an adult male in the 1940s. Plus, at an average weight loss of 25% of their body weight back in an era when the average body fat was lower, I'd guess that they lost a lot of muscle mass. That's an insane amount to lose in five months; were they were going crazy with the treadmills? I'm sure Taube's book will clear this all up for me ^_^.
I appreciate many of the points you make, and imagine you've have many success stories.
ReplyI don't think your experiences are unusual either, Quito - although I don't think counting calories works for everyone. Although tallying everything you put into your mouth can take away from the enjoyment of food, you can give yourself an idea of what you are putting into your body and thus give you an awareness and a feel for how many calories you should be consuming.
I think what other posters and I have observed about this post is the assumptions that;
a) Calorie counting does not work (no qualifier of "some", "many" or "most" people).
b) Studies show conclusively that calorie counting does not work. The research is conflicting here and also requires qualification. In looking at the braod picture, DIETS don't work as 95% of people do not sustain weight loss. When framed this way, calorie counting either doesn't work (as suggested by the high failure rate of diets) or it works better than average weight loss interventions. It's all in the semantics
c) That calorie counting is automatically tied to low calorie which automatically means low fat (as derek cleverly put it).
I've played around with this topic for years now and have come to the conclusion that under certain circumstances, calorie counting has it's place. I don't usually start there but find that clients who overeat are well served by being more aware of what they put into their mouths. The counting bit would be an adjunct intervention to a food log (an honest one as Linda puts it).
And of course, WHAT you put into your mouth - not just the number of calories you consume, is monumentally important.
In any case, I don't want to detract formt the great messages Linda has put forth in her piece. It's always great to hear differing opinions on the topic.
ReplyI'm a big believer that I'll never have the "A-Ha!" moment regarding my issues with my weight - and I'm okay with that. Learning about my own body and health is a lifetime process and the first lessons have been in throwing away the diet books, the Weight Watchers points, and the excuses, because you're right - life is always going to get in the way. It's up to each individual to make the best choices for them. I love reading your blog! :)
ReplyGreat message - it really does start in the mind. I agree with Quito, though that calorie counting does work for many. I think the key is to be calorie aware, not obsessed.
Regarding the low fat/low calorie. I think we would have to define the terms - especially low fat. If you eat a lot of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean protein and get sufficient essential fatty acids - you are still technically eating low fat. If, however you are eating high-sugar low-fat replacement foods and many refined grains, than this is obviously counterproductive.
It's great info and makes for great discussion.
ReplyI feel like I could have written this myself! All of it is so true. I especially identify with the client claim of "oh - this week was 'special'" It's always going to be something - a business dinner or a birthday or holiday... whatever.
One of the best pieces of advice I recently read was: When eating out at a restaurant, stop thinking about that event as an excuse to let loose. Instead, use it as a chance to continue your healthy eating.
With the increase in frequency that people dine out, if every dining out experience is special and what we know about restaurant portions & calorie counts, it's no wonder that folks have a huge issue controlling their weight.
Great article!
Replyand the starting.
it's all about that.
as long as it's all about TOMORROW youre never gonna get there.
Miz "goals are dreams with timelines" Fit
ReplyI agree with the fact that you have to change your thinking and that you need to focus on overall nutrition and being healthy regardless, but I have to count calories to lose weight! I have tried many times to lose weight without counting calories, and only now that I am counting am I losing weight. Also, weighing myself is kind of a motivation for me. If I know that I have to step on the scale in the morning and I want to see a smaller number, then I'm more than likely not going to eat that brownie or second bowl of ice cream. I know this may not be best for everyone, but it's definitely what I have to do!
ReplyMindset absolutely has to change first!!!
I have to watch Calories-- but severe restriction did not work for me. I increased what I was eating on the recommendation of a nutritionist, and after a small initial gain, I started losing past where I'd ever been before.
ReplyI had to get to the right mindset to be able to do that.
I disagree with your first "mistake" regarding counting calories. In the first two sentences, you claim that one must stop counting calories because this leads to a low-calorie diet. You then proceed to discuss how low-calorie diets don't work, etc. I do not think it is accurate to say that calorie counting leads to a low-calorie diet; counting calories is a way to quantitatively measure how many calories you are ingesting and then adjusting your daily caloric intake accordingly. Whether one uses this information to allocate a high, normal or low-calorie diet is the idea. Thus, I do not think it is a mistake at all or a practice that should be avoided.
ReplyI totally agree with derek. Calorie counting is just a tool. You can use the tool constructively, to learn more about foods and give yourself a set stopping point to help with motivation.
ReplyI agree too that calorie counting can be really useful to help you lose weight, but the key is not to get obsessed with it and start eating 900 calorie-a-day plans or something like that...because that WILL mess with your metabolism like you said. But if you are just using calorie counting to help you stay within a healthy calorie range, I don't see how that would hurt your efforts.
ReplyI agree with Derek too. Calorie counting defintely helped me lose weight, and didn't drastically slow down my metabolism either. That's because I didn't eat too low... I ate somewhere between 1200-1600 calories, which is appropriate for a short female like me. I also ate small meals 5 times a day.
Maybe I'm the weird one, but weighing in also helps me. It keeps me motivated. And when I am trying to maintain a weight, it helps keep me in check.
ReplyThese are good points. going along with the third one, a lot of people think that they will reach a point where they can stop dieting. Eating well should be something that continues indefinitely.
Reply"Starting implies stopping": Too true! My mom is a classical yo-yo dieter, meaning that she goes "on" diets when she wants to lose weight and when she's sick of eating healthy foods, she'll go "off" the diet, go back to eating what she was before, and gain all the weight back. That is the only reason that diets don't work; they all theoretically WORK, it's just that most people don't stay on them very long. I followed the WW guidelines to lose weight, but I had the mindset that I couldn't eat like a fat person anymore. I realized that my friends and roommates all ate a LOT healthier than me and that they were consequently thinner than me. My friends that were fat generally ate like I did. So I decided that I couldn't eat junk as much as I used to if I ever wanted to be a thin person.
ReplySoan:
ReplyI would love to see the article in French, and on your site. Feel free. I am quite fascinated by the traditional French diet and health. I was told by an obesity doctor in Bordeaux recently that the longest lived women in the world are in Toulouse, the capital of foie gras and duck fat, of course. Is this published anywhere that you know?