The Death of Dieting: Why Diets Are Out of Fashion

There is a fine line between what is a diet and what is a lifestyle. I follow the paleolithic diet, but do not consider myself to be 'on a diet' because there is no sense of time limit. Semantics make this a difficult one to nail down because 'diet' can mean simply the composition of one's food intake or the restriction thereof. So whilst I am restricting what I eat, I am not doing so with the intention of losing weight, which is the commonly understood definition.

I'm cautiously optimistic that this is good news! People returning to real food, sensible eating and long-term healthy habits has got to be a good thing.

My one concern is that perhaps, with growing rates of obesity, more and more people are seeing being heavily overweight as inevitable and normal ... and thus not trying to get back to a healthy weight.

No more fad diet books is definitely a great sign, though!

Diets never work! They make you rebell and binge and you end up hating yourself. Moderation is key and do things that will motivate you and make you feel better. I purchased a makeup kit from It Cosmetics.com that makes my stomache appear smaller and that made me feel more confidant and modivated me to work out harder. Ive recently lost 35 pounds, 20 away from my goal. I feel great and I dont deprive myself from anything that I want! NEVER DIET!!!!

I think that maybe people have become skeptical of popular diets because of the increasing number in the media that claim to make you lose weight fast. It was more believable 10 years ago when Adkins was the only one out there making claims, but now I can't even name all of the fad diets.

Also, we are seeing so many reports of people who went on these fad diets only to gain all the weight back (plus more). Some people have experienced this first hand and no longer trust these so-called doctors with their miracle diets.

Absolutely, we are in a sociatey that is over saturated with all these diet methods. And the most common issue among them all is they focus on the symptoms (the weight) rather than the cause (the lifestyle). I think I made where I stand with regards to this issue clear with my choice of name. NoDietNeeded :)

cheers

Lots of people have tried so many "diets" during their lifetimes that they're finally realizing that most diets are pretty similar in nature: they usually restrict what you can/can't eat and just put a different spin on the same ol' thing: eat less food, period. Plus, with the advent of internet tools that let you figure out how many calories are in various foods, it's becoming easier to make up your own eating plans to lose weight.

I learned years ago that fad diets don't work. I am following the flex program on Weight Watchers and hopefully, finally, as a senior I am learning how to eat for the rest of my life. The kitch that they are promoting a lifestyle, not a diet is really true. I deny myself nothing that I want, but it is teaching me to make choices. I have done the "diet thing" off & on my entire life. Now at age 69 I am finally learning how to eat healthy and incorporate light exercise into my life.

There's so much out there and its hard to know what to think specially when you like to eat. WW and ediets and other programs are good but they cost. Ive been using one at drgourmet that's free and has lots of great recipes. Losing weight is all about cooking and eating fresh food anyway.

http://www.drgourmet.com

CG

Any weight loss pill or diet supplement will assiat us on our weight loss plan, we still need to exercise more and eat healthy .

Cheers,
Ms Weight Loss Pill
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I'm with Spectra here. You do have to increase activity or decrease calories (or both) to be successful but nowadays with savvy 'former' dieters, it is easy to figure out how to do that on your own. I think focusing on the behaviors that lead to better food and exercise choices will have the best chance at lasting effects.

Or, maybe NAAFA.ORG has been winning more converts..

This nonsense about diets not working is silly. Most people's problem is that they don't know how to diet to address the psychological hurdles faced by most dietiers, e.g. the monotony, a bleak future of boring food, etc.

Many have found dieting approaches that include weekly "cheat meals" allow them to lose weight while still enjoying a big meal of the food they crave every week.

Lyle McDonald and Tom Venuto both offer dieting approaches that have proven highly effective for thousands of people.

Atkins was a big flop because when it comes down to it nobody wants to say goodbye to bread and pasta for the rest of their lives.

I personally lost over 30 lbs of fat using Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. Of course, Tom's approach won't be popular because he requires you to (gasp!) lift weights.

I think the word diet is the problem. More focus should be on the term lifestyle and then people wouldn't have to come off their "diets"

I agree that the word "diet" is the problem because the assumption is that when you reach the goal, you will go off the "diet." What needs to happen is a lifestyle change.

That being said, my husband, who is diabetic and borderline obese, and myself, a moderately overweight woman (about 20 lbs.) have been on the South Beach Diet since late June. He lost around 20 lbs. I lost 12. My husband's diabetes is to the point where he will need to dramatically readjust his meds or even discontinue, under a doctor's advice.

After Phase I, which is a 2-week period where carbs are severely restricted, we have been on Phase II for about 2 months. We are eating lean protein, plenty of vegetables, fruits, some dairy, and whole grain bread and other unrefined carbs. We are satisfied and maintaining this way of eating -- for life! This is the way people are supposed to be eating -- avoiding fatty foods and empty refined carbs such as sweets, white breads, etc! It is not a "diet," but the way we should be living.

I know this is a sad statement to make about our society, but I believe that the majority of people have given up on losing weight.

People like to eat fried chicken, pizza, cookies and ice cream. And people love drinking soda and beer. And, now eating these types of food are just part of our culture.

I think there is a sense of learned helplessness in regards to lose weight. People tried and tried and now they have just given up.

By the way, all the diet books of the last 30 years all say the same thing (although I've only read about 15 or so).

Everybody says eat salmon and veggies, but each book says eat them for a different reason. One book says eat salmon for the Omega 3's, one book says eat them for the protein, one book says seafood is better than red meat, one book says eat salmon to regular blood sugar, another book says eat salmon for depression.

I keep buying nutrition books hoping to learn something new so that I can share it with clients, but all the books I have read in the past 5 years are rehashed and re-packaged ideas for the past.

There will inevitably be more big diet books, because exercise and dieting is an industry of motivation. So the next person to figure a structure and marketing plan that motivates people will be a big success.

You're speaking the converted, Jim... it's what my whole website is devoted to, helping people learn to live instead of diet, learn to love food instead of fear it, learn to treat their bodies as something to love instead of something to fear and hate (after all, it's really difficult to do something good for something you hate), to strive for health instead of thinness.

Sure hope I'm contributing to the demise of diet fads.