I need you to do something for me dear reader. It’ll only take a second. And it’s delightfully liberating.
Ready? OK. Go and grab all your nasty-flavoured shakes, rapid weight loss remedies and magic-cure diet books.
And toss them.
Nope. Don’t even think about donating them.
Bin ‘em. Well done sister.
Right, so where were we? Oh yes, weight loss.
Conventional wisdom holds that if we want to lose weight then …on a diet we will go.
But get this lovely lady. Tremendous news. You have permission granted to never diet again. Scientific permission even.
A recent study shows that diets work for fewer than 10% of the people who use them…and that the vast majority who do diet put on more weight than before they went on it.
That’s a 90% failure rate. Read that again. It’s a big number. I need you to get this. It’s important.
They. Don’t. Work.
And here’s why.
The real reason diets don’t work is nothing to do with you being lazy, indulgent or having no will power. It has everything to do with human biology.
In a study conducted in the 1940s, biological researcher Ancel Keyes discovered that reducing people’s calorie intake to a state of semi-starvation produced symptoms of irritability, loss of endurance and obsessive behaviour around food.
The results were astounding.
The men became fixated with food. Many began smoking, biting their nails and drinking coffee so excessively, they were limited to nine cups a day.
Even more telling, in the three months after the semi-starvation ended, their obsession with food continued. Many of the people ate up to 10,000 calories a day for months after the study was completed.
To top it off, the men’s metabolisms slowed down by up to 40%.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Here’s the real shocker. The semi-starvation rations from the study amounted to 1,500 calories a day, which is more than is allowed in many diets currently in vogue.
Basically dieting sends the famine message to your brain which is interpreted as “OMG! Warning! Panic! There’s not enough food here so put every spare calorie into fat cos we don’t know where our next meal is coming from.”
Hello starvation mode, food obsession and messed-up metabolism. And muffin top.
UK hypnotist Paul McKenna summed it up perfectly when he said, “Diets are essentially training courses in how to get fat and feel like a failure.”
So there you are ladies. If you want to lose weight Do Not Diet. Not Ever. Nope Not Even Once.
So if dieting isn’t the answer … how does one shed those extra kilos?
It’s a good question. I’m pleased you asked.
Being overweight is very often an emotional issue and no diet will ever fix that. In this series of posts I’ll share a delightfully liberating non-diet weight loss philosophy which will get to the heart of the weight loss problem.
You’ll learn what’s going on in your head and you’ll lose weight by making permanent inner adjustments which will be reflected externally in your hot new bod.
But enough about what future posts hold!
For today’s post, I wanted to open your eyes to the big fat lie we’ve bought (again and again) from diet gurus.
Repeat after me. Diets. Don’t. Work.
Now you’re one of the enlightened ones. Next time you see the Next Big Thing in celebrity diets you’ll remember that they’re the enemy of weight loss.
Since one of the definitions of madness is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, I whole-heartedly encourage you to dump the diet mentality right now and explore the kinder, more freeing (and infinitely more fun) weight loss options found in these pages.
Good on you sister.
I’m leaving you with a quote from Erma Bombeck whose words succinctly remind us all of the futility of dieting.
Who else identifies with her, I wonder.
“I’ve been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I’ve lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.”
Love etc, Avril
PS: This blog does use hypnotic language. But instead of sending you to sleep it’s going to wake you up. Are you ready to ignite your inner sparkle?
🙂
PPS: Go on … do let me know via the comments section below if you’re not completely convinced about the case against diets. I have plenty more ammo in my arsenal against the curse that is diet hell!
“Teenage Dieters Are More Likely to be Overweight and Suffer From Eating Disorders in the Future,” Medical News Today Website (April 14, 2006)
“They Starved So That Others Be Better Fed: Remembering Ancel Keys and the Minnesota experiment.” Leah M. Kalm and Richard D. Semba Journal of Nutrition, Vol. 135, June 2005, 1347-1352.
