7 Reasons Why Diets Fail

By Susan Burke at eDiets.

Do you wonder why every time you go on a diet, you end up regaining the weight and sometimes even more? Then you're in bad company, because a major problem with losing weight successfully is managing to keep the weight off.

A big part of dieting is to do with what goes on between your ears, as in what you know and how you use that knowledge to your advantage. Read on to see how many of these dieting dilemmas apply to you. Change that plus to a minus - on the scale, that is.

You give food power. Food can't make you eat it. The way some people talk, you'd think a chocolate bar holds them down, forcing them to chew and swallow, too. You have the power to say no.

You think there are good and bad foods? Wrong. Food does not possess human characteristics. Food is food: fatty food, salty food, low in saturated fat, or high in fibre. You choose, and get the balance right.

You think a diet is something you go on. And then you go off when you lose the weight. For instance, "I lost 12 pounds, so now I can go off my diet." This recipe for failure means you'll most likely regain the weight, just like the 95 percent of people who lose weight and regain it.

You think you can lose weight without exercise. It's possible to lose weight without exercise, but most likely the weight is going to come right back on once you stop dieting. Increasing activity, even just by walking briskly, is associated with permanent weight loss.

You eat the same fruits and vegetables every day. That's like playing only four numbers in the lottery. You can't win unless you fill in the whole ticket. Increasing variety provides better nutrition and more phytochemicals to defeat disease.

You think that all fats are bad. In fact, some fats are health-enhancing, like omega-3 fatty acids in fish and those found in nuts and seeds. But beware of trans fat in fast food and packaged foods, and limit saturated fat in full fat dairy products and fatty meats.

You're drinking too many calories. If you think a glass of fizzy pop is bad but juice or sports drinks are good, think again. Juice has the same calories as fizzy drinks and no fibre. Eat your fruit; don't drink it. Sports drinks are usually full of sugar. Drink water and eat an orange instead.

Story of a Fad Dieter

Megan Oglivie has been on 55 diets in the past 56 weeks. Some of them lasted only a day and some others only a few hours.

She commented to the Toronto Star:

"Depending on the diet, I have either eschewed or embraced carbohydrates, given up or munched on fruit, rejected or indulged in eating meat. I have counted calories and counted steps. I have tried miracle soups and miracle sprays. I have put my faith in fat-busting foods, from apples to coconuts, lemonade to olive oil."

She's tried the South Beach Diet, Sonoma Diet, Hamptons diet amongst others. But her findings of the year-long diet-fest is that the "diet industry is a muck-filled morass, difficult to traverse, filled with false hopes and fake lifelines."

During Megan's diet-trial she realised that many diets have health implications and that if you were not medically knowledgable you could have problems with them. For instance the Grapefruit Diet has it's side-effects as it allegedly impares the absorbsion of medicines.

So whatever diet you want to try, please make sure you get the opinion of a qualified medical practioner.

13 million to be Obese in UK by 2010

In just 3 and a bit short years the Department of Health estimates that there will be 12 million adults and 1 million adults that can be classified as clinically obese.

Quite scaringly they also estimate that 22% of girls aged two to fifteen will also be obese. On these figures the Government would have failed to meet it's obesity targets.

But not that surprising is the fact that if a child has two parents that are obese then a child is five times more likely to be as well.

So by 2010 33% of men will be obese and 28% of women.

This should give real motivation for parents to encourage their children to have a healthy lifestyle. But the task to combat childhood and adult obesity isn't just one for adults and the Government, it's also one for the food industry.

Companies such as Walkers have take this to account and have reduced the fat levels in their crisps.

But healthiness isn't just obesity, it's also heart complaints, diabetes, bone development etc. We should be looking at the health of our nation holistically. Let's hope that this report proves to be a catalyst in the whole "state of the nation".

Resources:

• '13m' obese in England by 2010 - BBC
• 13 million obese in England by 2010 - Guardian
• The future is fat - Belfast Telegraph
• The obesity time bomb - Independent

The Dorm Room Diet

The Dorm Room Diet is aimed at young adult that go to university for the first time. It's a well-known fact that "freshmen" as they're called state-side put on weight when they first go to uni.

Daphne Oz is author of a new book called "The Dorm Room Diet: The 8-Step Program for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Plan That Really Works" and it encourages students to make good choices in their diet, understanding comfort eating and other pitfalls with a student diet.

She says the book "offers guidelines for creating a healthy lifestyle on your own, without the daunting restrictions of a diet. Most of us eat not only when we're hungry, but also when we're thirsty, bored, sad, or happy."

A few of the tricks she discusses in her book are:

1. Drink a glass or two fo water before every meal.

2. Try not to eat when you're distracted such as watching TV, going on the internet or at parties as you're more likely to eat junk food.

3. Don't eat less than two hours before you go to bed.

You can get the book at Amazon.

South Beach Diet Books

Here's a list of books from Amazon that you may want to get if you're embarking on the South Beach Diet.

The South Beach Diet Good Fats/Good Carbs Guide (Revised): The Complete and Easy Reference for All Your Favorite Foods by Arthur Agatston and Arthur Agatson (Paperback - April 2005)

The South Beach Diet Cookbook by Arthur Agatston (Hardcover - 1 Oct 2004)

The South Beach Diet: A Doctor's Plan for Fast and Lasting Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston (Paperback - 7 April 2003)

The South Beach Diet: Good Fats, Good Carbs Guide by Arthur Agatston (Paperback - 19 Aug 2005)

The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less (Random House Large Print Nonfiction) by Arthur Agatston (Hardcover - 8 Nov 2005)

The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston (Mass Market Paperback - 19 April 2005)

The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston (Paperback - 19 April 2005)

South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet was created by the cardiologist Arthur Agastson and emphasises the intact of "good carbs" and "good gats" as he wished to develop a diet for cardiac patients and then became a book.

Frequently the South Beach Diet is categorized similarly to the Atkins diet which mainly advocates a low-cobohydrate diet.

The main premise is of the South Beach Diet is that excessive consumption of "bad carbohydrates" such as those that can be found in foods with a high glycemic index (see eDiets / Tesco Diets) can create an insulin reistance syndrome. This condition means that the body can not correctly process fats or sugars. He also asserted that it would be improper for those looking to loose weight to have a diet exessive in saturated fat or trans fats as this leads to an increase chance of getting cardiovasular disease. As such, the South Beach Diet encourages the reduction of bad fats, bad carbs and the increased intake in good fats and good carbs.

There are three phases of the South Beach Diet. However, during all of the phases, consumption of the "bad fats". But in the first phase lasting two weeks the dieter trys to eliminate insulin resistance by avoiding high GI carbs such as sugar, sweets, bread, potatoes, fruit, cereals and grains. It is stated that during this phase the body should lose its insulin reistance and begin to use excess body fat which could amount to half a stone to a stone.

After this phase, the second means that you can have grain foods and fruits again although less than you had before you started the diet. When you're happy with your healthy weight you move into phase three.

This third phase is a more expansive diet where you can have three servings of whole grains and three servings of fruit a day.

But we've been talking about "good carbs" and "good fats". But what are they?

• Good carbs are high in fiber or high in good fats, and have a low glycemic index, that is, they are digested and absorbed slowly. Other preferred carbohydrates are those with more nutritional value than the alternatives. For instance, brown rice is allowed in moderation, but white rice is discouraged. When eating any carbohydrates, Dr. Agatston recommends also eating fiber or fat to slow digestion of the carbohydrates.
  
• Good fats are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, especially those with omega-3 fatty acids. Saturated and trans fats are bad fats.

The good element of this diet is that it encourages a permanent change in a diet and is not a crash diet. Also you have a variety of foods to have. You're not restricted to any one food group. Also you don't have to count calories or points.

Does it work?
A 2004 study of the South Beach Diet by Agatston, et al., reviewed a 1998-1999 trial completed by 54 participants over the course of a year and also a study of the South Beach Diet was conducted in 2005 by Kraft Foods was completed by 69 subjects over the course of just under three months. Both studies showed favorable results for the groups using The South Beach diet as created by Agatston.

South Beach Diet Books:
The South Beach Diet: A Doctor's Plan for Fast and Lasting Weight Loss (Paperback) by Arthur Agatston. Only £3.99.

Other South Beach Diet Books.