The first thing we say to ourselves when we want to lose weight is, “I need to go on a diet!” However, a recently published study of 4900 people over a 1o-year period shows that “dieting” doesn’t work. The phrase”going on a diet” implies a short-term change in the way we eat to achieve a specific weight loss goal. The problem with dieting isn’t the diet. It’s what we do after the diet is over. We go back to eating the way we used to which puts the weight back on. Instead, the secret to losing weight long term is to permanently change our eating habits.

The ketogenic or “keto” diet is a way of eating that emulates our ancestors. The great thing is you don’t lose weight by going hungry restricting calories. You simply exchange the foods you are eating now with keto-friendly foods. A new book by Bill McIntosh called BodyReboot, not only talks about the health and weight loss benefits of the ketogenic diet, it also gives you all the tips, tricks, shopping lists and recipes to get started. If you are interested in learning how easy it is to get started on a keto diet, check out this FREE book offer from the BodyReboot program.

Humans are the only species on the planet who “go on a diet.” Every other species has a diet, and that diet is the natural foods that their species eats. The problem with humans is that we have wandered so far from the natural foods our species is designed to eat, it’s hard to know what we should be eating. Our ancestors weren’t obese and did not have the diet-related chronic diseases we have today. Therefore, eating like our ancestors certainly makes sense.

To achieve permanent weight loss, consider making a permanent change to your diet. Replacing your current foods with foods from the ketogenic diet is a simple and effective approach. It avoids short-term calorie restricting diets that are physically and mentally challenging. The answer is to change your approach from “going on a diet,” to “changing your diet.”

Here’s what the researchers said about dieting:

Dieting is not the answer to effective weight management, new research concludes. Indeed, people who carefully control what they eat put on more weight in the long-term, the large 10-year study found. Taking care of one’s psychological well-being is also important, as is finding a sense of meaning in life. These are the conclusions of a Finnish study that followed over 4,900 people for a decade.

The results showed that almost everyone gained weight between the ages of 24 and 34 — around 1kg per year. Men and women who dieted and had irregular eating habits put on more weight over the decade. It is thought around 50% of adults are dieting at any one time.

Ms Ulla Kärkkäinen, the study’s first author, said:

“Often, people try to prevent and manage excess weight and obesity by dieting and skipping meals.

In the long term, such approaches seem to actually accelerate getting fatter, rather than prevent it.”

In addition, women who were unhappy with their life and who drank more sugary drinks also put on more weight. For men, smoking was a risk factor for putting on more weight.

Ms Ulla Kärkkäinen, the study’s first author, said:

“Generally speaking, weight management guidance often boils down to eating less and exercising more.

In practice, people are encouraged to lose weight, whereas the results of our extensive population study indicate that losing weight is not an effective weight management method in the long run.

Prior research has shown that approximately every other adult is constantly dieting.
According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare, nearly a million Finns diet every year.

Even though dieting may seem a logical solution to weight management problems, it can actually increase weight gain and eating problems in the long run.”

Source: PsyBlog

Conclusion

A 10-year study of 4900 adults showed that dieting and irregular eating are associated with weight gain. If your goal is weight loss, dieting is not the best approach. Instead, the better approach is permanently change your diet to a style that is more like our ancestors. The ketogenic diet mimics the way our ancestors ate and a doesn’t use calorie restriction approach avoiding hunger challenges.

At the time of writing this post, we are giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book to help people lose weight and get healthy! Just cover the small cost of shipping, and we’ll send a FREE copy to your door. Go over to this page to see if copies are still available!

References

Kärkkäinen, Ulla, Linda Mustelin, Anu Raevuori, Jaakko Kaprio, and Anna Keski-Rahkonen. 2018. “Successful Weight Maintainers Among Young Adults—A Ten-Year Prospective Population Study”. Eating Behaviors 29: 91-98. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2018.03.004.