Nearly 90% of all dieting efforts fail. That's right—90%! While there are numerous reasons for so many broken dreams, today I’m focusing on just one that I believe to be of primary importance.
So many diets fail because people on diets are hungry.
Seriously. That’s it. People on diets are hungry. And people who are hungry cannot remain in a state of deprivation indefinitely. They will “cave.” They will “fail.” And then they’ll feel like failures, eat to soothe themselves, and start the entire tortuous journey of deprivation all over again. And probably at an even higher weight than when they started. Does anyone out there identify with this cycle? I know I sure do.
A 2007 survey from a research division of Yankelovich, Inc, revealed that at any one time, almost two thirds of Americans were on a diet, two out of three people admitted that hunger caused them to cheat on their diets, and 56% of dieters felt there were times when they were “starving themselves to death.”
"Well, isn’t this the logical payback for all those years of overeating and lack of self-discipline?" you might ask. The answer is a resounding “No.” You don’t need to suffer to lose weight, and you certainly don’t need to punish yourself. Endless suffering is not a recipe for long-term success, and it certainly is not life enhancing.
What you do need, however, is to make better choices. To modify some bad habits. To increase your consumption of nutritious, unprocessed, whole foods that provide you with the nutrients you need. And to eliminate foods that spike your blood sugar, pour insulin into your bloodstream, enhance your hunger, and increase fat deposition. But you do not need to suffer.
OK. So now that we’ve agreed (I’m an eternal optimist) that you have some new choices to make about the foods you consume, what's your next step?
I’m going to leave that up to you.
I’m inviting you to send me suggestions for which topics you’d like to know more about. You can choose one of those listed below, or come up with one of your own. And then I’ll write future blogs about those that garner the most interest.
Here are some options just to get you started; you fill in the rest:
The biology of weight gain/loss
Best foods for health and well-being
Foods to eliminate for better health
How exercise promotes health
Best lifestyle habits for healthy aging
How getting enough sleep influences hunger and overall health
How stress management supports weight loss efforts
The power of meditation and stress management to support a healthy lifestyle
Just send your suggestions to sandy@sculptyourhealth.com or post a comment below.
Talk with you soon!!