Losing weight is very hard to do, especially long term. It is sad and frustrating that only about 20% of people who begin a diet and lose weight, manage to keep to their target weight for 12 months and only about 10% keep the weight off permanently.
The major problem is that dieting is done short-term. It works for a while, but the causes of obesity and weight gain are due to lifestyles and eating patterns and behavioral in the long term. Once the dieting stops, and people revert to their normal eating and habits, the weight gain start afresh.
Dieting has to involve permanent gradual changes in lifestyle and adoption of new eating patterns that are very easy to follow and maintain - Eat Less and Exercise More. It has to be a permanent sustained change.
Many people end up permanently on diets and end up miserable for years, but they don't lose weight because they don’t change their lifestyles. Permanent Weight Loss requires permanent changes in lifestyle not temporary diets
The best way to do lose weight is by reducing portion sizes and intermittent fasting – Eat less Calories.
Only Eat the Better Half - Halve what you eat and eliminate the poor quality parts of your diet.
Track Daily Calorie Deficit to Guarantee a Weight Loss Program
We each more Often, Eat more Snacks Food and Drink and Eat Bigger Portions (Upsize Me)
A recent study reported that in the USA the average calorie intake per day for adults increased by a whopping 570 calories over a 25-year period. Most of the extra food eaten and extra calories consumed was due to 'snacking'. There were major increases in the number of drinking and eating sessions throughout the day and increases in portion sizes as well. People are eating more often, eating bigger meals and eating more snacks.
The annual daily calorie intake for adults in America rose by about 30 Calories (kcal) per day, per year over the 30 years from 1977 to 2006.
The conclusion from the study is that people simply eat too much. The secret to losing weight are reducing portion sizes and reducing the number of meals and snacks consumed.
Weight Problems and Obesity Increasing Alarmingly Despite Billions being Spent on Weight Control Programs
The frequency of obesity in America is alarmingly high, exceeding one third of people in most sex and age groups. The US has the record for the highest obesity level in the OECD.
Obesity overweight rates have risen steadily since the 1980s in both women and men. If the trend continues, 75% of the population will be obese or overweight within 10 years.
Half of all Canadians who are over 40 of age will be obese in 25 years.
The rates of childhood obesity rates are extremely high and are clearly a tragedy for health and self-esteem. Almost half of all children in American children are overweight, and nearly one quarter are obese. The obesity rate trends have declined in the last 10 years, but they are still far too high.
Obesity is predicted to overtake smoking as the major cause of preventable illnesses and death in the next few years imposing a tremendous burden on Government health programs and budgets.
The alarming increase in obesity rates worldwide has clearly demonstrated that trying to get people to eat the Right Foods is the Wrong Advice. Government Weight Loss programs and strategies are clearly not working.
The government programs such as Mypyramid and Myplate are meant to be strategies for weight loss, BUT these programs don't offer specific weight-loss plans, they merely give nutrition suggestions about the number of serving of various types of food to eat. These programs are NOT strategies for successfully losing weight. To quote from the 2010 US "Dietary Guidelines for Americans"
You only have to look at the calories burnt via exercise to see that exercise itself will not help much in losing weight.
In Australia research has shown that junk food advertising during the time when most children watched television actually increased after self-regulation was introduced.
A study of more than 75,000 women who were surveyed in 1982 and again in 1992 was designed to examine the association between weight and various food choices and behaviour.
This study showed that:
Another study of National Weight Control Registry members showed that losing weight and maintaining reduced weight levels is possible for several years. To qualify for the registry all dieters had to show that they had lost at least 30 pounds and kept the weight off for at least 12 months.
The study showed that the subjects lost an average of about 30 kg or more over the 5 year period. The strategies that were shown to help to keep the weight off were:
The key to success is Portion control - Only Eat the Better Half
This strategy progresses naturally from the diet to eating less and changing your way of life Eat Less and Become Fitter and Healthier.