Certain ideas have a way of working themselves into paradigmatic status, mostly because ambiguous “evidence” appears to tell us what we want to believe. Joining the old saw “Diets don’t work” is now the belief that “exercise won’t make you thin.” But let’s look at what’s really driven these assumptions.<\/p>\n
First of all, diets DO work! Most of them really do, quite well. For awhile and if you’re completely compliant.<\/strong> <\/em>Somebody buys a new diet book, loses weight the first month and announces they’ve found THE one new diet that really works!! Well, get back to me in two years and tell me how well you’ve maintained that loss. Tell me how that diet completely changed your life and how solidly well-established your new lifestyle habits are. Then check back with me again at the five-year mark. I’ll be so happy for you, I’ll write a book for you.<\/p>\n Diet’s “don’t” work for two reasons. First, we can’t stay on these “programs” for very long. Most people innately think of a diet as something they go “on” and there will be a time when they will go “off.” We use up years of our lives going “on” and “off” diets of all kinds. When someone gushes effusively over their fabulous success with a recent diet, I admit to a bit of snarky eagerness to see where they are way down the road. The long-term success rate of any weight loss attempt is ridiculously low, like a percentage in the single digits.<\/p>\n The second reason why diets don’t appear to work is because of our own bodies and minds. It can be extremely difficult to find the right combination of diet and exercise that will result in the response we want. It can be so difficult that we begin to believe it’s the regimen that’s faulty and flawed—but really, it’s the mystery of these black boxes we all live in. It can be very tough to keep trying until you find something that works for you and that you can stick with!<\/p>\n I’m pretty amused by the whole “exercise won’t make you thin” dust up. It’s an interesting conclusion to make based on the studies that have been conducted. For the most part, test subjects engaged in certain types of exercise regimens without making any changes to their diet.<\/em><\/strong> And what a shock! They didn’t lose tons of weight! \u00a0 Human physiology has not changed. It IS still about taking in fewer calories and expending more energy. What do you think is happening to the people on Biggest Loser when they exercise for hours and hours every day? It’s an extreme and rather ridiculous example that the math has to add up and for most people, exercise they might introduce into their lives won’t be sufficient to compensate for a calorie intake that still exceeds their energy expenditure. Somehow, we just don’t want to believe that truth. We’re hoping there’s some magic secret we’ll stumble upon and it will unlock this great mystery and everyone will be able to manage their weight with ease and minimal effort.<\/p>\n My situation right now is an interesting example. My weight was completely stable for about seven years. Obviously, I had developed a lifestyle of eating and exercise that maintained the formerly very obese me at half my highest weight. It took an extended period of extreme inactivity to throw off that balance, resulting in a regain of about 20lbs. Maintaining my diet of simple whole foods, I attempted to increase my daily energy expenditure, but I wasn’t making anything happen. What worked seven years earlier wasn’t going to work now. Clearly, I needed to work harder! I can do nothing but accept that as what my body requires at this time in my life. I am \u00a0finally losing weight again but it is taking two hours of daily vigorous HIIT cardio. When I return to my previous stable weight level, I will need to carefully determine if long-term maintenance will require something different from what it did before.<\/p>\n It IS about calories in, calories out but our bodies make it very difficult to know exactly what to put into that equation for our own particular needs. We can only work at trial and error. There’s never going to be any magic secret.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Certain ideas have a way of working themselves into paradigmatic status, mostly because ambiguous “evidence” appears to tell us what we want to believe. Joining the old saw “Diets don’t work” is now the belief that “exercise won’t make you thin.” But let’s look at what’s really driven these assumptions. First of all, diets DO … <\/p>\n