Thread: Most dieters end up gaining weight

Here is an interesting story in today's Mail online...





http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1309882/Dieted-recently-Research-shows-women-gain-weight.html#ixzz0yukjnd5p

I suspect that it's not just women though Amanda.

Only 4 in 10? I would have thought it was much much higher than that. I dont beleive 60% of the people that go on a diet keep it off. Dieting is the devils own work, once you start one you will always be on one. As we can all testify no doubt lol

MMM, well does maintenance count as a diet Lynn?

Jim, in my experience, yes. When I stopped dieting, I gained a stone, so am back on the diet!

well, tbh I thought it was worse; if 6 in every 10 women keep the weight off long-term it's a very positive thing.

About what Lynn said I understand what she means. I'm very short, so I have to exercise everyday (or almost) and be carefull with eating to keep the weight stable... So, sometimes it may feel like a non-ending diet, but after some months/years it becomes second nature and we start doing it naturally.
In my mind I'm still between diet and maintenance mentalities (althought the weight hasn't been changing more than 4lbs over or under my usual).

I think its mind set as well though, if you see it as a diet then it will feel like one, i see it as a whole lifestyle change and feel so much better for it! Fingers crossed i keep it up lol x

The most commonly agreed-on figures I have found over the years - and again, recently - are that between 95-98% of all dieters regain the weight within one year, and usually gain around a stone, more.

Slimming clubs, magazines, diet plan companies, etc never publish success/failure rate figures. They want people to keep coming back. Not suggesting that this is malicious but these enterprises are profit-making businesses.

From my own experience and that of friends and family I agree with the percentages above. I can also say that finding the right maintenance plan is essential; this is what makes the difference. I chose Atkins and feel blessed to have found it!

So I'm in the 3 - 5% bracket then, I must be very lucky indeed

The proper meaning of the word "diet" is the specific food eaten by a particular creature, ie "The Panda lives on a diet of shoots and leaves" so technically, everyone is always on a diet. But it's all in your perception I think. If you consider it a task with a specific short term end goal then you are "on a diet" and then you'll probably put it back on. If you're changing your eating habits permanently and for good then you are "changing your diet" and that, in my opinion is the way to go.

Personally, I'm not on any specific diet(of the type referred to by the article) at the moment: I've tried Slimming World, Atkins and Slim Fast over the years but none of them have really lasted. What I've done at the moment is I've started eating more sensible food so I'm eating the same things but adjusting them to be more healthy by having more vegetables and less meat or having healthy snacks most of the time instead of chocolate and crisps and so on. I'm still eating fatty food and chocolate and the like, I'm just varying things by having them far less often than I used to. This is working for me better than another crash diet, in the course of this year I've lost over a stone and a half and it's generally staying off too.

Well I've went on LT, lost around 18kg, it's the second year now and I've been keeping at the same weight despite me eating a normal non calorie restricted diet.
I think what changed was the types of food I eat and how much of it I eat. Like less junk food for eg. I think with just an occasional treat and a regular exercise we can all do it.
People fall off the bandwagon because their eating habits go back to normal. If you know that your eating habits and lifestyle is the problem, if Ur unwilling to change, no amount of dieting will ever take it off permanently.

I'm really amazed with your loss. Gives me more motivation and determination. I hope to meet my goal soon.

I read this and from a personal perspective I have to say I agree. Whenever I diet in the long run I end up putting on weight... it could be that as a teenager I'm obviously still growing but I think the dieting has had something to do with it.
It's tempting for me when I diet to go overboard a bit, so that when I relapse I can go a bit mad with what I eat!! So this time I'm trying a sort of rule of 'everything in moderation'...

I started SW 13 months ago and lost 1 stone in a few weeks. Then it was christmas and I put 1 stone 7lb back on in a matter of days. I think because in my head I had starved myself (even though I hadn't) I just starting gorging myself. I'm now 2 stone heavier than when I started that diet 13 months ago, so I'm back on it but with an even greater loss to achieve. Maybe it's because I thought if I managed to lose a stone in a few weeks that it wouldn't be difficult if I tried it again? Who knows.

I can well believe this. I've lost weight twice in my life and stayed at a healthy weight for a while both times, but as soon as I had a bit of stress in my life it all went back on again.