Livit instead of Diet!

UCLA researchers report in the journal of the American Psychological Association: "You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of Psychology and lead author of the study.  "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more.  Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority.  Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."  Mann and her co-authors conducted the most comprehensive analysis of diet studies, analyzing 31 long-term studies of people who were on diets for two to five years.  They concluded that "most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all."  Their weight would be pretty much the same, and their bodies would not suffer the wear and tear from losing weight and gaining it all back." At least one-third to two-thirds of people on diets regain more weight than they lost within four or five years, and the true number may well be significantly higher (since many participants self-reported their initial weight).  "Several studies indicate that dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain," said Janet Tomiyama, a UCLA co-author of the study. One study found that both men and women who participated in formal weight-loss programs gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who had not participated in a weight-loss program. People in control groups who did not diet were not that much worse off and in many cases were better off than those who did not diet.
So if diets do not work what does? A "Livit" coined by Deborah A. Klein, MS, RD, the one and only Livitician(tm)describes as a way of doing lifestyle changes that are livable, practical and satisfying. Deborah Klein, says the definition of a successful weight loss program is one that a person can follow for life, the way that a person loses the weight needs to be the way that a person can live with for life. Diets are depriving, which is the main psychological reason that diets don't work. A "livit" is eating what you enjoy with a balance. Eat every 4 hours to keep your metabolism up and aim for exercising 4 to 6 times per week. Think of moving rather than exercise. Enjoy being able to MOVE!