The Fallacy of Weight Loss by Just Dieting
Dieting is a common way to try to lose weight, but it is often not effective in the long term. This is because dieting can lead to feelings of deprivation and hunger, which can make it difficult to stick to the diet. Additionally, dieting can disrupt your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. Losing weight by just dieting does work particularly when aiming for quick weight loss, but managing and maintaining weight loss long term by just dieting can be difficult for many… it’s the reason why stories of ‘yo-yo dieting’ are so prevalent.
A better approach to weight loss is to combine mindful eating with regular exercise. Mindful eating is about paying attention to your food and how you feel when you eat. This can help you to make healthier choices and to eat less overall. Regular exercise helps to burn calories and build muscle, both of which can help you to lose weight and keep it off. The rationale is that building muscle results in improved body composition: you increase the amount of lean muscle in your body whilst reducing the amount of adipose fat.
Fun fact: as part of your resting metabolic rate, lean muscle typically burns 13 kcal per kilo per day as opposed to 4.5 kcal for adipose fat… that’s almost 3 times as much per kilo!
The Virtues of Mindful Eating
Mindful eating is a powerful tool for weight loss. When you eat mindfully, you are more likely to pay attention to your food and how you feel when you eat. This can help you to make healthier choices and to eat less overall.
Here are some tips for mindful eating:
- Eat slowly and savour your food.
- Pay attention to the taste, texture, and smell of your food.
- Notice how your body feels as you eat.
- Stop eating when you are satisfied, not stuffed.
Scholarly articles on mindful eating:
JM Warren, N Smith, M Ashwell – Nutrition research reviews, 2017 – cambridge.org
Mindful eating: Trait and state mindfulness predict healthier eating behavior
CH Jordan, W Wang, L Donatoni, BP Meier – Personality and Individual Differences, 2014 – Elsevier
The Virtues of Regular Exercise
Regular exercise is another important part of a healthy weight loss plan. Exercise helps to burn calories and build muscle, both of which can help you to lose weight and keep it off. Ensure that any exercise plan includes both resistance training (calisthenics, weight training, etc) and aerobic/CV training (brisk walking, jogging, etc).
Here are some tips for getting regular exercise:
- Find activities that you enjoy.
- Set realistic goals.
- Make exercise a part of your routine.
- Find a workout buddy.
Scholarly articles on exercise and weight loss/management:
Resistance training and weight management: Rationale and efficacy
I Shaw, T Triplett, BS Shaw – 2022 – intechopen.com
Evidence for success of exercise in weight loss and control
SN Blair – Annals of internal medicine, 1993 – acpjournals.org
Conclusion
Dieting and exercise are both important for weight loss. However, dieting alone is not always enough to achieve lasting results. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to combine mindful eating with regular exercise.
At The Edge PT we recommend this more holistic approach to weight loss and, more importantly, for long term weight management and body positivity. There is no ideal weight that fits all, you can be healthy and fit whilst having a body weight that is classed as ‘overweight’ or even ‘obese’ when referring to BMI (body mass index) normative data tables!
Other health, fitness and body measurement indicators can provide a better reflection of your health, fitness and wellbeing than weight scales and BMI.
Disclaimer
The Edge PT personal trainers are qualified to provide advice and guidance on nutrition, but we are not registered dietitians. If you are struggling to lose weight, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian. They can help you create a personalized weight loss plan that is right for you.