Dieting should be about Weight Control not Weight Loss
"English are the fattest people in Europe" we were reliably informed by the Daily Telegraph on the 21st February this year. The media feeds us a never ending litany of dire predictions about our weight and our health and we goggle with amazement at other people's extraordinary eating habits and huge bodies.
Diets books and exercise DVD's are taking over our shelves at home and the emphasis is always on Dieting - Losing Weight - Getting Thinner - Looking like Kate Moss. Behind this you can sometimes catch a hint of health; after all, if you are not overweight and take some exercise you are bound to be healthier, aren't you?
NO! Without a doubt, if you subject your body to a never ending array of specialist diets and fads you will do it more harm than good. Eating only boiled eggs one day and raw tomatoes the next IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Spending 2 weeks eating nothing but cabbage soup is more likely to hurtle you into that cabbage patch in the sky and goodness only knows what a high saturated fat diet will do for your heart.
For most of us the idea of going on a diet means withholding certain foods from our everyday eating regime. What we generally don't consider is what is going to happen to us AFTER the hips have slimmed down and we can shimmy into that Size 10 dress and this is where it all goes wrong. Lose the weight by all means but do it in a way that will and can be mirrored in your 'normal' everyday life. It is no good losing 2 stone if you don't know how to keep it off afterwards, and nobody has the will or self discipline to keep up a faddy diet forever (Madonna et al excluded!).
As a weight and health coach I see my first and most important task is to help people get the results they want and then to educate them into being able to maintain those results. The emphasis here is on realism. If you were meant to be a healthy size 14, you will not live happily as a size 12 and both your body and your mind will bear the brunt. When I am coaching someone (let's say in weight loss here) I first of all want to ascertain what their goals are and then to take them through a reality check. Often, they are disappointed because their dreams are shattered but that is precisely why a coach is so important. It is recognized that over 70% of people on weight loss diets fail to achieve their goals when they try to go it alone. A coach is there to choose the right weight loss programme for you, and then to inspire, motivate, educate, occasionally bully (what would she think if she saw me with this cream bun?!) and more than anything else put you on a realistic path.
The aim should be to lose the weight in a healthy manner. No more than 5 - 7 lbs a month should be lost because this means that your body has time to "catch up". By losing the weight gradually you have time to educate both your mind and your body and a lot of this education comes about naturally. Nearly every one of my client's report that they suddenly aren't eating such big portions anymore or their cravings for refined sugary things has practically disappeared. There is no magic pill at work here. It is simply giving the body the right nutrition in the right amounts at the right intervals. By working on your weight loss and your attitude to food at the same time you have the means to learn weight control for the rest of your life.
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About the Author:
Allison Crisp works at home with her husband. Her mission is "to change people's lives, one day at a time" by advising them on their weight and health challenges. www.outerinnerglow.com .
