Does Dieting Really Work for Weight Loss?

does dieting workWhy Traditional way of Dieting Doesn’t Work?

I remember back when I was starting college, I had opted to lose weight with a dietician. I had put on quite a bit of weight due to almost zero physical activity during my 12th STD Board exams. Yes, I also sneaked in extra snacks to keep my mind from wandering away while cramming economic theories, statistical formulas, business laws and accounting standards.

This was my first time “Dieting”.  (I did have a checkup with my family doctor prior to first day, to see if I can go along with dieting and I was on one-a-day multi-vitamin as well). My first dieting day started with a “Regular day” which I recall typically consisted of

A glass of skim milk in the morning with 2 Marie Biscuits,
1 fruit as mid-morning snack,
2 to 3 plain Rotis with 1 katori Subzi and 1 katori Daal (all this made with 1 tsp oil) as Lunch,
1 cup of tea with 1 cup of mamra as afternoon snack and then
Dinner (which was very similar to Lunch)

She would often throw in a Fruit Day after 2-3 Regular Days, where I would be on fruits or a particular fruit for whole day, usually allowing milk or curds with it. For instance, I would be on watermelon the entire day. My breakfast, lunch and dinner would consist of watermelon only.

watermelon dieting
Watermelon all Day!

And I started losing weight because of dieting. 🙂 After 3 months, I was down by total of 12-13 kg ( actually it was 15 kg, but last 15 days was maintenance or back to normal diet, in which I put on 2 kg, which was part of her “dieting” plan). So far so good! Actually it was great at first! I was getting compliments, my clothes fit me better, and I was gaining self-confidence! I had gone on a shopping spree and bought myself smaller clothes, and was so glad that the stores actually had something that fit me, and that was not the last size! I was on cloud nine for few lucky days…

AND I was not DIETING anymore! No, it wasn’t that I was over-eating or over-indulging in sweets or fried or junk food, I simply had gone back to my earlier ways of eating. No more fruit days or 1 tsp oil days. And if I had chance with an occasional bowl of ice-cream or packet of chips, I would go for it.

Slowly and gradually, my lost kgs found a way to enter my body again. I didn’t gain all of them back, but probably around 25% to 30% before I realized that I had to increase my exercise or start watching what I put in my mouth. My clothes still fit me, but they were bit tighter. I got introduced to new terms like “muffin top” and “chicken wing arms” which is essentially a roll of fat that develops when you button your pants and the dangling layer of fat that jiggles when you wave your arms. I was so disappointed that my weight-loss was not “permanent”. I had actually embarked on a beginning to life-long battle of fighting my ugly fat cells, fighting the urge to over-eat, or using eating as an excuse to satisfy emotional hunger…

muffin top dieting

Muffin Top!

How many of us have gone through this? Does this dieting story of mine share similarity with thousands of others? How many of us have spent so much money over such diets and programs, only to know that this isn’t working in long-term?

So let’s learn behind this failure and expand our knowledge to do better.

Most Traditional Diet plans restrict calories and fats to a great extent. As you can see many of them may appear to be similar to the one I did with my dietician. For short-term or during first few weeks of the diet, you will surely see promising results on the scale, since over-all caloric expenditure of the day will be greater than over-all calorie intake. But inside, along with those nasty fat cells, you will be loosing precious muscle as well. Here’s as to why.

Think of this, if a famine is approaching, what do you do to food storage? You tend to store high quality non-perishable foods and eat more of perishable foods first so that you can last all famine…..the body does the same; during dieting stage it’s not getting enough calories as before, so it perceives famine situation, and tries to hang on to more fats (which is metabolically not active, hence precious) and use more muscle (which is metabolically active, hence quickly disposable). So when you feel hungry on a diet, your body not only breakdowns the fat tissues for energy, but muscle tissue as well. This is especially true on very low-calorie diets, juice diets, fruit diets and one-meal a day diets.

When you diet, your body’s metabolism (energy expenditure) drops down to a slow pace. The body will slowly learn to adapt to running on less fuel. Many factors affect this, primary being decrease in over-all food intake and secondary being decrease in physical activity due to drop in energy. That’s why initially the weight drops off fast, and then tapers down to a slow pace.

After reaching close to your goal weight, you end your “Dieting” and slowly resume eating what you were eating before. You will see that the number on the scale goes up as well…… worse; it goes up faster than the time it took you to loose the weight!!! This is due to fact that you have lost some of your precious muscle, and you’ve dropped your metabolism to a snail pace in a first place. How many people actually increase time on their daily walks or other physical activity when they get off dieting? And even if they do, how long can they sustain this new routine?

This cycle repeats each time you embark on a new diet and then you fall into the trap of yo-yo dieting. So if you eat less on a permanent basis and work out less intensely (just morning walks or mild yoga) or do not exercise not at all, your body simply adapts to this lifestyle, and any extra consumption of calories (during parties, festivals, weddings or “just this once”) will be preserved as fat and deposited to nice comfy areas like hips, stomach and trunk or where you are genetically inclined to. Then over time, those places become hardest places to loose weight.

dieting trap

Yo-Yo Dieting Trap

Then you wonder, “OMG it’s my nose (the aromas simply make me fat)”….or “it’s my genes…not my fault really!” …or …”I think it’s because I am getting old, it’s natural that I am putting on weight”…. In the end, you become frustrated, helpless and simply think that’s okay, this is the way I am destined to be, and so be it.

But DONOT Despair! All battles can be conquered. This one can be too! Look for my upcoming articles for lifestyle tips, health tips, and exercise tips to lose and maintain your weight-loss….. (No, I will not write “Forever” after weight-loss… 🙂 ), but this I do promise, if you work towards this consciously, the weight will not creep back on like crazy!!!!!

Also Read:

Top 10 Diet Excuses : Eat Right, Lose Weight
How to Lose Weight in 4 Weeks- Diet Chart for Weight Loss
Diet Salad and Vegetable Soup
How to Lose Weight in One Month- Diet Chart for Weight Loss (Part 2)

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25 thoughts on “Does Dieting Really Work for Weight Loss?

  1. even Ive suffered from the yo-yo dieting syndrome :(( it made me anaemic.
    actually eating thoda thoda counts and the right foods.
    but temptation is the spoiler.

  2. eat right, i dnt think anyone can survive with a prolonged dieting :stars: :stars:
    ,
    (giving a miss of good things in life ain’t that worth :spank: )

    portion control and physicial activity is the key to stay fit :thanks: :thanks: :thanks:

  3. when i first started my gym workout, my instructor strictly told me “do not NOT eat to lose weight” lol i thought he was crazy! then he start explaining abt metabolism and how our body goes into survival mode if we dont eat, and will actually gain weight if we eat less, it all kinda make sense! altho i really try to rmb his wise words, but i do have a very small apetite most of the time >.<

    xoxo elle

  4. Hey Gals!! If u all really want to lose weight 😉 After you get up in morning 1st thing u have is warm water with fresh squeezed Lime juice and 1 tsp honey …and then later have green tea :coffee: without milk and sugar …it will remove all toxins from your body …and will not only keep weight under control but also skin glowing :yes: O:)

  5. This is so much my story… 😐 Have followed lots of diet plans but all I have ended up with is a weight gain or weakness after a point of time. It’s only gym + proper diet that has ever helped me but that too I feel you have to be regular. I am looking forward to the next in your series :waytogo:

    1. Yes Rati….regular trips to the gym and being watchful of what goes into mouth is very necessary. But I believe one needs constant motivation and support for this. :waytogo:

  6. Burn wat u eat.. don’t eat wat u can’t burn..balance calorie consumed and wat u actually need
    nice article every word sounds so true

  7. :thanks: Nia, even i tried hard to do dieting but my problem is, after sticking to a light diet with raw veg, juices and all for a week, next week i crave like anything for tasty tasty foods, and insted of shedding a kilo, i gain a kilo!!! :sick: :sick: :sick:

    1. That’s why “dieting” doesn’t work!!!! Even I crave for pizza and cheesy food like Mexican Nachos….and I always indulge….but limit to 1 serving…I know its hard but its a learning process.

  8. this is sooo true. I have tried most of these it never worked my whole life. Then finally when i started walking daily for longer periods I saw some difference 🙂
    great article Nia :waytogo:

  9. Nice article Nia! :waytogo: I’d like to share my story here as well.
    I was about 6-7 kgs overweight but I didn’t want to go on a crash dieting plan. Luckily for me, I found a nutritionist ( I am using the term ‘Nutritionist’ here instead of ‘Dietician’) who helped me transform my body and taught me right healthy eating habits for life. Her priority was not making me ‘thin’ but ensuring that my energy levels were good, I did not lose muscle mass or bone mass, that i was not dehydrated, i did not suffer from weakness , my hair and skin were healthy and glowing. My weight loss curve was gradual but stable. In 8 months I’ve lost about 8-9 kgs and more importantly about 7 % fat. She gives me supplements which are not present in a vegetarian diet like omega-3 fatty acids, whey protein, vitamins like biotin and folic acid, sometimes calcium intake for 1 month and an assortment of dry fruits like prunes, anjeer, walnuts,almonds everyday.

    With this she advised 3 days of cardio and 3 days of muscle training which I do on my own since I am not able to go to a gym. I’m not very regular with my exercise but I’m trying to make it a routine. But most importantly, my attitude and eating habits have changed over these months and I feel really healthy,strong and motivated to continue my efforts towards staying healthy.

    The most important thing if you are going on a diet is to find the right nutritionist whose priority is a wholesome health oriented diet plan, not one aimed at making you lose weigth at any cost. I’d strongly recommend the book ‘Lose Weight, don’t lose your mind’ by Rujuta Diwekar who helped Kareena Kapoor lose weight. Its an amazing read and so adaptable for Indian cuisine and lifestyle.

    I’ve had a really great weight loss journey and I’m still continuing till I reach my ideal weight. I hope everyone here is able to get the right guidance so that they don’t have go through crazy crash diet plans that are so painful mentally and do more harm than good physically.
    Sorry for the long post :shame: !

    1. Thanks Ankita, I will definitely try to read the book you suggested. I also try to do strength training and cardio about 3-4 days a week. And here in US, we get cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, so whey protein is available plenty in dairy form itself. I have started multi-vitamin daily to offset any loss we do have in the diet. Thanks for the long post…I love to read and learn others experiences also.

  10. Nice article Nia! :waytogo: I’d like to share my story here as well.
    I was about 6-7 kgs overweight but I didn’t want to go on a crash dieting plan. Luckily for me, I found a nutritionist ( I am using the term ‘Nutritionist’ here instead of ‘Dietician’) who helped me transform my body and taught me right healthy eating habits for life. Her priority was not making me ‘thin’ but ensuring that my energy levels were good, I did not lose muscle mass or bone mass, that i was not dehydrated, i did not suffer from weakness , my hair and skin were healthy and glowing. My weight loss curve was gradual but stable. In 8 months I’ve lost about 8-9 kgs and more importantly about 7 % fat. She gives me supplements which are not present in a vegetarian diet like omega-3 fatty acids, whey protein, vitamins like biotin and folic acid, sometimes calcium intake for 1 month and an assortment of dry fruits like prunes, anjeer, walnuts,almonds everyday.

    With this she advised me 3 days of cardio and 3 days of muscle training which I do on my own since I am not able to go to a gym. I’m not very regular with my exercise but I’m trying to make it a routine. But most importantly, my attitude and eating habits have changed over these months and I feel healthy and strong and motivated to continue my efforts towards staying healthy.

    The most important thing if you are going on a diet is to find the right nutritionist whose priority is a wholesome health oriented diet plan, not one aimed at making you lose weigth at any cost. I’d strongly recommend the book ‘Lose Weight, don’t lose your mind’ by Rujuta Diwekar who helped Kareena Kapoor lose weight. Its an amazing read and so adaptable for Indian cuisine and lifestyle.

    I’ve had a really great weight loss journey and I’m still continuing till I reach my ideal weight. I hope everyone here is able to get the right guidance so that they don’t have go through crazy crash diet plans that are so painful mentally and do more harm than good physically.
    Sorry for the long post :shame: !

  11. The low protein diet (watermelon?!) simply lead to loss of muscle (up to 70% of the loss). That is not healthy and it’s not sustainable. Your caloric needs also reduce and this is bad for health, and the diet also becomes less effective. Looks good on the scale, though, if that’s your goal. Looks bad on the body after a certain point. Not a fit look, but a fat skinny look. Many end up in anorexia when using such diets (high carb, liquid food, low protein etc).

    In a real diet, you only cut calories from carbs. 400-500 calories will do the job. If you cut it from sugar and refined carbs, you need no other change in the diet. You will lose about 4-5kg in the first month and 2kg per month from then on. As you approach your ideal weight you will progressively loose less and that’s a good thing. The result of a real diet is permanent and out of the total loss, you only get back about 2kg which is your temporary energy store that was only lost due to low carb when you begun. If you lose 15kg, about 13kg will be a true loss, and most if it will be from fat. It is slow, but it works and it looks great.

    Don’t bother with exercise. It will only complicate things, it will change your calculations, it can potentially stop your diet or change your appetite, and so on. When you get to the weight that looks good on you and have stopped dieting, start exercising and eat a little more.

  12. i am fat, but i don’t eat outside foods, i drink more water, i eat less bt still i am fat.so pls suggest any thing to weight loss

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