ILLIONS OF CANADIANS WILL GO ON A DIET THIS YEAR, not to mention the billions of dollars they will spend on diet products, programs, and fitness centres.
While some will succeed in the short run, very few – about five percent – will succeed in keeping the weight off in the long run.
Before you make another attempt at weight loss, remember that your odds of failing are very high. What’s the point of losing weight if in a couple of years from now you’ll be back to where you started?
So, what is the secret of those few who succeed? Here are the basic principles of successful weight loss that are the result of decades of our collective experimentation with weight loss and that are proven to help you lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life.
1. There are no easy fixes. Do not believe any claim that you can lose weight effortlessly. Do not pin your hopes on pills and capsules such as starch blockers, fat blockers, appetite suppressants and metabolism boosters. Beware of phoney devices and gadgets such as electrical muscle stimulators and jiggling belts. These products can produce serious side effects, be ineffective, or even dangerous.
2. Losing weight is all about calories. There’s only one proven way to lose weight: Reduce the number of calories you eat or increase the number of calories you burn off through exercise or both. Diet is more important for weight loss; exercise helps to maintain weight once you have achieved the desired weight loss.
3. Patience is a cardinal virtue. It took you years to put on excess weight. So, be patient and persevere to lose those unwanted pounds. A realistic goal is to lose about a pound a week. To achieve this goal you need to have an energy deficit of 500 calories per day. Most of this must come through caloric reduction, especially if you’re seriously overweight and haven’t been exercising.

4. Reduce empty calories. You get empty calories from foods that supply a lot of calories but very little or no healthful nutrients. These include pastries and white bread, high-fat meats, soft drinks, flavoured water and the like. Go for whole fruit rather than juice.
5. Reduce portion size. Trick your mind into believing that the reduced portions are large by: a) using smaller dishes, and b) eating slowly. Eating slowly is a habit you must develop by constant practice until it becomes second nature. To prevent mindless eating, concentrate and enjoy your meal; do not multitask eating with other activities, such as watching television.
6. Avoid fad diets and crash diets. Fad diets are difficult to sustain for a long period and thus have no lasting effect. Crash diets help you achieve a quick weight loss, but as normal eating must inevitably resume there is a “rebound” weight gain. Repeatedly going on a crash diet could produce a yo-yo effect.
7. Plan a diet for life. You want a diet that not only helps you lose weight in the short run but also one that keeps it off in the long run. This means you should design a diet you could happily live with for the rest of your life. The key elements of such a diet should be: a) it is packed with healthful nutrients, b) it keeps hunger at bay with fewer calories, and c) it is enjoyable. An essentially plant-focused diet consisting of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and some fish, lean meat, and low-fat dairy has at least the first two elements. With the proper choice of recipes, it can be made highly enjoyable for most people. This last point is the most important for long-term success and that is where you should put all your effort in the beginning. Collect recipes from friends or the Web, join cooking classes, or a weight loss program that emphasises meal preparation and planning.