Defining Dieting Success

 If you have ever lost weight on a diet (and you probably wouldn't be reading this if you hadn't), you are familiar with the incredible feelings of satisfaction, triumph, and confidence that normally accompany that achievement.

Unfortunately, if you are like most of us, you are almost certainly familiar with the equal and opposite feelings that accompany your re-gaining the weight you lost within weeks or months of having lost it. It happens to most dieters, it is demoralizing and frustrating. The good news is that it is also avoidable.

The definition of success.

Most of us define dieting success as simply losing weight. While this is certainly an important part of the weight loss equation, there is an even more important part: keeping the weight off. Few of us consider the long-term when we decide we want to get in shape and this often leads us to make decisions that are short-sighted, ultimately resulting in our inability to keep the weight off for any significant period of time. In short, lots of us can take it off, but in order to succeed we have to keep it off.

A diet is a marathon, not a sprint.

Look at most diet programs and you will see a marketing campaign that reinforces the pitfall outlined above. These programs emphasize losing weight quickly, in some cases so quickly that it is unhealthy, and make no mention of maintaining your goal weight after you've reached it. The reason for this is simple--they are trying to sell you something, and as consumers we are less likely to buy the notion of long-term behavioral change than we are to buy "LOSE TEN POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS WITHOUT EVEN TRYING!!!!!!!". We want results, we want them quickly, and we don't want to think about this stuff at all after we've achieved those results. And as much as I understand and share that perspective, it is one that you will have to change if you want to get in shape and stay there.

For the most part, a healthy rate of weight loss is one to one and a half pounds per week. This rate of weight loss is attainable with relatively moderate modifications to your current lifestyle--yep, you read that correctly--you can lose weight at a steady clip without changing a whole lot. You will have to change, specifically by consuming fewer calories and exercising a bit, but you will not have to quit your day job in order to move into your local gym, and you certainly won't have to starve yourself.

It is also possible, however, to lose weight much faster than this if you are so inclined, but that entails altering your eating habits and lifestyle drastically and in ways that you are almost certain not to maintain. And this is my point--maintenance must be part of your goal, and you must consider it from the start if you wish to increase your chances of keeping off the weight you work so hard to lose.