Lose Weight Long Term

Right, so, you've dieted and lost weight, then you gained it back.  Then you did it again... and again.  Why?

It certainly wasn't because the diet didn't work. It worked while you were on it... but then, you lost the weight you wanted to and stopped following the plan.

A friend of mine had been wanting to lose weight and, after he had a chat with me, it turned out he had not realised how much fat and sugar he was consuming in his day to day eating.  Instead of 'going on a diet', he has made some changes... and has lost over 10lbs in the last few weeks.  Has he cut out all fat and sugar? No.  Has he reduced fat and sugar significantly? No.  All he has done is cut down his biscuit intake from 4 per day to 2, and instead of eating a whole candy bar on his coffee break, he eats a half of one, and instead of eating a medium sized slice of cake in the afternoon, he eats a piece half the size of what he used to.  That's it.  No major changes, no strict counting of this and that.  No increased exercise just a few simple and most importantly, sustainable changes. 

These kind of changes are easy to sustain.  He has not deprived himself.  He is still eating those same foods.

This is the 'trick' to long term weight loss and management.  Whatever changes you make to your eating, they need to be ones that you can stick with for the rest of your life.  If you feel that eating only meat is something you can happily do for the rest of your life, then that may be the 'diet' for you.  If you want to never consume sugar ever again and you believe you are happy to continue eating that way for life, then maybe that's the plan for you.  Whatever it is that you can honestly say to yourself that you can stick with for the rest of your days, that's for you.  Whether the changes are major or minor is irrelevant.  And by choosing the right long term plan, you are setting yourself up for a life long healthy weight!