37A - Fit and Well Article for September 21st, 2003

TITLE: "How NOT To Lose Weight”

Dear Trish and David:

I am what I call a “Bad Loser”! In other words, I just can’t seem to lose weight, and keep it off. I’ve tried just about everything. Starvation, Atkins, Grapefruit, ad nauseum (yes, I’ve tried that, too!). What the heck am I doing wrong? Am I doomed to stay “ample”, or do I need a different approach?

-Wanting to be thinner and trimmer in Crofton

______________________________________________________

Dear "Wanting…”

OK… they’re NOT deadly, and not sins, but the following are the major mistakes that people make when embarking upon an effective weight reduction and weight stabilization program.

These just DON’T work! The body is a marvelous machine of utmost efficiency. There are systems upon systems whose primary objective is only SURVIVAL. That means if the body senses a period of food deprivation (starvation), it automatically goes into what we call “starvation mode”. This is characterized by a significant reduction in basal metabolism (the amount of calories burned during periods of normal exertion), and an overall reduction in energy. In other words, eat less, burn less! This rule dominates, and cannot be circumvented.

You’ve seen many of them… the “grapefruit diet”, the watermelon diet”, etc. What the “advocates” (promoters) of these “diets” play on is the desire to simplify our nutritional needs, and find some magic elixir in the form a magical food. These very often turn into starvation or deprivation diets, and are to be avoided like the plague. Trish and I have been considering a book on the “ice cream diet”, but, alas, someone already published such a whacky thing in a very respected magazine. Oh, if it could only work… we would all buy stock in Dairy Queen!

Although somewhat effective in the beginning, these “diets’ get old real quick, and become ineffective, too. And what a list of “no-no’s!” I’ve seen these things in the hands of very dedicated people… when they look at a menu in a restaurant, they can eliminate about 90% of the options. YIPES, what a burden. Food becomes the enemy, and much too much focus is put on specifics and formulas.

Probably one of the most employed, and potentially harmful approaches to weight loss. For reasons similar to “starvation diets”, this process actually trains the body NOT to burn calories, and to store more fat for future need. Many people engage in this type of self-defeating process by skipping breakfast, or merely allowing more than six hours to pass without at least a small meal. Yes, the body goes into “starvation mode” within four to six hours of “fasting”.

Yipes! What a scary thing… hours and hours of aerobic exercise designed specifically to burn more and more fat, and lose more and more weight. Oops… it’s senseless, and very dangerous! Again, the body’s genetic programming for survival puts the Kibosh on this approach! When the system becomes acclimated to long, intense bouts of high intensity exercise, it actually starts shutting down in order to preserve precious fat stores (we know… you don’t consider them precious, but the body does!). And high intensity exercise by it’s very nature DOES NOT burn fat.

Many people learn this the hard way. There is NO magic pill for long term safe weight loss (yet). Most of the “diet aids” we see promoted are either stimulants (dangerous) or appetite suppressants (usually somewhat effective, but insufficient to learn and incorporate new dietary and lifestyle habits. This is a shortcut that just doesn’t work.

Call it what you will… counting calories, keeping track of food “exchange” numbers, weighing portions scientifically, etc. The main problem here is that in the long term the actual caloric intake is not significant, it is the types of foods, the sequence, the timing, and a multitude of other factors that effect fat storage or fat utilization. The other problem is that a constant focus on food and eating becomes truly counter-productive, and becomes overbearing and stifling. The joy of eating is eliminated, and what a true loss that is!

We’ve listed some of the traps that people fall into. Next week, we will list some very sound and effective principles and programs that you can employ to get the results the you want! And enjoy it in the process. Don’t miss it!

_____________________________________________