Continuous Weight Loss

95%. What’s so special about that percentage, and how does it relate to weight loss? If you’ve tried dieting before and failed, it will show you why you’re in good company. If you’ve never tried to lose weight before, prepare yourself for a shock. Here are three sobering statistics:

1. 95% of dieters do not lose weight and keep it off.

Shocking isn’t it? There are literally thousands of diets out there, and thousands more tools to make them run smoothly. Gyms are plentiful, and more and more health food aisles are opening up in grocery stores. With healthy eating becoming more and more mainstream, why is it that only one in twenty people manage to lose weight and keep it off? Is it possible that there’s a problem with the diets themselves? Actually,

2. 95% of diets on the market DO work as advertised.

Pick a diet, any diet. They all work. That’s right. Most diets have the same theme. Eat the right kind of food. Eat a little less. Move a little more. That’s it. Any diet with this structure works. This is a wild oversimplification of course, but it’s true.

So if the diets work, then it must be us, the dieters, that are failing, right? Yes, but not in the way that you think. More on that in a second, but it’s not so surprising is it? We all know what it’s like to have that cake calling our name, or to want to chuck that stupid broccoli and order a pizza. At first it’s one slice, then two, and before you know it, your diet is down the tubes. After a while, you find another promising diet with all the answers, and your hope shines strong. Maybe you can do this after all.

3. 95% of prospective dieters think they’re one of the 5% who will make it.

I remember going back and forth in my head about the latest and greatest diet.

“Man, this one looks great.”

“Yeah, but so did the last diet you tried.”

“Well this one has blah blah blah, and the last one completely failed to take into account blah blah.”

“True, but still, you’ve quit every diet you’ve started so far. Why will this one be different?”

“Well I just wasn’t motivated enough. I didn’t have enough willpower. But this time, I’m aware of that, so I’ll have more. Plus this diet is easier because blah blah. Man I’m so excited. I’m going to get started, NOW! Let’s see, first I need to go to the store and….”

Sound familiar? But anywhere from a few days to a few months later, I was right back where I started, more discouraged than ever.

There are two errors in my thinking above, and understanding these errors is the first step to breaking free of this soul crushing cycle. Can you pick them out?

We already covered the first error. I thought the new diet was better than the old one, but as we’ve already established, almost all diets work if actually applied correctly (and I’m confident that all the ones I’ve tried do in fact work).

The second is a bit more subtle. I thought that I would be able to use my willpower to resist cravings and other complications that arose. How many times have you lapsed, only to harshly criticize your lack of motivation and willpower? Willpower is important, but it’s not nearly as important as most people think, and most dieters misuse it.

Next, how to get the willpower to lose weight: using willpower more effectively >>