Halloween will be here this week, and along with it begins the fear of many dieters about gaining unwanted pounds from now through the holiday season. But don't be scared, because there is strong evidence showing it may actually help you reach your weight loss goal by taking a break from your diet. Research has shown that people who are more flexible in their eating patterns are actually more successful in the long term, showing less of binge eating habits and weighing less.
When researchers set up a study to find out why people fall off the dieting bandwagon and why they have trouble getting back on, they made an unexpected discovery. The test subjects didn't regain a lot of weight and had little problem returning to their diet. Knowing that most people who go off of a diet for even a short period will regain weight rapidly, and don't get back on track, what made this study and these subjects different? Researchers concluded that feeling like the break is under your control, or that it's part of your overall plan, makes it far easier to not feel like the diet is completely blown, and get back on the diet when things return to normal. Basically, it puts the dieter in control of the diet, rather than the diet controlling the dieter.
The concept of taking a planned break from your diet, involves a period, typically one to two weeks, where strict dieting is stopped. You shouldn't go overboard, but calories should be raised. Even if you have the willpower to not cheat on your diet, there are actually a number of good reasons to take a full diet break, both physical and psychological. When we diet and lose weight, the body adjusts our metabolic rate downwards. There are other effects as well, including an imbalance of certain hormones that help regulate our weight. Even for leaner individuals, even if they do everything right, there is often a loss of performance or muscle mass during a diet. One to two weeks with raised calories gives them the capacity to train a bit more and recover what they've lost before moving into the next stage of dieting.
The main benefit may be psychological. The types of psychological stress that dieting can engender for people with a lot of weight to lose can seem like a huge mountain to climb. If you knew that you only had a few weeks of dieting before getting a break of one to two weeks before starting the next phase of active weight loss, it becomes easier to stick to your diet. Athletes have lighter days where they have less intense workouts and take occasional time off to fully recuperate physically and mentally. They can't maintain that intensity every day of their life without burning out. So why should a dieter expect to do exactly that? It is recommended to have three to four weeks of dieting before one week of raised calories, or someone who is much fatter might go 12 weeks before a one- to two-week break.
You could plan your diet and breaks around times when it's hard to comply with a diet. One of the best uses of the planned diet break is that it can be used in situations, such as the holidays or vacation when you know you won't be able to really stick to your diet. In those sorts of uncontrolled situations, people tend to feel a real sense of loss of control and they can go off their diet never to return. The diet break can simply be planned around those time periods and suddenly the control has been returned to the dieter. They can do their best damage control knowing that, if anything, the short period is temporary and won't do that much damage, returning to their diet when it's over.
It's a concept that tends to be counterintuitive; how does going off a diet make it work better? In my experience working with overweight clients, and with what the research says, it works. Dieters tend to fixate on short-term results wanting to lose weight instantly, but for most cases, long term adherence is far more important. In the big scheme of things, what is two weeks not losing fat if not only the break means you lose fat more effectively, but also increase your odds of long term success by not being so mentally stressed all the time. Let this diet trick be your treat. Happy Halloween!
Perry Buchanan, owner of PT Gym, is certified as a Health Fitness Specialist through the American College of Sports Medicine, and Fitness Nutrition Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Entities 0 Name: American College of Sports Medicine Count: 1 1 Name: Perry Buchanan Count: 1 2 Name: Health Fitness Specialist Count: 1 3 Name: National Academy of Sports Medicine Count: 1 4 Name: PT Gym Count: 1 5 Name: Fitness Nutrition Specialist Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1DyecTM Title: Think you're eating healthy? You're probably not. - The Boston Globe Description: We're lingering over breakfast at the Kendall Hotel when we notice a man watching us. He looks distinguished, not creepy, so we get back to our food. My tablemates finish their meals - plates of fruit and bowls of oatmeal. I dig into some scrambled eggs with a side of melon half-moons.
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