Which type of diet you choose for weight loss may matter less than sticking to the diet. As success stories in "Fitness Magazine" illustrate, dramatic weight loss requires commitment and behavior change. Achieving dramatic weight loss results involves a lifestyle makeover, including both diet and exercise. That's what the US Agricultural Research Service concluded based on weight loss results by dieters on four different diets, including Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and the Zone. Dieters stuck with Weight Watchers and the Zone at a rate of 65 percent, versus 50 percent for Atkins and Ornish.
Step 1
Select a diet with sound nutrition and proven results. Diets such as the Mayo Clinic's Energy Density diet, the South Beach diet and the Zone teach you how to eat foods available at the grocery store and in restaurants so you can learn how to manage your weight long-term. The Energy Density diet involves choosing foods that are less concentrated in calories for larger, more filling portions. This means avoiding calorie-dense foods, such as desserts and processed foods in favor of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Step 2
Keep a food journal. This gives you a tool to track your progress and to notice how to improve your diet. For example, when you look at a week of notes, you might notice that you ate foods at work that undermined your diet and decide to bring treats with you to work that fit with your diet. Seeing where you can improve helps you stay on track.
Step 3
Return to your diet immediately when you get off track. Dieting requires persistence, and one of the most self-defeating behaviors is to decide that you slipped so now you'll take the rest of the day or week off. Don't let one indulgence become a landslide of food choices that dig you deeper into old habit. With your next meal, get right back on your program and keep going.
Step 4
Start an exercise program or increase your current level of exercise, with your doctor's approval. Exercise burns calories, boosts your metabolism and relieves stress to support your healthy weight-loss goals. The American Heart Association's "Welcome to the No-Fad Diet" website recommends using three strategies for weight loss: think smart, eat well and move more.
Step 5
Track your exercise in your food journal. Compete with yourself to increase your exercise level to improve your fitness and become stronger and leaner.
Step 6
Take your measurements every week or two to help gauge your progress. Sometimes the numbers on the scale don't move, yet you're getting leaner.
Step 7
Get support. Enlist friends and family members in your efforts. Set up times to exercise with others and let people you eat with know about your goals and ask for their help in modifying meals to help you stay on your diet.
Step 8
Stick with it. As with quitting smoking or changing jobs, changing eating habits may take multiple attempts. The Mayo Clinic website recommends making a commitment, setting goals, starting fresh after setbacks and creating a healthy lifestyle you'll be able to keep up long-term.
Tips and Warnings
- Celebrate your successes. Make a note in your journal when you increase the number of crunches you can do, when you feel less winded from your walk and when it becomes easier to get in and out of the car. Make a list of non-food rewards, such as reading a novel, getting a massage, an outing to a state park, playing a game, going out with a friend and other pleasures to reinforce your progress.
- Consult with your doctor before starting a diet and exercise program.
Things You'll Need
- Food journal
- Measuring tape
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