Ways To Lose Weight Without Going On A Diet

You've probably been on at least one, if not dozens, of diets in your lifetime, only to gradually backslide into your old ways and your extra large pants. You're not alone. In fact, emerging research indicates that dieting may be the worst way to try to lose weight. A better approach may be to focus on gradually making small lifestyle changes that add up over time.

Start Small

Diets fail more than 90 percent of the time, according to the National Eating Disorder Association. Researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition point to the large number of changes required by traditional weight loss methods as a potential cause of this high failure rate. A more successful option may be to make small changes instead of starting a diet. These include switching to low-fat dairy products, cooking more meals at home and adding more whole grains and vegetables to your diet. A 2008 study in the "Annals of Behavioral Medicine" found that people who made small lifestyle changes lost and kept off more weight than people who went on diets.

Avoid Making Rules

Your body has a rebellious streak when it comes to protecting its access to resources. When you start making rules about what you cannot eat, you immediately start setting yourself up for food cravings, feelings of deprivation and the need for more will power than most humans can muster, according to authors of the best selling anti-diet book, "Intuitive Eating." Instead, tell yourself you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, and act on your instincts. In time, your body will respond by craving foods that make it feel good. Researched published in 2005 in the "Journal of the American Dietetic Association" indicates that this type of "no rules" approach to eating may lead to more successful weight loss and weight maintenance than dieting.

Move Your Body

Exercise helps you lose weight by building muscle and burning calories, but hitting the gym isn't the only way to move your body. You can also move it during play, during sex, during housework and during other day-to-day activities. Focus on how exercise improves your mood, sleep, energy and health instead of how it produces numbers on the scale. This attitude will help you find ways to move your body that you enjoy and stick with. The more you move, the more health benefits, including weight loss, you'll gain naturally.

Nurture Yourself

You need a good night's sleep in order for the body processes involved in weight loss, such as hormone production, to function properly. You also need to find healthy ways to deal with stress and powerful emotions, as both can increase chemicals in your body that promote weight gain. See your doctor on a regular basis, as undiagnosed medical conditions and certain medications can sabotage your metabolism, limit your ability to gain muscle, cause blood sugar fluctuations, interrupt sleep patterns and contribute to other factors that slow or stop weight loss.