Everything You’ve Heard About Dieting is Wrong (Weight Loss Wednesday)

Everything you’ve heard about dieting is wrong.

Diets don’t work.

Most people who attempt to lose weight fail.

Of the few who succeed, 95% gain it right back.

I’m different.

I lost 30% of my body weight, and have kept it off 20 years.

What did I do right?

Welcome to Weight Loss Wednesday

Welcome to Weight Loss Wednesday, a new feature where I give quick tips on weight loss, healthy eating, and easy exercise.

This is based on my experience as one of the few people who spent half my life obese, then figured out how to lose weight, and keep it off forever.

Why everything you’ve heard about dieting is wrong

Why do I say that everything you’ve heard about dieting is wrong?

Because I was only able to lose weight by ignoring all the standard advice.

Here’s the biggest reason why what they tell you to do doesn’t work:

IT’S TOO HARD

Gurus who look like underwear models manipulate you to sell a fantasy. They claim you can look like them.

It’s a lie.

You can’t.

The gurus are super-achievers with infinite willpower. You aren’t.

If you had the willpower for their methods to work, you’d already be skinny.

You’re not an idiot. You already know you’d lose weight if you ate healthier and exercised more.

But you’re not doing it. And you still won’t do it after buying a weight loss guide.

Too much diet info

There’s a bewildering array of diet information out there.

• Plant-based
• Keto
• Whole grains
• Avoid processed foods
• Intermittent fasting
• High protein
• No sugar
• Only eat foods in the bible
• Self-loathing
• Cut off a limb

None of them work, because they all rely on willpower you don’t have.

At best, you’ll stick to one of these for the short-term to meet a temporary goal. But then you’ll go right back to your old habits, and gain the weight right back.

Which is worse for your health than not losing the weight in the first place. This is the dreaded weight yo-yo.

The right way to lose weight

If everything you’ve heard about dieting is wrong, what’s the right way to do it? How did I lose weight and keep it off?

You need the right strategies for building habits. If something’s a habit, it’s automatic and doesn’t need willpower.

But habit change is hard. That’s where strategy comes in – to make the habit and the change as easy as possible.

That’s what I figured out – why my methods work and other diets don’t.

I looked for easy ways to habitually reduce my calorie intake.

Easy meant not depriving myself of the foods I love. (Though I did eat less of them.)

The Weight Loss Habit

The most important habit, which I called The Weight Loss Habit, is:

“Think before you eat, make, or buy food. Make a rational decision about what and how much to eat. And then celebrate and take pride in your good decisions.”

Think before you eat, make, or buy food. Make a rational decision about what and how much to eat. And then celebrate and take pride in your good decisions

It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly powerful.

Thinking before you eat is the foundation of all dietary health. And it’s an easy habit to build when it’s not linked to self-hatred or deprivation.

If you decide some junk food is worth it, that’s fine. Or if you decide not to eat it, or to eat less of it, that’s great!

The most important part is to celebrate your good decisions. Replace the dopamine hit of junk food with the dopamine hit of pride.

Which is another reason this diet works while others don’t.

Other diets are about self-hatred. “You’re a big fat loser, and if you eat the wrong thing, you’re pathetic and deserve to be fat.“

People don’t like to hate themselves, so they quit the diet.

But if you make it about pride and celebration, you want to keep going.

For example, I know this will make the gurus gasp and drop their kale smoothies, but I eat fast food all the time.

I think about my order, then choose the small burger instead of the Monster burger, with a diet soda and no fries. Then I’m proud that I’m eating 400 calories instead of 2,000.

No willpower needed.

Me vs. the gurus

I don’t pretend to look like the gurus. Women don’t drool when I walk by. I don’t have a six-pack.

But I also don’t have a keg. I’m not impressive, but I’m not embarrassing. People are shocked when I tell them I used to be fat.

That’s a realistic goal you should aim for.

Obviously, if you compare me to a guru who looks like a Chippendale dancer, you’d rather have his body than mine.

But that’s not the choice.

Would you rather have a normal healthy body like mine, or do you want to stay overweight and keep failing at diets?

Remember, I had every disadvantage when it comes to weight.

I was obese half my life. I have crap genes and a crap metabolism. I learned terrible eating habits growing up. My father ate like a grizzly bear on ganja. (And then died of heart disease when I was 14.)

I failed at traditional diets many times, just like you.

But once I figured out how to make it easy, it was, well, easy.

The keys to remember

If you’re a regular reader of Self Helping Yourself, (or you glanced at the sidebar), you probably recognize The Weight Loss Habit.

That’s the name of my book explaining in detail exactly how I lost all the weight, and how you can too. If you enjoyed this article, please consider purchasing the book. It’s available on Amazon, and free on Kindle Unlimited.

Even if you don’t buy the book, I hope this was helpful to you.

And remember the two most important points are:

1. You won’t permanently lose weight with diets that rely on you having more willpower than you really have.
2. The key to lifelong weight loss is finding habits and strategies to make weight loss *easier*.

How about you?

Have you been frustrated with traditional diets?

Have you been stuck on the weight yo-yo?

What strategies have you found for lifelong weight loss?

I’d love to hear from you.