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Diet plans: Do they work in the long
term?
 Although
diet plans and diet pills are increasingly popular, there's never been credible
evidence that any diet plan as of this point in time can ensure long-term weight
loss. In fact, long-term studies of diet plans have found to the contrary, that
there may be a rebound effect, which is a net weight gain in obese people
who have lost weight on very low calorie diets. The feelings of failure that
seem to follow the rebound effect associated with the latest diet plans may
even lead to dysfunctional eating patterns, including binge eating according to
more recent research.
Most low-calorie diet plans
seem to cause dieters to shift back and forth between weight loss, weight gain
and then weight loss again. In the end, this “yo-yoing” back and forth between
weight loss and weight gain seems to be a pattern associated with increased
health risk, including increased likelihood of high blood pressure and
cardiovascular disease. If you are a person of extreme obesity or your weight is
clearly a health hazard, a more moderate weight loss approach may include a diet
plan that involves realistic and attainable goals rather than an unrealistic
ideal for long term weight loss.
There are efforts underway
to develop new kinds of drugs that actually operate directly on genes, hormones
and proteins that have been linked to obesity. Theoretically, these treatments
would try to counteract the natural reactions of your body that seem to
undermine your best efforts at a diet plan. Whether these diet pills provide
safe and permanent weight loss will remain to be seen.
What is
the proper goal of a diet plan?
Some researchers have argued
that if you are obese, the focus of your diet plan should be more on improving
general health and attitudes than drastic weight loss. If you have poor or
unhealthy eating habits they can be corrected, or poor self-concept and
distorted body image, you should focus on improving these aspects of your
overall health. Also, if the public can become more educated about the myths
and truths regarding obesity perhaps everyone will be better off.
There is some controversy
about appropriate diet plans and whether they should even be considered.
There's a growing body of experts that state that if a person is mildly or
perhaps even moderately obese that they should be left alone. At the very
least, their diet plan or weight loss program should set more modest and
realistic goals. Obviously, it is also critical that the public overcome their
prejudice against people who are overweight and consider that at its worst it
may be a problem that requires treatment and perhaps may simply be another
version of the relatively normal human condition. This is not to say that diet
plans are useless, just that a more moderate long-term approach is probably more
advisable.
Some information from
Abnormal Psychology by Ronald J. Comer
Additional Information and
webpage
by
Paul Susic
MA
Licensed Psychologist Ph.D. Candidate
(Health and Geriatric Psychologist)
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