Introduction
In the first part of this article we took a sobering look at the social engine behind weight stigmas and the reality of our food choices. We discussed how food is woven into our identity, shaped by social norms, emotional states, cultural pressures, and biological inheritances. These forces don’t disappear when someone decides to lose weight; they intensify. This second article builds on that foundation by exploring why dieting is far more complex than simply “eating less,” and what research actually shows about successful, sustainable weight loss.
The toxic dieting spiral
Contrary to popular belief, diet is far from being a simple plan that can be done anytime with a little willpower. This is partially because willpower is a short-term resource evolved to withstand acute stress, or exchange some current resources for a long term goal (Inzlicht & Friese, 2020), not to live with our bums tight for months and years on end. Maintaining a healthy diet, and sustaining the result afterwards requires a strategy. Lack of understanding of how a planned behaviour like a diet works and how to routinize new habits are contributing factors for both overeating and undereating.
Dieting, which is at its core a restrained method of eating, refers to adhering to a persistent pattern of eating-related rules. The biggest risk of this setup is that it heightens our sensitivity to stress (Lattimore & Caswell, 2004). Reason being the restrictions, as we’re in constant discomfort during diet and any additional inconvenience can easily make us lose control. It is known that in response to fear and negative mood states, we consume more food, but that also applies for positive emotions and increased mental load.
Overall, getting emotional or busy are both known to impair our control and break the diet by increasing food intake (Macht & Mueller, 2007). The resultant weight fluctuation causes more issues than being overweight itself, and a multi-billion dollar diet industry relies on the failure of their products (Ogden, 2011).
In Western cultures the focus of most diets is still mostly on reducing food intake, which often results in malnutrition, bringing physical and mental difficulties, such as poor resistance to illness, and vulnerability to stress. The sheer number of dietary models that promote self-starvation is staggering and contributes to the widespread phenomenon called the epidemic of weight loss attempts (Ogden, 2010). The number of weight loss attempts is increasing in parallel with obesity, linking it to the failed attempts. Five or more failed attempts seemed to be particularly impactful on weight gain (Fabbricatore et al., 2013). The more disappointed one gets about the failed diets, the more addictive palatable foods become.
Putting together what has been discussed so far shows a vicious spiral of dieting and inadvertent overeating.
- The media constantly promotes palatable food as a part of our culture. It’s socially expected to eat them as a guest and offer them as a host.
- The high fat nature of these palatable foods makes the person less conscious about when they’re full and increases the daily food intake, leading to inadvertent calorie overtake.
- The person starts noticing their weight gain via social comparison, increasing their general anxiety about their body. The fear of bullying and loss of social position induce further anxiety.
- Gyms and weight loss programs promise a quick fix, and the person finds themselves in the middle of the “healthism” and “fitnessism” craze that moralizes working out and propagates the idea that any body fat is a sign of weakness. The fear of judgement, now on the moral level, further increases the general anxiety which decreases the control over food intake.
- The person tries out a diet, but are not aware of the complexity of the process e.g. upfront preparation, accounting for emotional resources, balancing performance, etc. Since they’re inexperienced in managing several months of restricted living, and the diet industry sells bogus advice, they likely set unrealistic diet goals and unsustainable diet methods.
- The failed diet is likely attributed to the person’s own flaws by media messages. Because their willpower is depleted by that time, they likely gain back more than they managed to lose. They feel exhausted and likely physically weakened by the poor and random nutrition consumed. But they still want their old body back and try to avoid social shaming so they try another diet.
- The repeated failure of dieting goals results in sinking into self-doubt and desperation which exposes the person to the risk of emotional eating becoming their lifestyle.
- After four/five attempts, the person gets desperately tired and starts to think that this might be just how they are now.
The spiral described above is the story of millions of people, whose narrative is told in the mass media with the vast majority of the details being left out. Most of these spirals begin with a fairly common life crisis. Examples include divorce, exams, moving, the loss of a loved one, and so on. The vulnerability that led them to this spiral is usually temporary, but escaping it requires strategic efforts.
What makes a successful diet?
#1. Preparation
Being aware of what to expect is essential to deal with it, so it is highly recommended to start reading case studies and personal stories weeks before starting your diet. More importantly, try to find sources from trustworthy sites, like https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/lose-weight/, as weight loss is a billion dollar industry in which everyone, from local influencers to giant pharmaceutical companies, promote a biased and, in a lot of cases, unresearched or even harmful approach to weight loss. If you’re known to be vulnerable to emotional eating, it’s specifically important that you have support channels, which can be online communities where you can read others’ experiences and encouraging comments.
Diet as mentioned is a planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) with several stages involved.
- The first stage is gaining knowledge about relevant diets, getting to know what they are about, trying to shortlist those that resonate with you and that can potentially fit into your current lifestyle. Not all will, and the less you need to stretch your lifestyle for the diet, the more resources remain to cope with the restrictions.
- The second stage is forming an attitude towards the chosen diet via getting feedback from others who have tried it or have dietary expertise. That includes looking into what the wider social and scientific is view on it. Do try to select your references from authoritative sources rather than commercial materials or influencers. It is worth consulting a trained nutritionist on how to approach the weight loss plan, especially if you’re an athlete with specific dietary needs as you need to maintain your performance.
- The third stage is forming a perception of the control you have currently. Try to judge objectively whether you can commit to the diet now or if there is too much else going on and you’d better rearrange a couple of things before starting.
- The fourth stage is the intention stage, when the preparation happens (often called the “I’ll start the diet tomorrow”). If you are having a busy period in your life, you’ll likely stay longer in this stage. It is very important to have an objective view of your available resources, and set up a comfortable start date to ensure you have enough time to clear the path for the diet. In general, at least one week runway is usually necessary to have your mind ready for the incoming restrictions and to have your safety measures in place. These measures include cupboard clean up, sweet replacement, contingency snack-substitutes, stress exercise plan etc. If you feel you need more time because more complex circumstances have to be dealt with, do set up a longer runway.
- Finally, the fifth stage of a planned diet is the diet itself, when you put into practice all the things you prepared with upfront.
As seen from this extended list, the actual diet is only one of the five steps leading to weight loss. All the prior steps are necessary to achieve the weight goals. The other crucial component of success is choosing a suitable diet model during preparation.
#2. The diet model
Apart from the lack of preparation to accommodate the restriction, the other factor that contributes to the low achievement rates among dieters is the ineffective dieting model, including extreme behaviours such as vomiting, purging or using medication (Dean, 2000). Luckily, the common themes of self-set dieting goals amongst the general population are relatively healthy, including reducing sugar, fat, alcohol, and carbohydrate intake, combined with modestly reducing the intake amount and increasing the exercise rate. (Kruger et al., 2004)
Based on the latest findings, the two methods that predict weight loss success, are ‘reducing calories’ and ‘increasing exercise’ (Knäuper, 2005). Research found, however, that in case of higher initial BMI, dieters who solely relied on caloric reduction were more successful than those using the combination of exercise and caloric reduction. Those who used calorie reduction alone were getting almost twice as close to reaching their dieting goal than dieters who followed both rules. This is partially accounted to the lower levels of cardio-respiratory fitness in the case of higher BMI dieters (McInnis, 2000), which may pose a barrier for exercise.
The other reason why the combined model only worked for lower initial BMI, is the known difficulty of lowering weight that is close to normal (Knäuper, 2005). Meaning, lower BMI participants need to add more exercise to their plans to progress, as they cannot reduce the food intake further without jeopardising their daily performance.
Overall, these studies suggest that if the dieter’s initial weight is higher, caloric reduction alone is more effective, while in the case of a close to normal weight, the combination of caloric reduction and physical exercise predicts weight loss success.
Low calorie diets
Low-calorie diets (1000 to 1500 kcal/day) can lower total body weight by an average of 8% in the short term and are considered a safe strategy for weight loss. These diets are well-tolerated and are characterized as successful strategies in maintaining significant weight loss over several years.
In general, low-calorie diets are high in carbohydrates (55–60% of total daily energy intake) and low in fat (< 30% of energy intake) (Strychar, 2006). But reducing the energy content of the diet can be achieved by restricting protein, carbohydrate, or fat alone or in combination as well; at the same time one or more macronutrients can be increased (within an overall energy restriction) (Finer, 2001). Several approaches seem to offer greater efficacy: fat restriction, fixed energy deficits, or meal replacements.
The radicalized version of the low-calorie diet, the very low calorie diet (<800kcal/day) did not show greater long-term weight losses than the regular low calorie diet in research, and the long term regain of weight was greater. The side effects included gallstones, hair loss, constipation, muscle cramps and occasional death (Tsai & Wadden, 2006), and so is not recommended by any authority.
Note: Low-carbohydrate diets (low-carb lifestyle), known to be relatively high in fat and protein content, are also not recommended by the American Heart Association. These diets include the Protein Power diet and the Atkins diet (St. Jeor et al, 2001).
Summary
Dieting success is not driven by willpower alone but by extensive preparation, realistic goal-setting, and choosing the right diet model for your starting point. Evidence shows that caloric reduction and exercise have different effects depending on initial body weight, and that extreme diets or poorly planned restrictions often backfire, with risks including loosing life. Understanding dieting as a multi-stage, strategic process, rather than a quick fix, is a healthier and steadier path for long-term change.
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