What’s the secret to weight loss?

Almost everyone is sick and tired of the constant bombardment of advertisements on TV and the internet using every trick they can to fool people into thinking there’s some magical solution they’re missing that prevents them from losing weight and keeping it that way. Unfortunately, there is no “weird old tip” that can help you cut down 3 lbs of your week, but there is a normal old tip for losing those extra pounds that we all know but try to ignore: ensure caloric intake is less than caloric expenditure.

You’ve probably seen the ad above on countless websites. Don’t fall for the short-term fix delusion! Speak to a nutritionist who can tailor a custom plan to meet your dietary needs.

We’ve all heard of fads like the South Beach diet, the Zone diet, the Atkins diet which used to allow all-you-can-eat breakfasts of scrambled eggs and bacon (until it was discovered that probably wasn’t the healthiest idea, disappointing bacon lovers everywhere) and expensive programs like Nutrisystem. And we’ve also heard that 95% of diets fail. But why?

It’s because our body experiences dieting as a stressor, triggering production of high-levels of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that cause our body to slow down the rate at which we burn calories. Our body is intentionally slowing down our weight loss efforts, because it believes our rapid weight loss caused by our lower caloric intake is a threat to survival.

Any dietician or nutritionist in the right mind will teach that what we eat is important, but changing the type of food we consume alone doesn’t necessarily create long lasting change, because that doesn’t affect our deep rooted beliefs and behaviors that inform our food choices and eating habits in the first place.

If the following thoughts re-occur in your daily life, trying different fads will continue in a vicious cycle of weight-loss, weight gain and disappointment:

• “I’ll never be happy until I’m skinny.”
• “I hate my body.”
• “I don’t have enough willpower, and just need more discipline to fix my issues.”
• “Food is my enemy – it’s a constant struggle.”

Remember, ensure caloric intake is less than caloric expenditure. It’s really that simple.