Now, I know that you’ve heard all of the above before.  It’s nothing new.  In fact, many of you probably know more about dieting than I do because you’ve tried just about everything out there, and I have not.  In fact, I’ve never been on a diet in my life and I never intend to.  The dieting industry has educated the public on how to lose weight.  There is no argument there.  But, what the advocates for this method fail to mention is that while it may be a huge money maker (signifying that it must work, right?), it has a 95% fail rate.  They may know more about getting the weight off, sure, but they know nothing about keeping it off.  In the sections below I am going to explain five different reasons why dieters fail and share with you some steps you can take to avoid the inevitable yo-yo effect of dieting and ACTUALLY try something that works!

Dieting Mistake #1 – Calories, Calories, Calories

Often I am asked what I think about this or that diet.  I read books, publications, articles, listen to interviews, press releases, webinars, etc. just to try and keep up with the new trends of the moment, and there is only one thing I’ve learned.  There’s TOO much!  It is impossible to keep up with the endless amounts of information that is put out there!  Most of it is bad advice, but I like to think that the writers have good intentions.  In my opinion, though, I feel that if you’re going to be out there giving someone advice on how to lose weight you have the responsibility to let them know that your methods may work but they won’t be healthy!  Offering a quick-fix for a complicated issue is misleading and gives a false sense of security ultimately leading to burnout and failure. 

How do they do this?  If you’ve ever tried a diet, you know that it all comes down to one pivotal point:  calories in, calories out.  The more you are able to burn than you take in creates weight loss, right?  Well, sort of.  Yes, it’s true that you must be in negative energy balance to lose weight, but dieting takes this concept to the extreme.  Some diets require a drastic reduction only allowing 500-1500 calories per day and will last for weeks!  Eventually this has to end.  No matter how much “willpower” someone claims to have this is equivalent to starvation and no one should stick to it.  Low calorie diets work only because they are low calorie diets and are only a temporary fix.  Once going off a low calorie diet a quick regain is inevitable because they utilize lean body tissue as an energy source and lower the metabolic rate slowing the metabolism even more.  This is not the ideal way to lose weight since it focuses on scale weight which does not determine size.  Two objects can weigh the same, but be completely different in size.  Take a beach ball and a baseball for example.  They both weigh 4 oz. but are clearly not the same size.  The beach ball is 18 inches in diameter, while the baseball is only about 4 inches in diameter.  You can think of the beach ball as being pure body fat, while the baseball represents lean muscle.  Lean tissue utilizes far more energy than body fat (which uses virtually none) and therefore is the machinery that keeps the metabolism revving.

What to do –

1. Don’t go too long without eating.  It is important to keep a constant flow of energy yielding nutrients and non-energy yielding nutrients flowing through the bloodstream.  This keeps the metabolism burning and spares protein in the diet for repair in the body to avoid muscle breakdown (catabolism). 

2. Don’t drink your calories.  No offense, but can we say, “Oprah Winfrey?”  Liquid diets are popular again, but don’t be fooled into the marketing tools that are saying this is the only way you’ll get enough fruits and veggies in your diet to avoid having to take supplements.  Juicing your veggies and fruits causes you to eat more than you normally would in one sitting.  Eating too much carbohydrate at one time will send your blood glucose levels through the roof leaving your fat and protein synthesizers idle.  Plus, since you’ve broken down the fibers in the veggies and fruits you’ll absorb more glucose, which just like anything else eaten in amounts that the body can’t handle, will be stored as body fat once the muscle and liver stores have been filled.  Getting your daily servings of these two food groups is easier than you think.  If you want more info on recommendations for portion sizes for fruits and veggies, email “food chart” to katie@katiesfitbiz.com.  I will send you a visual aide (totally free) that you can print out and post to your refrigerator.  Us it and memorize it!

3. Eat a variety of foods at every meal.  Mix your energy sources together.  Always eat a lean protein, fibrous carb, and complex/simple carb with every meal.  (Don’t know what these are?  It’s time to hire a nutrition coach!  www.katiesfitbiz.com)

4. Snack. This was always my favorite part of the day as a kid, and guess what?!  It’s time to bring those days back!  Children are natural grazers from birth.  We, as a society, have taught them differently and to conform to our traditional three, very large meals per day.  When left alone, children never eat large meals.  They eat a variety of foods in small amounts throughout the entire day, and have usually met their calorie requirements by dinner time.

Dieting Mistake #2 – Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

It always amazes me how so-called “experts” will tell you to eat fewer calories, and in nearly the same breath tell you to start exercising more.  This is contraindictory because you need calories from your diet to extract the energy you need to exercise.  During exercise, without sufficient calorie intake from the diet your body will call on its own energy reserves in lean tissue to provide the energy it needs to sustain physical movement.  If it has to call on those reserves, energy output will be lower due to a slower metabolism that is trying to spare energy for insulin dependent and non-insulin dependent cells.  Fat burning may increase slightly, but at the cost of lean tissue stores since they must always be used in conjunction with fat burning (because fat cannot make glucose).  Besides, exercising 90 minutes a day like they do on workout programs like p90X is frankly not realistic and hardly any easier to maintain.  If anything, you’ll suffer from overuse injuries, stress fractures and joint pain from programs that require so much effort on little energy.

What to do?

1. Train smarter, and only sometimes harder.  Investing as little as 20 minutes per day to exercise can have more positive results on your progress than you think.  When you make each and every minute of those twenty minutes count, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in that amount of time.  Kind of the last two minutes of a football game – anything can happen!  That’s more than enough time to change the outcome of the entire game!  The BodyInstinct program be Tari Rose has some great tips on how to get this done.  Check it out on her website at www.TariRose.com.

2. Hire a Lifestyle Coach.  An exercise regimen is a must and way outweighs any risks of injury (as long as you are not overdoing it).  That’s why it is so important to get it right!  It may be totally necessary and worth the investment to hire a professional coach who can help you balance your fitness with your lifestyle.  If you are not serious about exercise and are not currently doing any regular physical activity I am going to save you several hundred dollars right now.  Don’t order home system fitness DVDs.  YOU ARE NOT READY for that yet!  They will only sit on your shelf and collect dust.  It would be better to put that money to good use and hire a professional who can sit down with you (maybe even in your own home) and help you put it all together so that it makes sense and be something that you can stick to for the long run.

Dieting Mistake #3 – Taking Supplements to Fill in the Holes

When consuming a low calorie diet taking supplements as a backup may be necessary to get a day’s worth of nutrients, but will never equate to an adequate diet.  The health benefits of eating a balanced diet are far greater than relying on supplements to fill the gaps.  Besides, the supplement industry is not all it’s cracked up to be.  Several agencies that independently test products for potency and safety are finding that what you see on the label, isn’t necessarily what you’re getting in the bottle.  Barbara Walters reported on this in December of 2005 in a segment called What’s Really in the Bottle?.

What to do?

1. Save Your Money.  Don’t buy supplements that make unrealistic claims about health and wellness.  i.e. “Promotes heart health”, “May prevent (certain disease or ailment)”, etc.  Chances are the manufacture is hiding something.

2. If you must purchase a supplement - ask yourself these questions:

• Is it safe?
• If safe, is it effective?
• If effective, is it necessary?
• If necessary, am I willing to live with the side effects? (liver disease, nerve damage, kidney problems, etc.)

3. What to look for when purchasing a multivitamin:

• Remember, no agencies are overseeing the supplement industry.  It is important to keep safety, potency, and quality in mind when purchasing any supplement on the market.  Look for an independent agency seal like; USP, NSF, or Consumerlab.com
• Take with food.
• Look for 100% DV for vitamin D, B vitamins, and 20 micrograms of vitamin K, copper, zinc, iodine, selenium, chromium.  (Not 2,000% DV)
• Look for 5,000 IU’s of vitamin A with 40% coming from beta carotene.  (More than 6,000 IU’s increases risk for fractures in people over 50)
• Pre-menopausal women need 100% DV of iron.  Post-menopausal and men need 45% DV.
• Words that you don’t need to see on the bottle: high-potency, senior formula, stress formula, natural, slow-release, enzymes, hormones, amino acids, PAVA, natural, starch-free, ginseng, or other “sketchy” herbs (claims that they have significant value to health or disease prevention).
• Strict vegetarians need: a good quality B12 supplement, zinc, iron, and calcium
• If calcium supplementation is necessary take a separate supplement
• Women of childbearing age need 400 IU’s of folate (folic acid).

Dieting Mistake #4 – Attitude

The way in which you view exercise and diet have everything to do with how you will succeed.  If you have a poor attitude towards health and fitness, then you are more likely to shortcut around your weight loss goals.  In the end, the only true success comes from those that work hard and accomplish more by being consistent at a more slow, and gradual approach.  I love to use the analogy of the tortoise and the hare in this speech.  The hare takes off fast, and has instant gratification of getting ahead.  As we know, this plan backfires on the hare because he has never learned to work hard for something, it always came easily to him.  The tortoise on the other hand has had to learn patience and persistence in reaching his goals because things didn’t come so easy to him.  He had to really work hard in order to succeed.

What to do?

1. Avoid quick-fixes and take a more modern approach.  Patience and persistence are key!

2. Don’t sucker in to all the baloney out there about dieting.  Learn the sound practice of balanced nutrition and lifestyle intervention.

3. Learn from those that don’t diet.  The one co-worker, family member, or neighbor that you hate because they never gain an once?  Yeah, well, they may just know something about energy balance.  Watch and learn, or hire a lifestyle coach to take a good, hard look at your lifestyle and help you make gradual changes that you can live with.  Don’t take any more extreme approaches!  

Dieting Mistake #5 – Unrealistic Expectations

Stop making unrealistic goals for yourself that will only leave you feeling burnt out and discouraged!  Most diets out there promise amazing results, but only after you’ve given up your favorite foods, social interactions with your friends, and extremely difficult exercise programs and meal planning.  Just STOP the nonsense!  This is madness!  Life is about facing obstacles and learning how to coop stress without using food as a buffer.  Food is good and we are meant to enjoy it, not punish ourselves with it!  Yet, ”experts” make use believe that we lack the willpower or the self-control to stick to them.  No, that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Diets fail people, people don’t fail diets. 

What to do?

1. Learn to set SMART goals.  A SMART goal is one that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.  This takes some practice, but is so worth the time and effort!  The more you practice, the better you get, and the more you can achieve!

2. Learn to be less reactive and more proactive.  Learning to use proactive language in place of reactive language will help you succeed much faster and with better, healthier results.

• Rather than say, “I can’t” learn to say, “What are my alternatives?”
• Replace “I have to” statements with “I choose”
• Negative language breeds more negative outcomes
• Positive language encourages more positive results

3. Reduce stress. This is so important.  We are surrounded by negative feedback everywhere we turn.  We have many responsibilities: job, kids, household, etc.  Taking the time to relax and enjoy life is part of living a healthy quality life.  Take the time to smell the roses.

4. When it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.  If you hear that weight loss is easy, that is too good to be true.  Weight loss requires a different frame of mind than most traditional approaches (which I think I have described above pretty thoroughly).  It’s never fast, and on their plans will never be easy.

For more info on lifestyle intervention visit my website at www.katiesfitbiz.com.  Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to follow my updates and fit tips.  Thanks for reading!  Leave your comments below, please!

Thanks!

A company called Harvest Trading Group released the iRenew Bracelet featuring the new “nano-based biofield” technology claiming that when the bracelet is worn the body’s biofield energy becomes more balanced promoting better health and function.  The Massachusetts based company goes on to say that, “You will be amazed how well your body can function when your biofield is more properly balanced.”  The Harvest Trading Group is also known for advertising products such as the OneTouch Can Opener and the Pancake Puff.  So the question remains.  Does it work?  The commercial features several “customers” that have worn the iRenew Bracelet and say that their balance was completely restored.  Others noticed more strength and flexibility and claim that they were able to sleep better while wearing the bracelet.

The Better Business Bureau has received over 100 complaints from customers who say that the bracelet did nothing to improve their health and complain of overbilling and mysterious charges on their credit cards.  The company currently has an “F” grade with the BBB.  “Customers complain of overbilling, slow delivery, and difficulty with refunds,” said Bill Smith of the BBB.  He also said to take note that the disclaimer on the product’s website says, “Has not been evaluated by the FDA.  This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”  When asked, the owner of iRenew, James P. Lewis, said that he isn’t sure how the technology actually works and makes no guarantees that his product will work on everyone.

Customer complaints to the BBB included being overcharged, having difficulty receiving their refund after sending the product back, and one woman was charged over $30 for shipping.  Customers ordered the product hoping that they would receive some relief from their discomfort only to discover they’d been scammed.  Many said they just gave up after making several attempts at amend phony charges to their credit card. 

Whenever you are concerned about your health, it is recommended that you seek the guidance of your physician before trying any product on the market.  Be sure to research the company’s background before purchasing a product laced with fancy advertising and “too good to be true” health claims.  Always read the disclaimers and fine print, and gather all the information before making the decision to purchase these types of products on the market.

Katie Ronshausen, St. Louis

ACE Personal Trainer/Fitness Instructor

AASDN Nutrition Specialist

www.physiic.com

Dec. 16th – FREE! Informational meeting about the biggest loser challenge beginning at Flex Health & Fitness in Jan.  Meeting will be held at Flex this Thursday night beginning at 7 p.m.  Please come and learn more about the challenge and the launch of our new lifestyle management program!

Jan. 10th @ 7:00 p.m. – Healthy Method LM Classes begin!  If you are interested in learning how to organize a healthy lifestyle with proper diet and exercise, then these innovative nutrition classes are for you!  Again, head on over to www.katiesfitbiz.com for more info and registration.

This is where you will find all the latest information on fitness, diets, health, nutrition, and plenty of controversy as we debunk all the latest trends and get back to the basics.  Let’s face it!  We all want to be healthy, more fit, and look sexy as we age, and we don’t need to sabotage that with bad science and poor advice, right?!  Visit often, and comment alot!  Send us your questions, and together, we’ll get you on the right track to wellness!