‘Diets are dead’: the best way to tackle weight loss in 2021

It’s that time of year again, although for most of us, New Years resolutions are probably the furthest thing from our minds.

If you’ve managed to stop checking daily coronavirus updates and constantly change travel and vacation plans to think about your 2021 goals, weight loss, healthy eating, and fitness are generally on the list.

While the lockdown saw some people embrace exercise at home and increase their exercise regimen, others gained weight in isolation.

We have been bombarded with celebrity stories about weight loss and the diets they went on to lose pounds this year.

But one expert warns that it’s time for “no more diet problems.”

Canberra-based nutritionist Kate Freeman believes “diets are dead” and is on a mission to empower people to replace eating stress with the confidence of healthy eating habits.

“How often have you been successful on a diet, only to then crash and burn and end up in the same place, or even worse?” she said.

“You can lose weight, have more energy, and feel fitter and stronger without following an unhealthy and unrealistic diet.

“While diets are about rules and limiting options, healthy eating is about developing a deeper understanding of food to give you choice and flexibility.”

Freeman said she had heard too many horror stories about restrictive diets that produced short-term results but quickly led to food guilt, confusion, binge eating and body dissatisfaction.

She said that even motivated dieters eventually hit the wall and have a hard time getting back up.

“Diets can produce quick results, but they also come with stress and anxiety,” Freeman said.

“They cannot provide a long-term healthy life. There are so many concerns about diet that they hurt people who are trying to do the right thing for their bodies and their lives.

“No more dietary worries – Developing healthy eating habits offers long-term results.”

Freeman hosts a daily nutrition podcast and YouTube series called The Daily Dollop that covers sustainable approaches to all of the hot diet topics, including sugar and carbs, snacking, cravings, weight loss, and planning. meals.

He also runs Australia’s only online healthy eating habits development program, The Healthy Eating Hub.

“Healthy eating is a skill that can be mastered without the emotional manipulation of the diet industry,” he said.

The program breaks healthy eating into small, achievable parts like choosing whole foods, having a balanced plate, or focusing on making changes to breakfast first.

Freeman said other programs focused on calories that often didn’t work.

Here are her tips on what not to do:

Don’t set unrealistic weight loss expectations. True fat loss takes time. Is slow. If your expectations are too high, they likely won’t be met. However, it is very likely that what you are doing is working, you just cannot see it yet. But because our expectations are not met, he will give up, which will definitely not lead him to his goal. Testimonials from shows like The Biggest Loser and Instagram deflect our expectations of what is real. About half a kilo a week is good for aiming on average. Also remember that weight loss is NOT linear and has peaks and troughs over the weeks and months. Be patient and use other indicators of success, such as how you feel or monitor your consistency with healthy habits.

Do not create a set of food rules to follow: Not chocolate. Sugarfree. Without gluten. Without meat. No junk food. Unless you have a medical or ethical reason to avoid them, you don’t need to remove them. Don’t set a rule for yourself that you will only rebel against later. Psychology tells us that rules are an inferior way of producing long-term change.

Don’t Cut Out Whole Food Groups – You do not need to eliminate food to lose weight. Weight loss requires the creation of an energy deficit and health requires a diet of constant quality. This means that you need to know how much energy your body needs and eat accordingly AND that what you are eating provides your body with many vitamins, minerals, and other health-promoting components.

Don’t detox or cleanse There is no scientific evidence that this works. It will not result in long-term weight loss. Short-term fluid loss, yes. Long-term fat loss, no.

Don’t buy expensive supplements – These are often expensive without scientific backing and in the context of a consistently poor diet will not result in weight loss.

Don’t be too strict with your food. Yes, weight loss requires an energy deficit. However, if you reduce your energy intake too drastically, you will end up hungry, tired, and prone to overeating at your next meal. Create a modest energy deficit that you can support too, so your body has enough energy to function, but also for slow, steady weight loss that lasts.

Don’t try to change everything at once. Psychology tells us that self-initiated change is challenging and requires critical thinking, trial and error, and a maintenance phase before it becomes part of your life. It is simply impossible to do this in the long term. You may be able to do it in the short term, but once you can no longer do it, the weight comes back up.

Don’t fantasize – Fantasizing is actually counterproductive to long-term behavior change. So ditch the #fitspo that makes you feel #crapso and establish realistic and sustainable changes that you can really stick to. That way you will not only lose weight in the short term, but you will lose it for life.