| The A-Z trial: The real reason diets fail. | | | | The researchers also found that adherence was |
| In this ground breaking study, 311 overweight women | | | | significantly correlated with 12-month weight change |
| were recruited to follow one of the following popular | | | | for all three-diet groups. So the better a woman was |
| diet programs: The Atkins Diet, The Zone Diet, the | | | | at following her diet, the more weight she lost. |
| LEARN diet or the Ornish Diet. To start the study, | | | | The fact that adherence was so low is very |
| each woman was given a copy of the popular diet | | | | interesting considering that these women spent eight |
| book that she was randomly assigned to follow. | | | | class sessions reviewing their assigned diets with a |
| Then, to make sure she was an "expert" on her | | | | registered dietitian before they even started the |
| program before she started dieting, each woman | | | | diet...you can imagine what adherence must be like |
| attended a series of 8 classes (each lasting an hour) | | | | for someone who simply bought one of those books, |
| explaining exactly how to follow her assigned diet. | | | | read it cover to cover and then gave it a try! The |
| (Side note- This just shows how "Obsessive | | | | findings from this follow-up analysis also suggest that |
| Compulsive Eating" these diets are considering that it | | | | the difference in dietary macronutrients had only |
| takes EIGHT classes for these women to know how | | | | negligible effects on the participants weight loss |
| to properly follow each diet!) After the courses were | | | | success. |
| completed the women then set off to follow their | | | | The bottom line is that you can generally figure out |
| assigned diet plan for a total of 1 year. | | | | how successful a diet will be by looking at how |
| The results were pretty much exactly what I | | | | complicated it is. |
| expected - everybody lost a lot of weight in the first | | | | More rules = more complicated = low chance of |
| two months, after that the diets tended to even out | | | | success |
| and by the end of the trial the weight loss was far | | | | Less rules = less complicated = high chance of |
| from impressive - none of the groups averaged more | | | | success |
| than 10 pounds of weight loss after an entire year of | | | | In my opinion weight loss can be incredibly simple if |
| dieting. | | | | you let it. Find the easiest, most comfortable way to |
| And while many people used this study to 'prove' | | | | reduce the total amount of calories that you eat. The |
| that diets simply didn't work, or that the body | | | | less intrusive a diet is on your lifestyle the greater |
| somehow adapted to dieting, my take was much | | | | chance you have of sticking to it long term. For me, |
| simpler - Firstly, this trial is in agreement with most | | | | this is flexible intermittent fasting. After all if you can |
| research that shows it is very hard to accurately | | | | fast for 24 hours once, you know you will always be |
| measure how many calories a person eats in a day, | | | | able to do it. Some fasts maybe harder or easier |
| and secondly I thought that these results showed | | | | than others, but you know you can do it! Obsessive |
| that the number one reason diets fail is compliance. | | | | Compulsive Eating habits that make diets complicated |
| In other words, the more complicated and the more | | | | and difficult spell doom for long term weight loss. |
| rigid the diet is (or the more OCE it is), the more | | | | 10 Signs a diet suffers from OCE: |
| likely it is going to fail in the long term. - People just | | | | 1. It contains a list of foods you can and cannot eat |
| can't stick to these types of diets for long periods of | | | | 2. It lists specific times of every day that you are |
| time. | | | | allowed or not allowed to eat |
| Apparently I wasn't alone with my analysis. In a | | | | 3. It contains specific diet plans that do not take into |
| study published in the International Journal of Obesity | | | | consideration your own personal food preferences |
| titled "Dietary adherence and weight loss success | | | | 4. It lacks flexibility |
| among overweight women: results from the A to Z | | | | 5. It focuses on macronutrients and micronutrients |
| weight loss study" researchers re-examined the A to | | | | excessively |
| Z weight loss trial to see if there was an association | | | | 6. If fails to point out the importance of long term |
| between the level of compliance and the amount of | | | | compliance |
| weight that was lost. | | | | 7. It requires you to pre-pack and carry certain foods |
| Guess what they found? Astonishingly only ONE | | | | with you while you travel |
| subject in the ENTIRE study followed the diet as | | | | 8. It promotes certain foods because they |
| directed for the whole 12 months. This means that | | | | PROMOTE weight loss |
| every other subject was not following her assigned | | | | 9. Over reliance of food Journal |
| diet properly at some point during the research trial! | | | | 10. |