Why Diets Are A Waste Of Time & Money - What You Can Do Instead

A 'diet' is always seen as a temporary measure. An
unpleasant episode that must be endured in order to reach
some weight target, often in time for a major event such as
a wedding, your own or your children's. Afterwards, with a
big sigh of relief that its over, we get back to normal
eating. In what seems no time at all, especially if a
holiday is involved, the weight is back where it was, and
you wonder; was it worth it?

The truth about diets is that they train us to "live on
less" so normal food is now far too much. Many people have
managed to get to their chosen weight and then find that
they cannot come off the diet without putting the weight
back on. They are trapped in a regime of half starvation and
misery. Their life revolves around how much can they eat and
when they eventually break, which they always do, they eat
like it was an Olympic event.

The answer is simple - just eat slightly less for all of the
time. It may be slower than you would like but it works, and
its forever not just for Christmas or weddings.

If you reduce the fat content of your 'normal' food you can
eat an enormous amount of other stuff, so you won't feel
hungry. You will actually eat less calories without eating
less food. Avoiding fat is easy. Obvious targets are dairy
fats and margarines. Spread butter or margarine thinly, or
buy fat-reduced spreads, or even better, try without. It
works for sandwiches with lettuce and tomato to provide some
moisture but I'd rather have some spread on my toast than
just jam. Trim the fat off your meat and bacon before
cooking.

Try semi-skimmed milk and then progress to the fully
skimmed. Ignore the slightly grey colour and enjoy its
increased calcium and vitamins compared to the greasy un-
skimmed product. Vegetarians should also be aware that many
vegetable-based products could be as heavy in fat as those
that are meat based. Biscuits are generally very high in
fat, typically around 25% but much higher again if chocolate
coated. The problem with biscuits is that you can easily
take in a substantial part of your daily calories without
feeling as though you have eaten anything but a few
mouthfuls. If you need a snack have some fruit instead or
low fat yoghurt.