How to Avoid Weight Loss Crash and Burn
Lots of diets promise quick and easy weight loss. But what do you do afterward? Instead of rapid weight loss, focus on slow changes that result in sustainable weight management
By John Casey
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic - Feature
Reviewed By Gary Vogin, MD
Perhaps uppermost among all the unpleasant parts of weight loss is the fact that it is so easy to fall off the diet wagon and gain weight back.
"You really, really work at dieting and drop all these pounds, then you want to eat something and just enjoy it without worrying about how many grams of fat it has or how many calories," says Catherine Gush, 43, a medical assistant in a doctor's office in Craig, Colo.
It's that moment when all the hard work, irritability, and delayed gratification come up against the pleasure of the pint of gourmet ice cream in the freezer and the strip of fast-food joints along the highway.
"You see the food, and you ask yourself, 'What's the point?'" says Walt Stock, 39, an automotive repair technician in Latrobe, Pa. "At least if I eat the food I know I'll feel better for a while, and I'll eat it sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner."
This is what some dietitians and doctors call "diet dropout." And it is often a result of dieters' unrealistic goals.
Even when under medical treatment for weight problems, "patients tend to hit a plateau after about three to six months of treatment or when they've lost about 5 to 15 percent of body weight," says Louis Aronne, MD, associate professor of medicine at Cornell University's Weill Medical College who specializes in the study of obesity. "They stop losing weight, and their appetites return. It causes a lot of frustration, even for patients who are very motivated."
Fantasy Scuttles Weight Loss
"A lot of weight-loss programs out there direct people in the action phase of weight loss only," says Leslie Bonci, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and director of the sports medicine nutrition program at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. "These programs take an all-or-nothing approach that is not conducive to long-term weight management."
Some of these unrealistic goals are the result of heavy advertising for products that claim to help people lose weight. Many of these advertisements play into people's fantasies about weight loss.
"If you see an ad that says something will give you quick and easy weight loss, you can be sure that is a fantasy."
"If you see an ad that says something will give you quick and easy weight loss, you can be sure that is a fantasy," says Aronne. "Weight loss is all about slowly changing lifestyle by eating better food and getting more exercise."
Talk to your doctor before you start your diet to give yourself a better chance of long-term success, Bonci says, adding that a registered dietitian can be an enormous help for many people who want to drop weight.
"A dietitian can design a diet that fits your needs and provides an appropriate calorie level," she says. "One of the best ways to start is to keep a food diary for a few days to identify your dieting weak spots and start setting realistic goals, such as trying to cut just 250 calories per day from your usual diet."
Simple dietary changes, coupled with exercise and realistic expectations, says Bonci, can easily result in a weight loss of one-half pound per week for most of us.
The Ugly Truth
Really, no one wants to hear the old "eat better and get more exercise" advice. But the ugly truth is that the body allows for only that recipe for weight loss, unless you include liposuction and stomach-shrinking surgery.
"Vegetables have high water and fiber content," says Bonci. "They are crunchy, and they give your mouth something to do. Don't deny yourself some of what you want to eat when you want to eat it, but consider adding a piece of fruit or a vegetable before you eat the cookie. Eat an apple and two cookies instead of five or six cookies."
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