In 2004, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ranked obesity as the number one health threat facing America. Obesity currently results in an estimated 400,000 deaths annually and costs nearly $122.9 billion.2

Obesity increases a person’s risk for developing several serious obesity-related health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, thyroid disease, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and diabetes. In addition, childhood obesity affects more than 15 percent of the population under 18 years old classified as overweight. 3

It’s no wonder fad diets have become so popular as people look for the easy way out. In a time and age where many households are seeing both parents working, something as simple as sitting down for a home-cooked family dinner at 5:00 pm is nearly impossible nowadays. There is such an emphasis on competing with the Jones’, that people are often working harder and harder, longer and longer, to achieve financial success that has become the norm in our society.

The weight-loss industry is estimated to be a $50 billion a year industry. 4 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that at any given time two-thirds of all American adults are on a diet to either lose weight or prevent weight gain. Of those, 29 percent are men and 44 percent women. Yet only 5 percent of these dieters will be successful at keeping the weight that they lost off. 5

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that each day Americans spend an average of $109 million on dieting or diet related products, including tapes, videos, supplements, books, foods, and medications. 5

Often times people find themselves cycling from fad diet to fad diet because many of them show results initially, but most people bounce back to pre-diet weight or more once the diet has ended.

Ultimately, this cycle does not produce long-term results and often ends up with the person gradually gaining weight as their bodies re-adjust to the calorie deficits once the diet has finished. By fad-dieting, people often lose sight of their long-term goals for a quick fix.

The most healthy, in-shape people rarely “diet” as it is defined. These people eat a wide variety of food and as many as 6 meals a day and exercise at least 3-4 times a week — usually a combination of weight training and cardio activity. Many of them also allow themselves a “cheat meal” once a week, where they get to eat something a little less healthy.

Taking this approach can actually enable a person to safely lose between 2-3 lbs of fat a week, and research has shown that individuals who lose body fat slowly are much more likely to keep it off permanently. 6

Minor adjustments to your diet can also have dramatic cumulative results as long as a person is willing and determined enough to keep those changes over the long run.
Ditching soda, for example, for tea or flavored waters can often result in a loss of several pounds within just a few weeks. Substituting in complex carbs like oatmeal and brown rice for simple carbs like white rice and white bread, can also allow people to shed fat. In fact, finding foods that you can substitute for junk food is one of the most effective ways of cleaning up your diet and losing body fat for good. And you won’t starve yourself in the process or put your health at risk. 6

Finally, a very solid way to ensure weight loss is done safe and properly can be seen in a formula I often propose to people who ask on A1 forums. Eat 1 – 1.5 grams of protein for each pound of bodyweight. Eat ½ your weight in carbs (complex) each day. Eat 10 times your body weight in calories each day along with exercising 3-4 times a week. If you don’t see the results to your satisfaction, subtract 10% until you are reaching your goals.

1. Mokdad, A., et. al., Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000. JAMA, 2004; 291:1238-1245
2. National Institutes of Health: National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases. “Statistics Related to Overweight and Obesity: The Economic Costs.” win.niddk.nih.gov/statistics/index.htm
3. Ogden CL, Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Johnson CL. Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999–2000. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002;288:1728–1732.
4. Kovacs, Betty, MS, RD. Caffeine. www.medicinenet.com
5. AnswerFitness.com
6. Fad Diets: Why They are Bad and How to Spot Them. answerfitness.com