Keto, intermittent fasting, eating only potatoes and eggs, not eating any potatoes and eggs, no carbohydrates or the points method – weight loss diets are part of life for more than half of the population in the Western world.
Most of us want to look shapely and are willing to make an effort for it. But is it enough to change your dietary habits to go from overweight to a healthy weight? According to a new Israeli study, chances are, it isn’t.
“The expectation of losing weight through dieting alone is almost never realistic,” Dr. Irit Hochberg, Acting Director of the Institute of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and Director of the Diabetes Service at Rambam Medical Campus, who led the study said. “In the medical and scientific community, this is a known fact that has been backed up by studies for decades, but among the general public this misconception somehow still exists.”
It’s hard to lose weight, and even harder to sustain the loss
According to Dr. Hochberg, who analyzed data from tens of thousands of subscribers to diet forums on the Reddit platform, most overweight dieters set themselves a goal of reaching lean weight based on Body Mass Index (BMI). In practice, everyone loses a lot less weight than they expected.
“Most diets that last for a long-time end with only losing a few kilograms,” Dr. Hochberg explains. “This was found in clinical studies that examined the effects of various diets. It is difficult to lose weight and even harder to maintain weight loss over time. It’s surprising to realize that most people who are obese still believe it’s possible and start dieting with the goal of reaching that goal.”
In a recently published study, Dr. Hochberg and her partner, Dr. Elad Yom-Tov from the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technion, collected data from 56,000 people who participated in six dieting forums on Reddit between 2011 and 2020.
“The pursuit of a goal that is on the verge of impossible creates a problematic cycle that generates self-hatred, a sense of failure and disappointment, turning to more extreme methods to achieve the goal, sharp weight fluctuations that are harmful to health and even eating disorders.”
Dr. Irit Hochberg
The participants, who participated in discussion groups focused one particular diet each, provided information about themselves and allowed researchers to get a glimpse into the processes that they underwent.
The study tracked the data entered by the participants and analyzed their perceptions and beliefs about the success of the diet process, versus what actually happened.
Where did dieters succeed? And where did they fail?
According to the results of the study, the average number of kilograms lost by members of the forums who continued to participate over time ranged from 12-16 kg, with more than three-quarters of those who continued to report to the forum losing at least 5% of their body weight. In a follow-up after several months, members of the Keto Diet Forum were able to lose the most weight relative to the other dieting methods tested.
“Clinical studies that examined the implications of various diets on body weight loss in a controlled environment showed that the diets lead to a loss of 4-7 kg on average and later some will gain the weight back, so that in the long run, on average, people who stick to the diet will be about 3 kg less than where they started.’
However, she continued, “The participants in the forums we examined as part of the study aimed to lose a much greater amount of weight, with statements of intent to weigh between 24-37 kg less than the weight they started with.
“The social pressure from the world around us, which sends constant messages to the overweight person that they must make efforts to ‘solve the problem’ and become a thin person, is also extremely harmful.”
Dr. Irit Hochberg
“There are huge gaps here between what we know actually happens in such processes and what most people believe they can achieve, even if they think they are aiming for a normal weight for their body structure, rather than extreme thinness.”
She clarified, adding: “Those who initially declared their weight loss goals to be a greater number of pounds were able to lose more, but not on the scale that they aspired to. There is a problem with expectations based on erroneous beliefs about our ability to bring about a radical change in our weight through the process of dieting.”
Dr. Hochberg explains the rationale, saying that: “The pursuit of a goal that is on the verge of impossible creates a problematic cycle that generates self-hatred, a sense of failure and disappointment, turning to more extreme methods to achieve the goal, sharp weight fluctuations that are harmful to health and even eating disorders.
“The social pressure from the world around us, which sends constant messages to the overweight person that they must make efforts to ‘solve the problem’ and become a thin person, is also extremely harmful.”
When the expectation is so exaggerated, disappointment inevitably arises and this is actually the bottom line in a study that is the largest of its kind to date.
“The idea is to understand that when making a dietary change aimed at weight loss, the weight loss goal should be adjusted to what is possible and achievable,” Dr. Hochberg explains. “It is important to understand that this is a long process that requires a real change in lifestyle, one that can be maintained for a long time.
“Even if it’s impossible to completely change your body shape and become slim and shapely, losing a few kilograms (if you are overweight) can have a very significant benefit to your health.
“We are all different, there is no formula that fits everyone overwhelmingly, but this principle is quite a rule of thumb when it comes to dieting. The numbers speak for themselves.”
