Successful Dieters Do It Solo

by Martha Edwards (Subscribe to Martha Edwards's posts)
Jan 28th 2009 12:00PM

Spend any time watching cable TV and the hoards of dieting commercials you see might convince you that there's no way you can possibly lose weight unless you sign up with Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or another major franchise. But if you ask Consumer Reports, this is absolutely not true -- the majority of successful losers lost weight on their own, without help.

The good news? There's no need to spend a bunch of money on weight loss gimmicks that evidently don't work. The bad news? If gimmicks don't work, that means that in order to lose weight, you've got to do it the hard way -- with good old healthy eating and exercise. Bummer, eh?

Want to know what works in weight loss? Check out the six habits of successful losers.

via Calorie Lab

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Comments (1)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

u262f 1-28-2009 @ 6:50PM

When people say "more than half", the complement is usually "almost half". If "more than half" of successful losers did it on their own, then "almost half" of successful losers used a "commercial diet program, a medical treatment, a book, or diet pills".

(The other survey in which 83% did it on their own was done back in 2002. This could imply that diet programs, books, pills, etc. have significantly improved over the last half decade or so. I completely believe this because what researchers claim about nutrition keeps changing.)

The question I have is how many of that "almost half" would still have been successful if they didn't use their "commercial diet program, medical treatment, book, or diet pills". Maybe many of those people would've ended up in the "failed" category without their aids. Maybe "almost half" doesn't have what it takes to "do it solo".

Finally, while I didn't follow any particular book or program (because I'm too cheap and lazy for such things), I skimmed very many diet books at the library, I learned the concepts behind the programs, and I read many articles and blogs about health and fitness. I didn't do it completely solo. I don't think I would've been able to lose weight without the huge wealth of accumulated (and conflicting) knowledge out there. For me, it was an issue of education and figuring out what makes sense for my body. There's a lot of information out there, and each body is unique. What works for some people doesn't work for others. Many of the percentages in the Consumer Reports survey were very close to 50-50, but they're making all these claims about what's successful or not. I know a few people who are successful only when they stay on Weight Watchers. It works for them.