Mindful Eating Series with The Grounded Therapist (#1)

This time of year you can't glance at any social media feed without being bombarded with (bad) advice on how to lose weight/be healthy/shape up. There IS an alternative to all that diet & clean eating crazy speak: Mindful Eating. I understand that it can be a hard to understand concept- so I have embarked on a project to help you understand what it is and how it can help you and (perhaps more importantly) how you can start practicing it today. This is a collaboration between myself and The Grounded Therapist. 

I met Rachel Dougherty, The Grounded Therapist, through a bloggers group. Since I write & talk a lot about the psychology behind eating, I am always eager to collaborate (and learn from) psychologists who are experts in mindfulness. After some exciting exchanges, we decided to collaborate on a Mindful Eating series! 

Here is what Rachel had to say about Mindful Eating: 

"This is the time of year when people try to make healthy goals for themselves. Diets and weight loss tricks are everywhere. It’s unavoidable. However, there are few real sustainable plans out there. Since we know most diets fail, what can you do if you want to lose weight, be more healthy or set a new fitness/wellness goal? What about starting to eat more mindfully? I know mindful eating is something I consider each new year after eating way too many cookies and cake. My birthday is on thanksgiving. It’s just cake and sweets from November to January 2nd. When you eat well and get some exercise you body and mind feel great. You will have more energy which means you will do good work, be able to accomplish more goals which make you want to continue to eat better. It’s an amazing cycle which I still manage to derail at times. I ... consider mindful eating a self care priority. "

Without further ado, here is our first post:

You’ve probably heard that mindful eating can help you manage your weight, reduce any disordered eating and help repair your relationship with food. Understanding what mindful eating is and how to practice it is the challenging part. This is mainly because it requires inner reflection, paying attention and lots of practice.

Being a mindful eater means much more than just eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full. Most people have heard the advice to “stop when you are full” and roll their eyes because, let’s be honest, you’ve probably tried it, and without the proper support, it may not have worked for you. For a greater chance of actually stopping when you are full, there are many things to practice and that is what this series is all about! In fact, the goal for many people is to use mindful eating as a way to reduce emotional and mindless eating. This means practicing being able to recognize when you are full, estimating how much food you need, letting go of judgement about your body & food and learning to trust your instincts.

Going beyond the “eat when hungry and stop when full”, mindful eating includes noticing the colors, smells, flavors, and textures of your food; eating more slowly; getting rid of distractions like TV or reading; hearing hunger and fullness cues and learning to eliminate guilt and anxiety about food. Noticing these things means deliberately paying attention and being fully aware of what is happening both inside and outside yourself.

Inside yourself includes what is going through your mind such as any emotions or thoughts you may be having- "I am stressed" or "I feel fat". Mindfulness includes paying attention to the experience in our body. Where in the body do we feel hunger? (in the head or in the stomach?) What does half-full feel like, or three quarters full?

Outside yourself means your surroundings:

• Where are you physically?
• sitting or standing? 
• at your desk with emails coming in every 2 minutes? 
• or alone in the kitchen with everyone gone to bed?

• Who are you with? 
• Compassionate people who make you feel confident?
• Or people who judge your eating and weight. 

The idea is to eventually learn in what way these thoughts, emotions and environment affects what, how and how much we eat. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, lets stick to practicing observing.

Eating mindfully can sound a bit abstract and practicing concrete activities to increase mindfulness can help you get started. To start becoming more mindful of when, how and what you eat as well as what influences you to eat, there are hands on exercises you can practice. Let’s start with this exercise:

Before eating, take a minute to observe your environment (outside your body) and your thoughts, emotions and how you physically feel (inside your body):

• are you stressed? Anxious? Happy? Sad? Tired?

• at the table and discussing stressful news? Standing up at the counter? Sitting in front of the tv?

• are you at your desk? In a stressful meeting? Rushing around in the car and feel you have no time to eat?

The goal is only to observe. Take notice. Pay attention more to your surrounding and your body and mind. This is invaluable for later, when trying to find patterns or barriers to eating mindfully. 

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Waste of ressources: Who has the time for dieting?

Dieting is a waste of energy, time and money.

I don't know about you, but I certainly have none of those to spare!

I am a HUGE advocate of intuitive and mindful eating to manage health. It encourages a way of eating that fits with your "eating personality" & food preferences, it is easy to integrate regardless of where you are geographically (on vacation, on a business trip or enjoying breakfast bed) and perhaps most importantly, has nothing to do with starvation or deprivation.

A recent article touches on this subject with great insight. It is from the latest Scientific American MIND magazine:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-diets-don-t-work-and-what-does/

It is so eloquently written and it mentions all the important aspects of weight management. If you have 5 minutes to read it, DO IT, you won't regret it.

So, getting back to my initial thought that dieting is a time suck. The funny thing is that many people have told me that they just don't have the time to learn how to eat mindfully. They believe that they need some strict guidance on what to eat and what not to eat in order to fix their eating problems and that somehow these strict rules will be easier to follow than a more natural way of eating. For many people, it is easier to blindly follow a diet- there is no need to think or second guess your decisions so it may feel like you are saving energy. It can also feel safer to follow a traditional way to lose weight since it has been marketed to death for decades. 

However, over time the strain and drain of having to resist eating the foods you enjoy and avoiding those that are handy starts to take its toll. Not to mention the terrible track record diets have with unsustainable weight loss and even weight gain

There is a finite amount of energy we have at our disposal every day. Wasting it on doing things that just don't work (ahem, diets!) is insane and frustrating.

When talking about diets, gurus and celebrities come to mind. I still can’t understand why people think that a celebrity could possibly know their body better than they do. Sure, dietitians have (science based) knowledge about nutrition and know of what has worked for other people who have successfully made health changes, but ultimately, you are the expert on your body. Re-discovering the confidence that you can make healthy choices takes time and practice, and it the only sustaining way to manage weight and health. I say re-discover because we were all born with the innate ability to hear and listen to our hunger and fullness cues. Understanding what influences things like mindless eating and large portion sizes is one step to eating healthier. Unfortunately, no diet will help with these issues, the answers have to come from listening to your mind and body.

No one would stand being instructed on how to feel or, perhaps more bluntly, what kind of underwear to wear. So why are so many of us allowing other people to tell us what, how much and when to eat? Listening and worrying over these instructions is a waste of time and energy.

The jobs of dietitians and other health professionals has evolved from providing knowledge and barking orders to listening to what the client wants and needs as well as motivating & supporting them to take action on making changes. So if you find yourself in a relationship with a health advocate who is telling you what to do rather than listening to you, move on and find someone who will be more of a partner in change rather than a know-it-all.

Feeling inadequate because you can’t follow a crazy diet to the letter is a waste of energy. Remember, you deserve to be confident with what you eat and diets do not give us confidence, they only take it away.

Social Media Snafu: How unliking, unfriending and unfollowing can help you manage your weight

There is an expression in french: "trop, c'est comme pas assez". Roughly translated, it means "too much is like not enough" or more eloquently put "less is more". In the nutrition world, this can mean trying to follow lots of complex information all at once (ie. gluten free, dairy free, low carb diet) when simple is sometimes best.

This confusion happens all the time. Since the internet first crossed paths with curious, weight-loss driven people, dietitians have been hearing the same old story- although their clients know alot about nutrition, they feel lost in this sea of information. Scouring the internet for hours to find all the tips and tricks needed to guarantee weight loss and eternal health happens too often. The problem with all this so-called "research" is that it usually is accompanied by anxiety, confusion and feelings of desperation. The best solution to this information overload is to take a nutrition "research" hiatus.

This used to mean stopping the weight loss chit chat, putting down the diet book or avoiding buying the latest fitness magazine. But now, since the birth of the internet, it should also include our Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook feeds.

Take a break from talking about food and weight loss with partners, friends and coworkers. Say au-revoir to reading the endless list of how-tos and diet guides. Unlike, unfollow and unfriend social media beings that are all about dieting/clean eating/burning calories all the time. This gives our brain a much needed break to decompress. This timeout is important for getting back to basics and to better hear our own intuition about food and eating. We have the answers to our own food questions. It takes some time and practice, but understanding hunger and fullness cues and our triggers to eat when not hungry is the simplest way to eat well.

Most people who are life-long dieters already have too much food and diet information packed in their brains so reading and talking about dieting only leads to more confusion. Talking with an expert (ie. registered dietitian) who specializes in mindful eating can do wonders for the brain, well being and anxiety related to eating. This is because sessions with a dietitian go much deeper than just conversations surrounding food and nutrition. Talking about what influences us to eat when we are not hungry as well as what fuel cravings and anxiety around food choices are the most interesting and connecting conversations we can have with professionals.


When everyone chimes in with their opinion on what we should eat or the latest miracle diet they heard about, it is stressful and does more harm than good. It often makes us second guess the best eating expert - ourselves. It is especially toxic if it is coming from our social media feed since we tend to check our feeds all day long.

Sometimes the best way friends and family and the internet can help us make lifestyle changes is to leave these conversations to the experts.

The secret ingredient for real corporate wellness

Companies who care about their employees’ health are often seen as being responsible and forward thinking. But could these good intentions be paving the way to harm? 

A few books have come out this year debating this question "do corporate wellness programs help or harm employees?" There have been numerous articles talking about the subject, as well as debates such as the one on the CBC radio show Q. 

One of the books in question is called The Wellness Syndrome and it was written by Dr. Andre Spicer and Carl Cederström. They state that some company's extensive wellness efforts caused employees stress. You can read a print interview of this book here.

Another book along the sames lines is Surviving Workplace Wellness…with Your Dignity, Finances, and (Major) Organs Intact. You can read a summary of it here.

At first glance, it may seem that the obvious answer is that corporate wellness programs do help employee health. However, if you delve deeper into both sides of the debate, the answer is far less clear.

On the one hand, you have the idea that healthy employees work more efficiently, are sick less often and help to add to a culture of healthiness and happiness. Also, most people feel that if your employer cares about your health and gives you time to take care of it, it is an added benefit. However, implementing a corporate wellness program and having this program actually work are two separate things. The assumption is that the wellness programs really do help people be healthier and improve their lifestyles. But this may not always be the case.
 

Labelling people who don't participate in the program as lazy or singling out people to participate can do more harm than good. People who are perceived as being unhealthy by their peers (this is usually based on their physical appearance) may be bullied or coerced into needing to participate. This backfires on the whole point of corporate wellness since stigmatizing people due to their weight or size has been linked to lower levels of healthiness. Although weight and body size is an easy thing to see (and thus judge) it really does not indicate one's health status. The factors that do matter most are the ones you cannot see, like cholesterol levels, blood pressure and stress.

Assuming that the "unhealthy looking" employees need help improving can alienate them from the corporation and their peers and assumes they are either doing nothing to improve their well-being or are too stupid to know what to do. When these initiatives come down from the top, they can persist weight biases and encourage continued ignorance on the subject of global health. In The Wellness Syndrome, the authors succinctly summarize their proposed “syndrome”. They state "that because employees had every opportunity to stay healthy, those who didn't meet extreme health standards sometimes felt like failures".

The people that these programs "would be good for" often end up feeling like they have to prove their worth in society by participating in a never-ending cycle to self-improve (in most cases, this is about losing weight). If weight loss and dieting usually leads to weight regain and weight cycling is linked to low mood and low quality of life, then the ethics of having such weight loss based programs must be reconsidered. If you want to learn more about the ethics of health professionals recommending dieting, you can read a past blog here.

Furthermore, the people who feel they must participate or risk being judged, may be already doing something to improve their health that they have not publically announced (ie. seeing a therapist for stress management or a dietitian for weight management). If these programs are poorly designed, participating can actually set them back.

It is amazing that even today, in 2015, well-meaning people want to focus on the same diet stuff that was being talked about in 1990! No, losing weight is not a guarantee that your employees will be less sick. No, it does not mean that your employees will work more efficiently. And no, it does not mean they are better people. How well do you work with the burden

when you are hungry, exhausted from dieting and feel like your company expects you to lose weight? 

The danger lies in the foundation of the wellness program. One that is designed by an actual health professional that has experience in overall well-being, not just weight loss competitions and fat shaming, is optimal. Ideally, this program would include all aspects of health as well as the proper health professionals such as registered dietitians, kinisiologists and psychologists. Including both spheres of health – the mind and the body- is key.

Another big problem is that these programs are being delivered by professionals (or pseudo-health professionals) who are emphasizing the wrong aspects of health. Focusing on the number of pounds lost or following food rules at the office (i.e. going gluten free) are just a few of the nutrition related mistakes that happen all the time. Focusing on weight lost is simple to quantify to the company who is funding the wellness program, but it is a terrible predictor of overall health.

Most people know what to do to be healthy. The question is why can't they make the changes. Focusing on ways to overcome barriers to healthy living is much more useful than reiterating the reasons why you should change. Learning (again) how to read a food label for fat content or stating the reasons why you have to aim for 10000 steps per day is fine if your participants lack knowledge. However, a more motivating discussion around why choosing high fat foods is easy or why they aren't getting 10000 steps in every day can be a lot more useful. 

The authors suggest alternatives to weight loss competitions and exercise tracking such as keeping working hours under control, letting people disconnect in the evenings and weekends, and understanding what actually causes a sense of well-being. 

For real health changes, we have to get back to the science of wellbeing and stop focusing on old school theories because the dangers in promoting a poorly designed wellness program can do much more harm than good. 

Three Ways to Celebrate No Diet Day (MAY 6th)

This blog post was written by Leslie Schilling and Rebecca Scritchfield, Co-Founders of Dietitians for Body Confidence www.RD4BC.com.

Healthy bodies come in all different shapes and sizes. We see it every time we hit the gym, get our hair done, or just walk down the street. 

May 6th is International "No Diet Day" - a day where people everywhere can say "I don't need no stinkin' diet." Wouldn't it be great to throw some self-love motivation out to the universe? 

Here are three ways anyone can celebrate "No Diet Day"
1. "I love me some ME!" There’s no point in trying to look like a celeb on a magazine cover. Did you know that those celebs don’t even look like that? Over 95 percent of media images are altered (not real). We can rock our different sizes and unique shapes.  You can do it: Share what you value about your body and why - with yourself, a good friend, or on social media. 
2. "Because I'm HAPPY..." We often think if we choose to be content, we’ve become complacent. That’s simply not the case. We can find health and happiness along the way. Try to let go of the “if/then” attitude. Being happy in the body you have is possible even while you’re working on making it healthier. You can do it: reflect on what you are grateful for today and why. Can you share three things?
3. "Can I Live?" Life is happening whether you are there or not. Might as well join the party. Remember that experience trumps appearance. So what happens if you don’t get out on the beach (the dance floor, the doctor’s office, the dinner club)? It’s very likely that you lose what could have been a delightful or enlightening event. Choosing the experience is the first step in making wonderful memories. You can do it: Share a picture of a recent joyful experience - and talk about how it made you feel. 

 Learn more at www.RD4BC.com

Temptations and the unreliability of willpower

Recent research has found that avoiding temptation works better than relying only on willpower when faced with temptation. (You can see the original article here: Restricting Temptations: Neural Mechanisms of Precommitment)

The idea of avoiding "tempting" foods in order to eat less of them seems rather obvious. However, does it work well for everyone? This particular study didn't look at food temptations, so can we expect the same results? I think this is a more complicated answer than initially thought and it will depend on how you avoid temptations.

Let's imagine that the food temptations we are talking about are foods rich in calories, sugar or fat. If there are none of these foods lying around the house or the office and we have to trek to the store to buy them, then it is obvious that we will eat less of them since the temptation is not close by. If we take that thought one step further and say that if we buy these tempting foods in small quantities instead of larger ones, then it will be easier to resist temptations since we won't have any leftovers.

BUT, if we never allow ourselves fun food (at least) once in awhile, then this plan may backfire. If these tempting foods are banned completely from our lives for any reason (to be uber healthy, to lose weight, to get "back on track", etc) we will end up wanting them more- even when none of these foods are in sight. It's the concept of "we want what we can't have". This concept drives most people crazy and increases their cravings for these "banned" food.

The idea of eating only very "healthy" foods is quite popular right now. But is it "normal" to never eat a food rich in fat or sugar or calories? NO. This slippery slope of thinking often leads to a pattern of under eating, feeling deprived then overeating (and possibly even binge eating).

This particular study looked at what happens when people commit to a bigger reward if they resist smaller temptations. This reminds me of what so many people call a "cheat day". Eating only really healthy foods for most days of the week then allowing themselves to "cheat" (I prefer the word treat) for one day or a meal. The popularity of this concept does not make it a healthy way of thinking. Allowing yourself a treat a few times a week and planning ahead is a great idea, and this study suggests it will help you resist the urge to cave to smaller, less rewarding temptations.

HOWEVER, under eating all week long just to give yourself permission to eat "bad" foods is a slippery slope. It is hard to eat these so called "bad" foods in normal portions once you are done denying yourself. You train your body to eat as much as you can on the odd occasion you allow yourself the food. Calling it a cheat or a bad food actually pushes people to eat it in large quantities.

For people who find they "just have no willpower" and feel they cave to all cravings, this study suggests you plan out how you will enjoy more important (or bigger) temptations ahead of time. This kills two birds with one stone- it forces you to plan out your week to see what special event is happening (ex. 5 a 7 at work, birthday party or BBQ) in order to enjoy and fit the "fun" foods (higher calorie temptations we mentioned earlier) into your plan as well as understand that including them on a regular basis is a healthy, normal part of life.

How to avoid dieting in 5 steps

Diets don't work. They are especially toxic for your relationship with food and your body. So what is left to do if you want to improve your eating or manage your weight? Try these tips to avoid falling back on dieting this year.

1. Reconnect with your hunger levels: everyone already has a way to "regulate" their eating and it has nothing to do with other people's diet advice. Listening to your very own hunger signals is the first step to reconnecting with your body's needs. No diet book, diet guru or meal plan will ever know how much or what you need to eat at any particular moment. Only you know what you want to eat, how much of it you need to feel satisfied and if you are truly hungry. It can seem scary at first especially if you have not relied on your own hunger cues in a long time, but chances are you will eat less if you follow your true hunger than if you ignore it. For most people who claim they are never hungry or feel fullness, chances are they have stopped listening to the cues long ago but the good news is that anyone can reconnect with these signals. This does take time and practice to get it right, but its worth the work! Read more about hunger levels and how to reconnect with them here.

2. Recognize when you are eating without being hungry: hearing your hunger (and fullness) cues is important for pointing when you are eating without hunger. Most people have eaten without feeling hungry at least once in their life. However, when this happens often it can lead to unhappiness and not actually fix the problems or emotions that are occurring. If you are not hungry, eating food does not help to relieve any sadness or loneliness or anxiety you may be experiencing. Negative emotions and situations cannot be helped with food and most people feel even worse after comforting themselves with food (especially true with people who are not intuitive eaters). First step is to acknowledge when you are eating without being hungry. After that, you can decide if you want to eat anyway, distract yourself from the craving or deal with the emotions that may be influencing you to eat.

3. Start peeling off those food labels ("good" food or "bad"): the more a food is forbidden, the more it is tempting to eat. Labeling foods as bad often does not lead to eating less of it. In fact, it often leads to binges if they are after avoided for a long time and if they are some of your favourite foods. Whats the point of avoiding, say ice cream, if you are going to binge on a pint of it at the end of the month. Just like in life, foods and nutrition are rarely just black and white. There is a lot of gray area- which can be harder to navigate than good vs bad. Again, the payoff of learning to live in a world of grays is worth the hard work. Taking the labels of foods can be scary and difficult. Some people are worried they may binge or over eat if foods are no longer off limits. However, with time the "I want what I can't have" does wear off. Often these forbidden foods taste better with a "bad" label and when that label is removed, they aren't as tasty or tempting.


4. Include all foods into your diet. This tip goes hand in hand with #3. This may mean re-introducing forbidden foods- especially if you find yourself binging on them. At first you may feel vulnerable and tempted to overindulge on these foods. However the more you practice enjoying these foods without guilt the easier it will become to eat them in moderation. When the foods become less forbidden, the need or desire to eat more than we want to, slowly goes away. Trust me- everyone thinks that this is impossible- but it will happen if you give it a chance. If you binge eat on a regular basis, you may want to enlist the help of a dietitian who specializes in eating disorders to help you with this step.

5. Write down exactly what changes you want to make. Most people know what they want to change, it's finding the way to make those changes that is the hard part. You don't need to be told to eat more fruit and veg or go to bed earlier but finding ways to carry out these changes takes effort. Focusing on actual things to change rather than "wanting to lose weight" gives you something tangible to do. Goals or changes you want to make should be action based- and wanting to lose weight or improve your relationship with food is not an action. What are you going to do to make these desires come true? Eat one fruit every day? Record your 10pm show so you can get to bed earlier? Try tracking the actions you want to take in order to remind yourself of your progress and successes.

What is mindful eating?

I talk a lot about mindful eating and how it can help you manage your weight, reduce any disordered eating and help repair your relationship with food. Understanding what mindful eating is and how to practice it is the challenging part. Not because it is hard to do but because it takes time, inner reflection and lots of practice.

Being a mindful eater means noticing the colors, smells, flavors, and textures of your food; chewing slowly; getting rid of distractions like TV or reading; and learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food.
Noticing these things means deliberately paying attention, being fully aware of what is happening both inside and outside yourself. In your body means in your heart and mind such as any emotions or thoughts you may be having- "I am stressed" or "I feel fat". As well as outside yourself, in your surroundings- like at your desk with emails coming in every 2 minutes or alone in the kitchen with everyone gone to bed.

Noticing how eating affects our mood and how our emotions like anxiety influence our eating is important. Mindfulness includes paying attention to the experience in our body. Where in the body do we feel hunger? (in the head or in the stomach?) What does half-full feel like, or three quarters full?

One other very important aspect of mindfulness is being aware of all these things without criticising or judging yourself. For example, you are feeling stressed at your desk at work and want to eat your lunch but it's only 10am and you are not hungry. Rather than judging yourself and thinking:"what is wrong with me? I just had breakfast! How am I supposed to get through the day if all I want to do it eat!?", try being more aware of the situation- "I am feeling stressed which usually pushes me to eat. Also, my stress is mounting with the constant chiming of emails. What I need to do is decrease my stress and food won't do that...but a small walk to the bathrooms might help me relax".

Eating mindfully can sound a bit abstract and practicing concrete activities to increase mindfulness can help you get started. Gradually start to become more mindful of when, how and what you eat as well as what influences you to eat. Start by dedicating one meal a week or a day to eating more slowly and more attentively. Try these tips:

-Set a timer to 20 minutes and take the whole time to eat a normal sized meal.
-Try eating the meal with your non dominant hand to slow you down. You can also use chopsticks to do this.
-Eat in silence for 5 minutes and think about how your food was grown, produced, prepared and cooked.
-Take small bites and chew well.
-Try to guess all the spices and herbs used in the dish.
-Notice how the crunchy food feels between your teeth or the silky food feels on your tongue.
-Is the food as good or tasty as you expected?

The next few steps to take is to become more aware of your hunger signals (Am I hungry? and if so, how hungry?), fullness signals and triggers that may influence your appetite or desire to eat.

Reading through a book, using a workbook or talking to a registered dietitian about mindful eating can be very helpful in getting started or to help maintain mindfulness. You can read more about mindful eat and intuitive eating in past blogs here, here, here  and here (you can also search my blog for posts related to mindful and intuitive eating).

Can losing weight lead to gaining weight??!!

If there is one major negative thing that has emerged from recent research on weight loss is that it often leads to weight regain. If done in an unhealthy, unbalanced way, regaining the weight along with a few extra pounds is also a big possibility. This weight regain is not only frustrating but makes any subsequent attempts at weight loss even harder.

So, if losing weight often leads to weight regain, wouldn't weight maintenance be perhaps the better option for some people? Yes. Also, it is important to note, that if you are gaining weight over time, stabilizing your weight (or stopping the gain) is, in itself, weight loss. To read more on maintaining weight, read my last post.

Another consideration is the idea of preventing weight gain rather than actively trying to lose weight (especially in an unhealthy way). Preventing weight gain has been the focus of much research recently. One reason is because it is easier for people to prevent gaining weight then to try to lose it.

Keeping the weight off after losing it requires most people to be vigilant with their eating and exercise- more so then they did before they lost the weight. Consider that for a moment- to keep off the weight, you cannot merely return to your "usual" way of living. You have to have learnt about healthy eating, made sustainable changes to food and exercise AND found a way to continue this new lifestyle for life. No wonder most people put weight back on especially if short term solutions are used. If done in a healthy way, "watching" what you eat can be an easy thing (if you have practiced mindful eating). It could also be a constant struggle if you have just followed a diet plan and never reconnected with hunger and fullness cues.

One study in particular that focused on weight gain prevention is the "Strategies to prevent weight gain in adults". I think the name of the review says it all! Their main conclusions were that (although the strength of evidence is low for all the strategies) effective approaches may be: low fat diets (where 20% of calories is coming from fat. So if you eat 2000cal per day, 400cal are from fat or 44g per day), eating fewer meals prepared away from home, eating more fruits and vegetables, monitoring heart rate during exercise and participating in group sessions that deal with lifestyle change  (that includes text message reminders). Some of these approaches sound more fun and interesting than others. It's also important to note that other strategies may work but have not been studied (such as mindful or intuitive eating).

One interesting quote from this systematic review paper is :

"The lack of rigorously conducted long term trials to inform those who aim to prevent weight gain may be indirectly contributing to the obesity epidemic"

Interesting. If we are relying on old-school techniques to prevent weight gain we may in fact be pushing people in the wrong direction?! I feel this is another reason why "losing weight at any cost" or "losing weight any way possible" are both bad ideas.

So, be prudent when deciding what strategies to use for losing weight. Consider the possibility of maintaining your weight, at least for a little while before taking on weight loss.

2013 No diet day campaign!

http://equilibre.ca/journee-internationale-sans-diete/