Introduction

This week in September, children are heading back to school, most of us are already back at work or about to start, and we’ve enjoyed the summer, despite the heat and the lack of a proper schedule. You feel bloated, sluggish, and fed up with all the excesses, and suddenly a little light comes on—one that usually lights up after Christmas too—telling us that we must go on a diet immediately and join the gym.

Has this ever happened to you? Was it hard to get started? And most importantly, how long did you last?

My years of experience have shown me that, as the saying goes, we’re like a racehorse at the start and a donkey at the finish. We begin with the best intentions, but when Christmas comes around, we forget about it, only to start over again on 7th January. And so the years go by, one diet after another, half-hearted and without a long-term plan. But of course, who wants to make sacrifices for years on end?

I don’t know whether, for you reading this article, it’s September or January that marks the time to lose the extra weight and recover from the excesses of summer or Christmas, but the truth is, this period often acts as a starting gun for many people—and for kickstarting the economic and commercial engine of the dieting world.

When we think about dieting, we often see it as a process to lose a specific number of kilos, going through more or less hunger, and nearly always within a set timeframe—the shorter the better, right?

No one wants to be on a diet for years. If you’ve gained 15 kilos over 8 years, it would never occur to you to try and lose them over the same period, would it?

What a daunting idea—an 8-year diet!

But in reality, we should approach weight loss as a long-term process. Yet the tendency is to opt for fast, bizarre diets that promise to shed years of excess in a matter of weeks.

Why you should stop dieting

It’s hard to believe, with all the progress we’ve made, that there’s still such a high percentage of people jumping into all kinds of diets (some more healthy than others, and some downright dangerous) instead of, once and for all, learning lifelong healthy habits that help us achieve a healthy weight and better overall wellbeing.

There’s no need for extremes, eliminating foods, following impossible combinations, taking slimming pills or supplements (which, by the way, are already present in foods), or terrifying fasts. These are all unsustainable and, above all, physically and psychologically harmful.

It’s time to become aware of our attitude. It’s important to maintain healthy eating and exercise habits throughout the year that help us gradually find balance—physically, mentally and emotionally.

It’s not that difficult, so why does it feel that way? Simply because we try diets that are completely different from our usual way of eating. We go from a varied diet to drastic restrictions on certain foods or food groups. We go from complete inactivity to forcing ourselves into exercises we dislike. As a result, we always end up giving up.

I strongly recommend that you forget about dieting—enough is enough!

Replace your bad habits with good ones, don’t rush to reach a certain weight, eat in moderation, avoid overindulgence, enjoy your meals, stay active, do a sport you actually enjoy—there is one that suits you, I promise—and most importantly, don’t obsess over your weight.

A balanced and moderate diet combined with suitable physical activity will, over time, lead you to a healthy weight. Focus more on being healthy and feeling great—that will ease the pressure of reaching an ideal weight.

Still want to go on a diet?

If you still feel like you need to go on a diet for a certain period of time, don’t choose the ones full of restrictions, the ones that include supplements, or the ones that limit you to a single food group. Always be suspicious of these. There are plenty of companies and brands profiting from our desperation.

Make a smart choice. There are many options, and frankly, we tend to get swept away by what worked for our friend, cousin, or someone at the gym. We don’t all function the same—everyone has a different lifestyle, job, diet, genetics, and environment… and what we need to do is tailor our eating and exercise routines to those individual factors.

Forget about dieting. Learn good eating and exercise habits and I assure you, your quality of life will improve.