While most people think that they need to go on a strenuous diet to lose weight, that might not be so true after all. Just because you're losing weight on a diet, doesn't mean it's a good diet. "Most people who lose weight on a diet put it all back on again, and more, within a few months and definitely within a few years," explains Dr Sandro Demaio, author of The Doctor's Diet. "If you're drinking liquids all day every day or starving yourself a couple of days a week or only eating certain foods that are hard to find … it's impossible to stick to," warns Demaio. "You need to find a diet that is sustainable long term."
"It's really finding something that's easy to do, that's affordable to do," Demaio says. He suggests that you could start out by reducing the portions of how much you eat and by also including more vegetables in your diet. "I try to pack in the vegetables as much as possible — but I pack in the veg I love," he says. "Don't force yourself to eat things you don't enjoy."
"We know from research that if you lose a lot of weight really quickly that you get a hormonal response and your body thinks you're starving," Demaio explains. "You end up putting the weight back on and then more." "Food is such an important part of life," Demaio says. "So the idea of giving it all up and only drinking smoothies for the next five years, it's not possible and it's not good for you." "Find something you enjoy that allows you to still eat the foods you love, but in a way that's integrated into a balanced, healthy diet," Demaio concludes.
