Taking a Break From Your Diet Helps Long-Term Weight Loss

How many times have you attempted to lose weight only to fall short and fail? For many people it is extremely challenging to stick to a strict dietary and exercise program for more than a few weeks. The good news is research now shows that having intermittent breaks from your diet may actually help you keep the weight off in the long term.

A study receiving a lot of attention found weighing yourself daily and hence adjusting your food and exercise intake helps you achieve a clinically significant weight loss over a two-year period if you take frequent breaks from your diet. This doesn’t require a fixed calorie-counting or structured exercise regime, but it does require recording your weight daily and monitoring the trajectory over time.

This is referred to as the “Caloric Titration Method”, where weight loss is achieved in small amounts. First the individual loses 1% of their body weight, and is then encouraged to maintain their new weight for about a week. This period of weight maintenance allows the individual to eat more or perhaps exercise less than they would while trying to lose weight.

The goal is then to achieve another decrease of 1% in body weight, followed by another “break” (weight maintenance). This routine would be followed until the final weight-loss goal is achieved.

Excerpted from theconversation.com

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