I once met a very over-weight young woman who had lost over 55 kilos on a diet in less than a year. That’s fantastic you might say. A transformation like that takes enormous willpower and courage. Can you imagine how great she felt losing all the extra weight? Can you imagine the commitment involved in losing over fifty kilos in less than a year? I’m sure you can, because all of us know how hard it can be to lose as little as one or two kilos... My story doesn’t finish here, can you imagine the sense of failure when only 6 months later she has regained all the lost weight plus more. I don’t have to imagine the failure, I am faced with it every day at our nutrition centre.

This young woman (Let’s call her Sally) was definitely not a failure. In fact it was the diet and its promises that failed her. Sally had an enormous amount of willpower fueled by a burning desire to feel good about her self. Unfortunately many diets just aren’t sustainable long term. Sally was a shift worker, she literally staved herself for six months following the rigid rules of her new diet. Because the program was not personalised for Sally, it was far too low in calories and could not support her appetite levels at night. All of Sally’s favourite foods were now forbidden and carbohydrates became her enemy.

Many studies show that restriction of our favourite comfort foods only work short term. There will always be a small window of time (less than twenty minutes) when your defenses slip and you flick the “what the hell switch”. Think of the triggers, you are tired, your period is due, you are sad, you are happy or you have just had a fight with your boyfriend. In this time it is easy to consume ten times the amount of chocolate or chips than you would normally consume in a sitting. Oh and then there is the guilt, the incredible feeling of failure and disgust. If you feel bad enough you might throw the diet away for two or three days and wallow in self pity.

Diet relapse has little to do with willpower. We cannot make healthy decisions about eating when we are starving. If you have failed on a diet, please realise you have not failed, the diet has failed you. We truly have to start a diet as if we were developing our new long term eating style. A gradual loss of 1% of our weight per month adds up to 12% in a year, 24% in two years. Most women have less than that to lose.

So before begin the next Holly-wood diet, start keeping a food journal. Find out what is holding you back in the first place. You may just need to eat a healthier lunch.

Visit Real Nutrition today, having a personalised plan of action will really help you achieve your goals and sustain your healthy weight - forever.

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