The backlash against diets has been tremendous, and rightly so. It's a well-known fact that 95-98% of those who lose weight on a typical diet will gain that weight back (and probably more!).

So obviously diets aren't working right?

Well, it depends on how you look at it and whom you ask. There are still that 5% of dieters who apparently haven't gained weight back. (Wouldn't you actually like to meet one of those people someday?)

So I wouldn't say diets don't work. Because, technically, they do. In general, if you restrict your calories you will lose weight.

If diets never allowed anyone to lose weight they would have been passé long ago. Instead, diet industry just keeps chugging along, raking in billions of dollars a year, making more and more outrageous promises.

Somebody's got to be getting results somewhere!

But perhaps better question to ask yourself is this:

Does dieting work FOR YOU?

Does dieting work for you in sense that it moves you towards your goals (permanent weight loss, natural slimness, and freedom from worry)?

I believe that for 95% of population, answer is a definite 'NO!'

Diets may work in sense that they can take off weight under certain circumstances. But diets are far from best method to lose weight.

In fact, for most people trying to lose weight, diets are WORST thing they can possibly do!

Diets actually set people up to gain weight!

How? Well, diets are harmful by very nature of what they do to our physical bodies. (slowing metabolism, making body extra efficient at fat storage, etc).

But maybe worse is what they do to our minds!

There are 2 ways in which diets mentally TRAIN us to gain weight.

First of all, we all know that what we focus on, we are drawn to. We are told that if we want to achieve any goal, we should focus on that.

>> "Picture where you want to be." >> "Visualize it." >> "Think and grow rich." >> ”Imagine your success in vivid detail.” >> "See yourself crossing finish line."

Why do we do this? Because our minds are powerful and what we think about, we are drawn to.

So what do diets make us focus on? The food!

We're constantly thinking,

>> 'Is that hot dog on my list?' >> ‘How many exchanges is that hamburger worth?’ >> 'How many points is this banana bread?' >> 'Is that salad dressing really low carb?'

Thinking about food over and over again then becomes a mental habit.

And what's result? We find ourselves eating more because we're constantly thinking about food and eating. It's not that we don't have willpower to stick to a diet. It's that we're unknowingly training our minds to eat by dieting!

The World Health Organization labels obesity an epidemic. The International Obesity Taskforce labels it a fully global epidemic - a pandemic.

Two out of every 3 Americans are overweight. One out of every 3 is obese. Even our kids are affected. An estimated 17% of North American kids are now considered seriously overweight.

Every day new statistics surface showing that rising numbers of North Americans are overweight – and gaining.

And yet it’s not like we WANT to be overweight. We all know health consequences.

Doctors tell us that excess weight:

-shortens our lifespan -puts a tremendous strain on our body -contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, some cancers and a host of other health problems

And we’re only beginning to understand what it does to our children in their fragile developmental years.

But there are more than just physical hazards. Psychologically, being overweight can:

-destroy your self esteem -drain your self confidence -hold you back from taking risks -significantly reduce your quality of life

Depressing? Yes.

Should we be scared? You bet.

But what can we do?

It’s important to realize that we CAN do something.

First of all, let’s recognize what is CONTRIBUTING to problem so that we can take steps towards a healthy solution. Here, in my opinion, are top 3 contributing factors to growing weight epidemic:

#1) Diets

Surprised? Examine evidence:

>> We have more diets on market than ever before, more diet food, more diet books, more diet information. And yet we’re BIGGER than ever before.

>> It’s a proven fact that diets make your body more efficient at fat storage so that when you go back to eating ‘normal’ food, you will actually GAIN weight.

>> Diets boast a dismal 2-5% success rate. Looking at it another way, that’s a 95% FAILURE rate.

I believe that diets actually make problem WORSE:

#1 by slowing your metabolism