Many people dieting seem to believe that if they stick to a few safe foods, they can better maintain their weight and count their calories. Unfortunately this couldn’t be further from the truth.
A recent study has shown that limiting a person’s junk food choices may help them to cut back on the caloric intake, but it doesn’t cut back on the persons overall calorie count. It also doesn’t help them to lose weight, the ultimate goal.
While reducing the amount of food choices seemed to help people cut calories in a certain food group, unfortunately what happens is that people overcompensate in others areas.
While many people on diets are trying this new technique of limiting their food choices, it just doesn’t seem to work. While they cut one area out of their diets- like carbs as many people do- you need to make sure that you aren’t just replacing those calories in another area. You may feel proud of yourself that you’re avoiding carbs, thinking you are naturally eliminating calories from your diet, and in the meantime you’re eating more in other areas.
It is easy to see why this is confusing. Some prior studies have shown that eliminating food choices from your diet can be helpful. Entire diets have been invented around this fad, and people have gotten rich off of things like Adkins, which shows results in some people.
Unfortunately, most people either lose weight and gain it all back, or they don’t lose weight at all. This can be frustrating and make you want to throw in the towel. Doctors tested dieters to see if cutting out high calorie foods like chips, cakes, and cookies would help people lose weight. These dieters were encouraged to join support groups to strengthen their motivation to stay on track. Half of the dieters were restricted to just two junk food options, with the thought that possibly the limitation would make them bored and less likely to snack.
Over the period of the study, most of the people told to limit their junk food choices ate slightly less calories per day, but in the end, the results were the same. Both groups lost the same amount of weight.
While it seems like a smart idea to limit your variety in food choices, most people will find other ways to get the same amount of calories into their diet. These may be with healthier food choices, or often with worse food choices. The strategy of limiting yourself will not only drive you crazy, but it just doesn’t pay off in the end because there are no results to prove that it makes sense.
The only way that you can make a limited diet work for you is to also watch all of the other things you are eating, every food group, and to limit your portion sizes. You might wind up hungry in the end, but this is the only way to make sure you’re making an impact by your limitations.