So you tried a diet and it didn’t work out. Don’t let it get you down

Editor’s note: As we enter 2023, we’re running a series of stories in Star Culture on diet and nutrition, navigating eating healthier amid rising food costs and advice on making sustainable choices.

New research on diets and weight loss from York University suggests that the adage is true: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. At least for women.

Last fall, Jennifer Kuk, a professor at York’s school of kinesiology and health science, published the results of a study that examined the weight loss efforts of over 9,000 women who were clients at the Wharton Medical Clinic. What Kuk and her co-authors discovered, was that, in their time at the clinic, women with a greater history of weight loss — even if it was eventually regained — showed a modestly greater weight loss than first-timers.

Although we often think of a lifetime of trying to lose weight as a problematic pattern of worsening cycles, this research could make it possible to reframe repeated weight-loss history as practice, as opposed to failures.

It’s not clear why, exactly, but maybe it’s as simple as any other task. We have to allow ourselves to be bad at something before we can learn to become good at it.

“Anecdotally, I can say that when I’m speaking to patients who are trying to lose weight for the first time, there’s a lot to learn,” said Kuk. “Learning calories is like speaking another language. And then there’s fat content, carbohydrate content and protein, so it makes sense that trying more often and getting that experience and becoming familiar with the concepts might be better for weight management.”

“Think about smoking,” she added, “It might take some people 30 times to actually quit.”

Kuk said there are a lot of similarities between smoking and weight loss, in particular, that, if people try and don’t succeed, they’re often hard on themselves, even though it’s not necessarily entirely in their control. Genetics play a factor in both addictions and weight loss, so it might be harder for some people than others. Knowing that doesn’t necessarily stop people from experiencing feelings of failure.

“In the literature, we always see that people have a very negative self-image after failed weight loss,” she said. “And I think it’s important to change that conversation.”

For many people working as registered dietitians, the way to change that conversation has been through counselling people to focus on eating well, feeling better and spending less time thinking about the numbers on the scale.

“I think a lot of women get to the point where they realize that most diets aren’t sustainable,” said Stefanie Senior, a registered dietitian in Toronto with a practice focused on setting attainable goals. “And that can create this yo-yo situation where they’re either on a plan or off a plan or being super strict or not doing anything at all.

“And eventually a lot of them get to the point where they say ‘I need something that I can stick with I need something that’s healthy and sustainable’.”

Senior said that she also sees people blame themselves for the yo-yo situation. So, instead, she works closely with her clients to visualize what they want their lives to look like in six months and talk about what can be done to realize that with the help of her “Live Lean” program. This stresses education and a personalized approach, which she thinks is an important element in their successes. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach and many people need individual counselling and plans.

That might also be key to the successes the women from the Wharton Medical Clinic are seeing. For some of the clients there, it might be the first time they’re dealing with professionals and medical supervision, as opposed to simply finding a diet that looks good on the internet. Nobody here is suggesting that’s a good path forward. In fact, they say there are plenty of red flags that suggest a diet is not for you — and might even kick-start the yo-yo diet pattern.

“I tell my students to think about things that you can’t live without, because your dietary approach has to fit within your lifestyle,” said Kuk. “For me, I come from a Chinese background, so doing a low-carb diet where I can’t eat rice and I can’t eat noodles would never work because of the way that my family eats and the way that we celebrate.

“It would just be impossible and I’d be setting myself up for failure.”

Senior added that one of the biggest red flags is getting stressed about your diet. And, for most of us, trying to do it all by ourselves.

“I think it’s really important to not try to do it alone,” she said. “Take advantage of your health benefits in Ontario and see a registered dietitian or a health professional that has actually been spending their career helping people change habits in a healthy and realistic way.

“Because constantly fighting with diets and living with that feeling of failure doesn’t create long-term change.”

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