Rethinking Weight Control

Does the failure of dieting mean weight loss is impossible and clients should forget about controlling food intake? No — weight control is associated with many health benefits, and it is possible to decrease body fat through changes in eating and exercise behavior. Successful weight control means helping clients change their ideas about food, fat, and fitness.

The source's "fact or fiction" material adds related guidance: dieting is not more effective than exercise in the long run — people who exercise are much more likely to maintain weight loss than people who only diet. Weight is usually lost more quickly on a food-restriction program, but weight lost through exercise is more likely to be fat loss. The best program combines moderate caloric restriction with regular exercise.

• Weight control remains worthwhile because it carries health benefits.
• Body fat can be reduced through changes in eating and exercise behavior.
• Success = changing ideas about food, fat, and fitness.
• Exercisers maintain weight loss better than diet-only dieters.
• Weight lost through exercise is more likely to be fat loss.
• Best approach: moderate caloric restriction + regular exercise.

• food-is-a-friend — lifelong healthful eating habits.
• problem-with-diets — why diets alone fail.
• fatness-and-fitness — fat loss, not scale weight, is the goal.
• weight-cycling — the failure mode this approach avoids.