My thoughts on...

I am starting a series called "My thoughts on" which will cover different topics such as health, well-being and productivity. The articles below were developed through inspiration from various books, essays, podcasts and interviews and I have tried to be concise albeit comprehensive within each theme, so as to entertain, help and provide some "food for thought" to as many of you as I can.

My thoughts on.... "Why Diets Never Work"

Before we even start delving into the actual term "diet" we need to understand that you should never attempt to achieve what is a long-term goal through an approach that has in itself an end date.

There are three elements that are indispensable when considering such goals, as far as body, mind and lifestyle changes are concerned that absolutely need to be addressed by health professionals and rarely are;

- Habit;

- Consistency;

- Discipline

And here's why...

1) Habit

First we must determine which are the habits that we have adopted and adhered to consistently over time that have got us where we are today. That is not as straight forward as we think, as habits are the behaviour patterns we repeat without thinking about them. What is habitual goes unnoticed! These include thinking patterns such as fears and beliefs.

2) Consistency

Long-term goals are achieved through Repetitive Effort Over Time, so that they can also be sustained. Every time the REOT is interrupted, progress becomes stagnant and henceforth, delayed. It also prevents the formation of new habits, i.e. new behaviours consistently and continually repeated, however on par with the end goal.

Let's look at your average, male/female dieter for example. Someone that eats healthily or even restricts him/herself 5 days a week and eats "junk food" on weekends; at best they will - out of the 365 days in a year - be eating healthily for 260 days; spending a whopping 105 days making poor food choices. That 3? out of 12 months, 15 out of 52 weeks, 29% of the time making nutritional choices that are not aligned with goals that are for the long term.

3) Discipline

I would like to start by getting this out of the way: Permanent on-going motivation is a myth. This is human nature and we all have moments of self-doubt or times when we feel slightly uninspired (if we are to be conservative about it, whereas I personally believe motivating comes in peaks and troughs and that environmental aspects have a much bigger impact and influence over it. But this is topic for a separate conversation...). Nobody is 100% motivated, 100% of the time. Motivation exists where discipline takes precedence. You will not always want to exercise, but those who are disciplined will get changed, go to the gym or workout space and they will start moving, and then the motivation comes. Same with food. You do not have to always think that you are so excited over the plate of green spiralled courgettes (that you have convinced yourself taste like real spaghetti!), but if you prepare the vegetables, cook them and have them ready for when the hunger strikes, chances are you will not stray or at least find an easy enough excuse to do so.

Point being, it is more important to develop the habit of being consistently disciplined, step-by-step, than beating yourself up for the days when you don't feel motivated.

If you ask me, having worked with over 100 clients, before imposing diet protocols and exercise programs we need to assess our long term habits and determine whether they are helping us achieve our goals or detracting us from them. Going on a diet will never work, until that becomes a new ingrained health and lifestyle choice that is executed through repeated and consistent action.

Text by Amanda Lau, Health Strategist, Coach, Personal Trainer and Advanced Specialist Member of the National Academy of Sports Medicine.