Cutting calories or carbohydrates are diet methods people frequently use to lose weight quickly, but these extreme measures prove to be ineffective and damaging to the body and self-esteem.

At a given time, one out of every three women and one out of every four men is on a diet, according to a study conducted by the University of Colorado and published in a spring 2011 issue of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics’ Healthy You magazine. Of those dieters, two-thirds regain the weight lost within a year and nearly all do within five years.

Lynn Brann, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition, said diets are popular because they produce short-term results, but people end up gaining back their previous weight, if not more, when they return to their regular eating habits.

‘A lot of people have trouble following through on those eating plans because they serve as a short-term solution for weight loss instead of lifestyle changes,’ Brann said.

People attempt these quick-fix solutions frequently, Brann said, because they have temporary goals to lose weight sparked by events like a wedding or the creation of a New Year’s resolution. For college students, goals may include shaping up for Spring Break or the summer, she said.

These extreme diets aimed at reaching immediate results, such as limiting calorie intake to a low number or cutting carbohydrates completely, creates a craving for foods dieters label ‘bad,’ according to the article. If this restriction is stopped, however, the body will eventually desire these foods less and instead hunger for nutrient-rich food the body needs. This will make the body feel better in the long term, according to the article.

Brann said instead of focusing on short-term diet plans to lose weight, people must do an entire re-evaluation of their lifestyle choices to drop the pounds for good. But these large changes, like choosing healthy alternatives for meals all the time, can be quite difficult college environments like dining halls, she said.

‘So much access to really tasty food is a bad environment to get fit,’ Brann said.

She said although students may know what to eat to keep a healthy lifestyle and options to do so are available in the dining halls, students also constantly have unhealthy choices accessible. The knowledge about healthy living does not always translate to behavior, she said.

Focusing on a lifestyle of healthy food choices has other benefits than keeping a fit physique, including improved cholesterol levels, blood pressure and self-esteem. These results, found in a study by the University of California-Davis that was included in the Healthy You article, also showed that, in addition to not being able to maintain the weight loss from dieting, the dieters had lower self-esteem than before they initially lost the weight.

People need motivation to change for the long term, Brann said, not just to get thin for Spring Break.

Janine Savage, a sophomore child and family studies and public health major, said she has learned about crash diets from nutrition classes she has been required to take in Falk. She said these diets supply instant gratification, but individuals need to adapt changes to their daily routines to make a lasting difference.

‘It is a process you must adapt to,’ Savage said. ‘Changes do not happen instantly.’

Savage said she tried a short-term regime when she purchased the P90X exercise plan, which is a series of intense video workouts.

‘It was a really intense huge change, so I couldn’t adapt it to my lifestyle,’ Savage said.

In comparison, Savage said when her sister tried to lose weight, she joined a gym and went on a reasonable diet, which had a very strong, lasting effect on her health and weight loss.

Daniela Lopez, an undeclared freshman in Falk, said she gained weight when she first came to college. Lopez said she was an athlete in high school and gained weight without the regular workout routine.

Unhappy with the weight, Lopez initially tried a strict weight loss plan that included not eating after 5 p.m., but she only gained more weight because she would be famished and over-indulge.

When she realized this was not resulting in a slimmer figure, she changed her routine to include 10 minutes of stretching a day and at least 30 minutes of exercise about three to four times a week.

Said Lopez: ‘Now I also drink a lot of water and am satisfied with several small meals throughout the day.’

rebarill@syr.edu 

Published on January 30, 2012 at 12:00 pm