Why Any Diet Will Work

Doctors have done research, and they find that low-fat and low-carb diets both cause people to lose weight (when followed).

Lots of people have some sort of success in losing weight following the most diametrically opposed diets.

Some limit carbs. Some limit fat. Some eat more fiber--whole grains, etc. Some eat less beef and more fish.

So what's the deal? Is there just one way of losing weight? Or can we accept that there are many different ways, and that many work, probably some better for some people than others?

Is that too messy and chaotic? Is there anything meaningful to be said about this plethora of routes towards health, happiness, balance?

There is.

Just one word: limits.

Or another, similar word: restrictions.

All diets limit or restrict what you eat.

And that is what we are loath to do.

In everyday life, we let the people selling us the food decide how much we eat.

We eat a box or bagful.

We eat whatever the restaurant puts on the plate.

At salad and soup and pasta 'bars,' we go back again and again--as if obligated by the hopes of getting the best 'bargain.' (It's never such a bargain for the waistline.)

Perhaps we try to place limits on ourselves. But we inevitably grant exceptions.

Perhaps it's because, in a bureacratic world, no one else gives us a break. It's rules imposed on us by others from morning until night. Get to work by nine. Only 15 minutes for a break. Make one copy for the chron file and another for the client file. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Is it any wonder, then, that we 'need' that 500 calorie Jamba Juice cocktail? Or that 500 calorie coffee frappe and that 300 calorie pastry beside? We just have such hard lives. And perhaps we're a little thankful we can afford to plop down five or eight bucks on glorified fast food.

Limits. Living within limits.

It seems harsh. Especially when we impose them on ourselves.

But in a world of plenty in which choice feels like self-definition, limits can be our only hope.

They don't have to be harsh. They just have to be tied to reality: if you eat more than this, you will gain weight. And probably hurt your heart and your lipids and who knows what else.

So, yes, follow a diet. Any diet. Any sensible diet.

Just put limits on yourself.

It's a better gift to yourself than 600 calories of sugar and fat from the fancy fast food joints.

--E. R. O'Neill