How often do you resolve to lose weight?
Diets, we've all tried them. Whether it's for a special occasion, a new year resolution, or just because. But how much time are we spending on a weight loss plan?
New research suggests that UK women spend an average of 18.9 years of their life on a diet.
It seems we really are a nation of yo-yo dieters. For example, the average UK woman plans to lose 17.63lbs over a period of 8.11 weeks on every diet she starts. As she starts three diets a year on average, this means she aims to diet for an amazing 30 years in her lifetime.
However, it doesn’t always go to plan, as she falls off the dieting wagon after just 5.05 weeks, losing only two thirds of her intended weight (10.95lbs). Even so, this means that she diets for 18.9 years – nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of her life.
Once off her diet, the average woman regains any weight she’s lost in just 6.19 weeks, meaning she spends 23.1 years of her life gaining back weight she’s just lost.
The research, from the New Atkins Nutritional Approach, shows the most popular time to start a diet is January – when a third of women make a New Year’s resolution. In May, 13 per cent get back on the dieting wagon in preparation for summer holidays, then in October one in ten resolve to get fit for the festive season.
However, nearly one in five New Year dieters derail from their weight loss attempts in February, 16 per cent of bikini body dieters stop in August, as the summer holidays come to an end, and a whopping 37 per cent of festive slimmers are tempted away from their diets by the indulgent season in December.
Over a third of UK women diet to prepare for certain events, such as Christmas and birthdays, making this a more common motivation than boosting confidence, minimising the risk of serious health conditions and looking good for their partners.
Women in Liverpool have the most hardened ‘dieting resolve’, sticking to their diets for 6.04 weeks (22.6 years in their lifetime), whereas Londoners find it difficult to resist temptation - dieting for just 4.65 weeks on average (17.4 years over the course of their lives).
Linda O’Byrne, chief nutritionist for the New Atkins Nutritional Approach, said: “Our new figures are quite worrying, as they suggest the average UK dieter sees losing weight as a short-term fix for an event or occasion, and repeats the same process again and again without success.
“This is a common side-effect of viewing weight loss as short-term ‘fad’ to help you reach a target number on the scale by a certain day. This can be unhealthy and will lead to the pounds being piled back on after the goal event has passed.
“When weight is lost at a steadier rate as part of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle it is much easier to make the new, slimmer you into a permanent fixture. Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle is also easier if you have long-term goals, such as boosting your confidence and minimising the risk of serious health conditions.”
*Figures are based on the average female life expectancy in the UK (82.8 years) and the assumption that the average woman starts dieting aged 18.
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