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Eat and Lose Weight
Marvin Berenson, M.D.
Are you a dieter who quickly regains lost weight? If so, then a dietary stabilization period is for you. A stabilization period is a periodic non-diet period that occurs as part of a regular diet. Alternating one month of dieting and one month of non-dieting is the preferred sequence.
Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to lose that last ten pounds or why you have to a œeat like a bird's when you have arrived at your ideal weight? On a continuous diet that lasts over a month, your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) slowly decreases. In six months of continuous dieting you may have lost 25%
or more of your normal BMR. Weight loss and the burning of fat have diminished. A daily reduction of five hundred calories may no longer cause any weight loss.
Dieting without benefit leads to frustration and even a sense of
hopelessness. Such negative attitudes are frequently harbingers to regaining lost weight.
A monthly stabilization period prevents this.
When there is no decrease in your BMR, a diet with a daily reduction of 500 calories works well. Since it takes 3500 calories to lose (or gain) a single pound of flesh, you will lose one pound per week or four to five pounds per month (excluding any water loss). A diet with a 1000 calorie reduction will result in a loss of eight to nine pounds a month. And you can expect the same results on alternate months. The dietary control becomes easier and easier.
During the stabilization period you eat enough food to avoid further weight gain or loss. You maintain the weight, whatever it is, reached at the end of the diet month. You will find it easier to control weight when your monthly weight loss is minor. During the stabilization period you will learn to adjust to normal eating as you develop the habit of regular and effective weight control. You can also use the non-diet periods to examine reasons why you overeat
and focus on creating a permanent, healthier diet and lifestyle.
By stabilizing your weight month by month you will establish an inner belief in your ability to control your weight. You will have gained permanent weight control.
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Marvin Berenson, M.D., psychiatrist, is the author of The Five Keys to Permanent Weight Control and Think Yourself Smokeless. Email:
marv1010@aol.com Visit his website www.marvinberenson.com for a free 31-page e-book, Self Growth and the Power of Mental Imagery, and a free newsletter
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