I wanted to follow up a previous entry where I discussed the desire for most people to see weight come off very quickly. Human nature is such that patience is limited when it comes to delayed gratification. Weight loss will eventually produce a much younger look, more energy, fitting into fashionable clothes, coming off medications etc. However, these great outcomes do not occur immediately and will take time to be realized. The sooner the weight comes off, the sooner these great outcomes occur, hence the reason for wanting to see lots of weight loss quickly.
Studies show that the people that lose weight in a slower/steadier fashion have a much higher chance of keeping the weight off for the long-term. The more rapid the weight loss, the less chance there is of experiencing long lasting results. Hence, the reason why very low caloric “diets”, liquid diets, fasting and other extreme “dieting” techniques provide little-no chance of long-term success.
There is a kind of euphoria that is felt when a person hops on the scale and sees his/her efforts rewarded with lots of weight loss quickly, but we should all keep in mind that the truly important issue is long term maintenance of the healthier/happier weight. The slower/steadier approach is ultimately better than the “quick” weight loss approach.