The biggest myth about weight loss is that dieting is the best way to lose weight. By the time you finish reading this, I think you’ll agree with me: Dieting is the worst way to lose weight. What’s more, I’m hoping you’ll agree so much that you’ll join me on my crusade against “dieting” – at least the way the weight loss industry has been pushing it on everyone for decades.
Dieting is the worst way to lose weight…
Usually when I make this “outrageous” statement, I’m met with looks of contempt and voices of protest… until they understand where I’m coming from. A recent conversation went something like this:
“What are you talking about Tom? Don’t all the experts agree that diet is the most important factor in fat loss – even more important than exercise? Come to think of it, haven’t you said that yourself before?
“Actually no, I haven’t said that. I’ve said if you were forced to put the (numerous) elements of fat loss success into a hierarchy of importance, nutrition, not diet, is most important for fat loss. There’s a big difference between diet and nutrition.”
“Okay, Tom, I see where you’re going with this, but isn’t that just semantics? Aren’t you saying the same thing?
“You’re right about it being semantics, but that’s precisely why it’s not the saying the same thing. Words are loaded with presupposition and meaning between the lines. Being successful is very much about understanding the power of words – and using the words that successful people use.”
Few words are more semantically loaded than diet.
Think about what the connotations are – and whether they are positive or negative. What comes up when you think of diet?
Deprivation
Restriction
Forbidden food groups
Banned foods
Food demonization
What you can “never eat”
Being hungry
Starvation diets
Rabbit food
Gimmicks
Fads/trends (that pass or come and go in cycles)
Quick fixes (often unhealthy or dangerous)
Couldn’t you just define diet as nothing more than the way a person eats?
That’s what the word was supposed to mean. The word “diet” comes from the Latin, diaeta, meaning “way of life.” But in our modern society today, and with the obesity crisis we’re facing, and the multi-billion dollar industry that has spawned, the word has become tainted…
Today, I think the word ‘diet’ carries too much negative baggage to use so loosely. The way I define it, a diet is any temporary and unsustainable change in your eating behavior to try to lose weight. When you say you’re going on a diet, you’re implying that at some point you’re going off it, and while you are on it, all those negative associations I mentioned above – manifesting as thoughts, feelings and behaviors – come along with it.
By contrast, think about the connotations of the word nutrition. Do you think of anything negative? I don’t. When you think of nutrition, don’t you think of some of the same things I do, such as:
Vitamins
Minerals
Micronutrients
Phytonutrients
Fiber
Muscle-building protein (amino acids)
Unrefined foods, closer to their form in nature
Energy
Vitality
Health
Now think of the word program. A program implies that there is structure. I believe in customization and flexibility. I also appreciate the idea of intuitive eating on certain levels (although I see it as something that happens when you achieve unconscious competence). But good luck to anyone who tries to get lean and healthy for life by trying to “intuitively” eat what they feel like, from day one, with no structure whatsoever. (For years, my clients have told me that’s exactly how they got fat in the first place).
So a nutrition program is a structured plan you can follow as a lifestyle ,that nourishes you with nutritious food that helps you get leaner, stronger, fitter and healthier… and stay that way. I propose we replace “diet” with “nutrition program” unless we are specifically talking about something short term.
I believe this distinction in words is crucial, but just to play devil’s advocate, lets forget the wordplay for a moment and assume that diet and nutrition program mean exactly the same thing. There’s still a huge problem with the diet alone approach, and therefore, why 99% of the entire weight loss industry is wrong:
There are three other elements that most people are missing
Diet is only one of the elements required for permanent fat loss and a stronger, fitter, healthier better body.
Dieting might improve your health. On the other hand, depending on your approach to “diet,” it might destroy your health. Dieting is not always healthy. Nutrition and training together is a sure-fire pathway to health.
According to research from reliable sources, weight loss diets fail 80-95% of the time. Not because they don’t take the weight off, but because they rarely keep it off. Most dieters relapse. Geez, with those odds, why bother? Drug addicts and alcoholics in rehab have a higher success rate than that.
You can lose weight on a diet, but a diet won’t help you keep it off. FACT: Ask any obesity expert – Exercise is vital for long term weight loss maintenance.
The right kind of exercise is also vital for re-shaping your body…
Weight Loss Versus Body Transformation
There’s a world of difference between losing weight and transforming your body.
Dieting can’t transform your body. Only training can do that.
Dieting can’t make you stronger. Only training can do that.
Dieting can’t make you fitter. Only training can do that.
With diets, you might fit into smaller clothes. But you also might become nothing more than a smaller version of your old self.
With diets, you might become… a skinny fat person… smaller… weighing less… but still flabby (and still weak, and still gasping for air climbing a few flights of stairs).
The Muscle Loss Epidemic
With diet alone, 30 to 50% of your weight loss may come in the form of lean body mass. And if you’re getting older, the prospect of losing muscle and strength should genuinely frighten you.
After age 50, you lose 1-2% of your lean muscle every year if you do nothing (if you’re not resistance training). After age 60, you lose up to 3% per year.
Let’s suppose you’re 50 or 60 and you’re thinking, “Meh, 1% of lean body mass loss, what’s the big deal? I have no desire to be a bodybuilder or look muscly.” I can understand that. Your goals and values do change as you get older. In fact, I’m only 45 and even as a fitness professional and lifelong bodybuilder, I could agree that looking forward 15-20 years, I’m more interested in developing things like wisdom, character and spirit than I am putting on more muscle bulk.
I’m not assuming that most people want to look like bodybuilders. I realize that most people don’t. However, gaining lean muscle, strength and fitness will improve the quality of anyone’s life.
Maintaining the muscle you have must be a priority for everyone because losing lean mass every year means losing your mobility and losing your independence as you get older. I’m not even going to paint a picture of that yet – I’ll do that another day in another post – because its horrifying, and I want to finish this post on an uplifting note.
Stop the Diet Insanity!
Given these facts, it’s sheer insanity that we have millions of people who need and want to lose weight – for health and for happiness – and the first thing or only thing they think of as a solution is DIET. They’re asking for deprivation, hunger, missing out on favorite foods (which they could have enjoyed if they understood energy balance and moderation), loss of muscle, loss of strength and eventually, loss of independence, putting a burden on other people to take care of them.
I’m not being melodramatic. I am on mission to expose the errors of the dieting mentality and promote the benefits of the body-building, fitness and nutrition lifestyle. I’m so passionate about getting this message out, it’s the reason why I’ve re-released – internationally, on the biggest scale I can – a new edition of my book with this as one of the core messages.
The good news is, there’s a right way to burn fat and transform your body, but it’s not a one-trick show. You have to put several pieces together. This is total lifestyle change, so it’s not easy. But it is worth it.
This is as near to a miracle formula as you will ever find. It’s the 4 elements of my Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle approach:
- Nutrition program
- Resistance (strength) training
- Cardio Training
- Mental training
In future posts, I’m going to dive into more detail about each of these elements, how to choose and set up resistance, cardio and nutrition programs, and why putting them together works miracles on your health and your body. I’ll also explain why I believe anyone who does the training and eats nutritiously can call themselves a “body-builder.” But I’m going to stop here for today, because I made the one point I wanted to make. Let me repeat it:
Dieting is the worst way to lose weight.
Not only that, here’s the nail in the coffin for 99% of what the weight loss industry is telling you: weight loss is the wrong goal to begin with. Burning the fat and keeping the muscle is the right goal. Even better, the right goal is to get leaner, stronger, fitter and healthier.
That’s my mission and that is the message of the new edition of my book, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.
Want two chapters of the new book for free? You can download the free preview here: www.burnthefatfeedthemuscle.com/burn-the-fat-feed-the-muscle-preview-pdf.html
Train hard, and expect success,
Tom Venuto
I have actually found (the hard way) that a massive calorie deficit does not lead to massive weight (fat) loss. I train hard multiple sessions every day burning between 4000 – 6000 calories daily. At one point I was only managing to consume 1400 – 1600 daily my weight didn’t change I just got very sick. Once I found some ways to increase my intake to around 3000 – 4000 calories daily my weight (fat) started to drop quickly. Nuts & seeds, fruit, muesli bars and protein shakes in between meals and 6 – 10 litres of water a day has made healthy fat loss a simple process. My biggest problem has been timing as I prefer to train on an empty stomach no problem for my morning sessions a bit tougher for my afternoon sessions especially on busy days. Takes some effort and some trial and error but once a routine can be established it becomes second nature.
“Not only that, here’s the nail in the coffin for 99% of what the weight loss industry is telling you: weight loss is the wrong goal to begin with. Burning the fat and keeping the muscle is the right goal. Even better, the right goal is to get leaner, stronger, fitter and healthier.
That’s my mission and that is the message of the new edition of my book, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”
Mission Accomplished Tom.
Thank you for this great article.
I’m happy to learn that the importance of muscle building and strength with age is a topic in your next book. I’ve lifted weights for over twenty years, with varying intensity and continuity. The past few years I’ve seen my parents and their friends aging with differing abilities. I’ve always believed that the way you live your life in one decade will show in the next, but no where is this more obvious and important than the decades after 60. I’ve recommitted to the bodybuilding lifestyle and while I’m happy to appear years younger than many women my age, when I really want motivation I take the time to notice the oldest people in the gym. Most are struggling and weak, but they are still better than the ones who don’t even make it in. It’s a very important topic as such a large demographic is aging, with ramifications for all ages, and I commend you for bringing it forward. There’s so much more to weight loss and fitness than appearance.
I have an extremely Sacred Italian Wedding to attend. Lucky for us the pressure to loose weight for such an important ceremony is not going to blind me of what really matters xoxoxo MY HEALTH xoxoxo This post was an inspiring reminder for me to focus because the xoxoxoTRUTHxoxoxo is that a well balanced meal is just as important as a well balanced *body cemetery* a.k.a *body symmetry*. I believe *KEY BATTLE* is becoming *A.W.A.R.E* of the important difference between *Weight Loss* and *Body Transformation* and being able to *R.E.A.C.H* a clear understanding that *Body Transformation* is the the real *LIFE SAVER*,no matter what the health and fitness goal may be :)
Great post! I actually just wrote a very similar style post a couple days ago. Effectively losing weight requires a synchronized approach from proper nutrition, strength training, and cardio. Nice, informative, and well written post, I’ll be checking back for more!