Discover the Best Way to Lose Weight

by Natalie

I've been a yo-yo dieter for almost my entire adult life. The routine is always the same: I notice that I'm getting a little bigger around the middle, so I check out the latest fad diet that promises to help me drop 10 pounds in 10 days. I then starve myself or subsist solely on such gourmet fare (not!) as cabbage soup, shed a few pounds, and then gain it all back again -- and more -- just a few weeks later. Lather, rinse, and repeat ad nauseam. I'm sick of this whole cycle, so now I'm looking for the absolute best way to lose weight and hope I can finally find an answer to my dieting issues.

I first tried to use the Internet to find the best way to lose weight, but I soon got lost in all the different search results that Google turned up. There are tons of competing theories out there, and the often contradictory advice just served to confuse me more than ever. For instance, some people insist that exercising is the best way to lose weight, bar none. These folks won't be satisfied unless you spend half your waking hours jogging, taking spin classes, doing aerobics, or lifting weights. And while I agree that exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle, I don't think anyone needs to devote that much time to it.

Another group of experts believes that strict dieting is the best way to lose weight. Proponents of this viewpoint think that exercise is beneficial only to a certain point, and that you have to closely monitor everything you eat in order to enjoy truly lasting results. These are the people who would have you count every single calorie you consume or obsessively record in a food journal every tasty morsel that passes your lips. Again, I can see the benefits to a certain extent, but I would quickly run into roadblocks simply by going to a restaurant or eating at a friend's house, where details about nutrition and portion sizes aren't readily available.

Personally, I tend to agree with those who say you should consult a physician to determine the best way to lose weight. That's because the efficacy of diet and exercise largely depends on factors such as body type and metabolism rate, as well as other variables that might not be readily apparent to lay people. For example, you might suffer from a medical condition that could be aggravated through a non-supervised diet or exercise regimen. By talking things over with my doctor prior to starting, I'll be able to avoid most of these potential problems.

After everything I've read, I think it's safe to say that there's no single best way to lose weight. Every person will respond differently to different courses of action. Some might benefit greatly from vigorous exercise, others might do well on highly restrictive diets, and still others might need an approach that combines the two. I'm going to see what my family doc has to say before I do anything else.