You know those people (mostly crazy anti-dieters but some dietitians too) who say that all diets come without the tiniest measure of success? That 95% of diets fail? Then you become discouraged and think what’s the point of even trying? Well, it’s a load of absolute gibberish.
You see, the ‘95% of diets fail’ thing is based on the 1959 clinical study of 100 subjects who were given a diet and… sent on their way to figure out whether chicken breast or those little blue tablets in the toilet are more nutritious. No guidance, no education. Nothing.
Forty years later, the New York Times interviewed the author of the study who went ‘I’ve been sort of surprised that people keep citing it; I know we do better these days.’ The doc is right. We can do better. We did better.
A diet is considered successful when as little as 5–10% of body weight loss is achieved. That’s when we see clinically meaningful improvements in health markers (source).
And when you lose those 5–10% of body weight in a sustainable way, your chances of maintaining new body weight are A LOT higher than a widely quoted but imbecilic 5% success rate.
