In 2013, the Daily Mail reported that the average woman’s diet (in the U.K.) lasted five weeks, two days and 43 minutes. That was the point at which most women gave up.
I’ve tried dieting and also gave up. The longest probably lasted about 2 months. The depressing thing was that with each successive diet, the weight 
seemed to come back on more quickly than the previous time and I ended up weighing more each time! Then research came out indicating that the reason you gain back more weight is that your body readjusts its baseline and requires not just fewer calories because it’s maintaining a smaller body, but even fewer than that because it wants to protect itself from loss. I finally realized the damage I was doing with dieting.
What I needed was permanent lifestyle and diet changes, not a diet. It took the support of my partner from my health coaching program to plan for, implement and follow through on those changes in a way I never could before. It took more than 5 weeks. When I did, the baby belly I had held onto since the birth of my son (in 2003) melted away (14 years later) without any effort and without restricting calories. I always eat now until I’m satisfied and love the food I eat. I no longer crave sugar. I can look a piece of commercial white flour, sugar-laden, gluten-filled cake in the eye and feel no regret whatsoever about not eating it. I still enjoy sweets – but sweets I bake at home with healthy ingredients and safe sweeteners that won’t raise my blood sugar or put me at risk of cancer.
Habit change is difficult in the context of a busy life and other priorities. Investing in health coaching is not just about information, although that is important. It’s investing in someone to keep you accountable over an extended period of time as you make those permanent changes. Many of us try but fail on our own. This recent article on Medium: “I Lost 86 Pounds and Learned a Few Things” supports that conclusion. In that case, it was a personal trainer that keep him accountable. The important part was that someone was keeping the author accountable.
If you think you may need help staying accountable as you make the changes that will lead to permanent weight loss, please reach out and set up a free 30 minute breakthrough session. I meet with clients in Tucson, AZ or online from anywhere. We can talk about whether health coaching may be a solution to your problems. You have nothing to lose . . . but weight.