The Best Diet May Be No Diet At All

For the past decade, a team of Finnish researchers has been following the weight-maintenance habits of more than 4,500 people in their mid-20s.[1] They found that, on average, about a quarter of the young men and women enrolled in the study maintained their weight over the 10 years. A far smaller percentage (3.8 percent of the men, 7.5 of the women) actually lost weight. Those who lost or maintained their body weight shared two things in common: they didn't miss meals and they had no history of dieting.

Conversely, the most common factors associated with weight gain among the women were having two or more children, consuming sugary drinks, skipping meals, a history of dieting, and not being satisfied with their life. The young men who gained weight also skipped meals and had a history of dieting, as well as a history of smoking.

How to eat healthfully without dieting

One increasingly popular alternative to normal dieting is a "flexible dieting" approach called "if it fits your...

Source: The Best Diet May Be No Diet At All