Are You a Serial Dieter or Weight Manager?

It’s not unusual for people to have tried dozens of diets before coming to Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. If this sounds like you or someone you know, the problem likely lies in the understanding of obesity as a disease.

Dieting without weight loss results can be discouraging. Even more frustrating is spending your whole life losing and regaining weight. Breaking the serial dieting cycle isn’t easy, but you can end it by taking the next steps to becoming a weight manager.

What is a Serial Dieter?

• Have you been on and off diets for most of your life?
• Do you struggle to lose weight and then fail to keep it off?
• Are you lacking motivation, accountability, and consistency?
• Do you want to end emotional eating, guilt, and negative self-talk?
• Do you want to maintain a healthy weight for life, but don’t know how?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you are what we call a serial dieter. Many serial dieters treat obesity like an acute illness. Many think once they reach their goal weight, they’re “cured.” Like a sinus infection, once you’ve finished your antibiotics, you’re done.

Unfortunately, obesity is more like a chronic disease. For example, type 1 diabetes usually starts early in life. From that point, daily insulin injections are necessary to survive. If a patient stops insulin they’ll get sick and end up in the emergency room. Teens with diabetes often skip taking their insulin in hope that their disease will vanish. Basically, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes, just like obesity.

What is a Weight Manager?

A person with diabetes has a plan every day. They take their insulin when they go on vacation, when they’re busy at work, and when they have life stress.

Those who are successful in controlling their weight have a plan every day, that’s what we call a weight manager. They don’t take a vacation from obesity. There are no “days off,” any more than people with diabetes ever take a day off from taking insulin. They continue to see a physician to help them maintain the weight they have lost.

Understanding obesity as a disease explains why stopping treatment leads to weight regain. Serial dieters regain weight. Weight managers achieve long-term control of their obesity. Trying a medical weight loss program is a great way to end the yo-yo dieting, enjoy food again, and live healthy for the rest of your life.

Understanding Dieter’s Mentality