There are many people who feel as though rapid weight loss is not the best “way” to do it. The common perception is that the faster you lose the weight, the quicker you gain it back.

Often I think, that people look at the correlation, and not the actual causation, as with many thing related to weight loss.

While I believe that both gradual and fast weight loss are possible and viable solutions (depending on the specific method), there are many different aspects to each approach that complicate the issue. There is no black and white and answer that can tell us if faster or slower is better for us.

Many times, those who lose weight on a rapid weight loss program, do not fully adopt new and healthy eating and exercise habits. So the act of losing weight is not what causes the weight gain, but rather, the rate at which one goes back to old habits.

So, in some cases, when one goes on a very low calorie (1200 or less) or food restrictive diet, one that is pretty difficult, and near impossible to follow for a long period of time, we quickly come to an “end” of the diet, and bounce back to our poor eating habits, sometimes in response to the long period of perceived deprivation. It is not the diet, but the psychological rebound that we experience after we finish a strict diet, that causes the rapid weight gain. The same is true for an intense exercise program.

Conversely, a gradual weight loss program, while having the best chance for longer term behavioral change, is sometimes, well…too gradual for most people’s tastes. It can be a long road if we lose 1-3 pounds per month, and don’t feel our efforts are worth the reward. In today’s environment, with all of the temptations toward unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyle, it is very easy for us to go back to our old ways, when the changes we make are not seemingly worth the trouble.

For many, the idea of losing weight slowly for 2 years can be daunting, and since most people want instant results, we cannot wait for 2 years to see the results of our effort. We have followed some documentary subjects for over a year, and they have lost very little weight. At some point in time they may have lost 20 pounds quickly, but in the long run they cannot see the big picture of losing just a few pounds a month. After a couple of years this can add up to over 60 pounds.

What does all this mean? Nothing really! The pace at which you lose weight doesn’t matter, if you have the right perspective of what you are trying to do. In the end, there is no “finish” to a healthy lifestyle, so if you keep this in mind, and learn the necessary things along the way, your weight loss journey can actually be pretty quick. On the other hand, don’t under estimate the power of gradual change, because time flies faster than you think, and if you have a lot of weight to lose, you’ll find yourself 100 pounds less in a year or so if you just stick to it and make gradual change in the right direction.

The best approach to this, in my opinion, is to take dual approach. Set mini goals that allow you to “sprint” towards your goal, and take little breaks in between where you are “briskly walking” toward you goal. This allows you to take advantage of times in your life that allow you to focus on your exercise and eating more than other times…just as long as your “rest periods” are still moving you forward (which sometimes means you still need to get on that scale to see which direction you are headed).

As usual, I’ve written a bunch of words that might just cancel each other out. Hopefully it makes some sense…