Perhaps you commenced dieting at the expiration of the holidays, and you are almost giving up already. Well, other people are with you in this issue. It appears as though the weight loss niche (the industry and the companies under it) are capitalizing on it.

Perhaps you are a witness to all the ads to this effect. As we entered this year, it was witnessed that the Special K as well as the Weight Watchers are going to be the financial pillars behind massive electronic billboards in Times Square, the location that is most strategic and visible worldwide – of all days, New Year’s Eve was chosen.

It’s deliberate; of course, they know that this is the moment of self-evaluation virtually for everyone. However, it is relieving to know that the Diet Industry has realized that wellness is the true path to healthy living rather than crash diets. In fact, they know that the crash diet doesn’t work – if it does, there certainly would not be still so many of the ‘big’ people around today.

Each time we hear the word ‘diet’ our mind will immediately capture the word ‘restriction’. In the real sense, diet means the food choices you prefer, but we have misconstrued it to be choices of food for weight loss purpose. Most times, when people ask about my eating pattern, I tend to describe it as my preferred food choices – you don’t blame me, I guess you are also guilty of such misconception about diet.

Well, the misconception seems to also sound quite empowering, doesn’t it? Well, I’m really not a ‘diet’ enthusiast neither do I believe in it, especially for the fact that it now connotes detour from a normal life – which means it is only effective while we are on it, what happens thereafter? If the diet is meant to be a healing one, designed to shift body imbalance, you will continue to experience the effect if you keep up with the new food choices even when the selective eating period has elapsed.

For those who want to achieve a quick fix as a result of indulging excessively, crash diet may work. On the other hand, this also entraps us in the struggle and pain of yo-yo diets. We often tend to struggle more and have a more imbalanced weight-gain when we come out from a crash diet. Your health is least considered when these diets are involved.

Those new diet products (the Special K’s) promise to assist you achieve weight loss after holidays – but they would not tell you that the ingredients contained in them are anti-health and do not help you achieve healthy feeding-habits on the long term. On the other hand, the Weight Watchers is propagating the approach known as ‘don’t diet’, ‘start living’. In essence, watch the weight and don’t bother about foods that promote health and offer your body the needed support to discover its natural balance.