Diet "truths" from a researcher at the University of Manitoba

As the swimsuit season approaches and many of us prepare our diet on Monday, there is something that Ms. Traci Mann, a professor at the University of Minnesota, researcher and author of "Secrets from the Eating Lab ", would like us to know … diets do not work.

"I have the impression that many people who hear me talk about it say that it is bad news, but it is not bad news! This n & # 39; "It's not bad news! It's a new liberator," Mann said.

It's hard to sell when these before and after images appear on our TV screens and Facebook feeds.

In the end .. most people will gain weight.

This is only a part of what your body undergoes when you lose weight and this is nobody's fault.

It's not your fault, says Mann, because diets make you fail.

The problem is that when you follow a diet, your body sees that too few calories enter, resulting in these physiological changes. Such as changes in your metabolism and changes in your hormones that determine your hunger or satiety.

So, this sandwich that would have you satiated before dieting … does not do it anymore … because your levels of hunger hormones have changed.

One of the other things that happen to you when you follow a strict diet is that all of these changes in your thought patterns worry you and that you are concerned about thoughts about foods.

All of this happens because our body, says Mann, is struggling to stay in a genetically determined weight range.

The problem is that you are trying to lose a lot of weight. so much weight that you go below the defined weight range of your body.

"So if you're in the 175-pound range, you'll never be a 110-pound person, at least not without a massive and complete suffering every day," Mann said. "But you will not be a 300-pound person either." pound person. "

Unfortunately, there is no formula for determining your range. But most people can understand what their range is simply by thinking about their own weight history and how much weight you always come back from.

For skeptics, Mann cites a study of adopted children that reveals that most have grown to look like the weight of their biological parents.

Showing the power of the genes and environment that these adoptive parents put for that child, who defines their eating habits for perhaps all their lives, did not really change the weight they had. Their weight remained like their biological parents.

Mann knows that despite the research, some of you will always think it looks like a cop.

One thing that drives me crazy and I tell people all this, all the important factors of genetics and weight, and they say, "Yeah, but in the end you're still the one holding the fork."

The key thing to realize is that a person holding a fork is not the same as another person holding a fork.

So it may be time to give up the goal of reaching that dream weight and focusing on health.

"So, I think the goal should be to adopt healthy behaviors … like eating vegetables, exercising, not smoking and, if you practice them, you'll improve your health but you may not be able to lose weight, "Mann said.