S is for Sustainable

Almost every diet works in the short term. That is not the hard part and it never has been. The hard part is that the results of a temporary change are also temporary — which is why the same people lose the same thirty pounds repeatedly for decades.

Sustainability is unglamorous by nature. It means slower results, ordinary food, and changes modest enough that they stop feeling like changes at all. It looks less impressive on week three and dramatically better on year three.

The corollary is that speed is usually a warning sign. If an approach requires unusual effort, unusual products, or unusual restriction, ask what happens on the day you stop.