Diet versus lifestyle change – do you know the difference? Surprisingly, many people do not.

In 2010, Americans spent approximately $60.9 billion in diet related goods and services, according to fitnessforweightloss.com. Yet within that same year, more than 2 in 3 adults were classified overweight or obese, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Common ways Americans try to lose weight:

• Eat smaller portions
• Reduce sugar intake
• Count calories
• Consume less calories while increasing exercise
• Restrict diet or follow a weight loss program

Nearly 95% of all diets fail. Within the next five or less years after dieting, dieters will regain the weight they had lost and sometimes more. A diet is a temporarily changing what you eat in hopes of weight loss or a certain body size or shape. Eventually, those who go on a diet will return to their old eating habits because their dieting techniques just aren’t right for the body, and they give up and into their cravings.

A lifestyle change is a change in diet to improve and maintain health and appearance for long term effects. A lifestyle change can also affect your everyday living. For example, consuming junk or fast foods frequently can cause tiredness, memory problems, uncontrollable cravings, depression, and the obvious effects to your physical health. Eating healthier will reduce the risk of these issues and create a more positive impact on your mind and body.

A lifestyle change promotes weight maintenance, physical and mental health in the long term. Diets are gamble on your health that shouldn’t be taken.