NEW YEAR, SAME OLD PROMISES

The average New Year’s resolution was discarded after as little as a week, with good intentions abandoned almost as soon as the festive decorations were packed away – but a Shropshire weightloss expert promises to help people get back on track and make an important change for life, not just for January.

A snap survey on Twitter showed that despite almost 60 per cent of respondents failing to lose weight last year, half had made a New Year’s resolution to try again in 2011.

What’s more, although two-thirds always find it difficult to keep the weight off, they persisted in using the same techniques every time they try to slim down.

But, according to weight management expert Sarita Adams from Telford, “If you do what you always do, you can only expect to get what you always got.

“The weight doesn’t go on all at once – it creeps up while we aren’t paying attention to our diet, health and activity levels. So we can’t expect to lose it quickly. Looking for results within days explains why so many people have lost interest in those January 1st pledges.

“The only effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to do it gradually, and by changing the way we think about food.”

Sarita worked in the NHS for more than 17 years, designing and delivering weight management programmes for obesity clinics and is the joint creator of the Adams Portion Pot food measuring system, along with husband Jon, who has had a long career in the field of mental health, including working with those with eating disorders.

Their experience is that while most people are aware of their diet demons, they continue to fall into the same traps year after year.

“Our latest survey showed that 70 per cent of us know deep down why we keep failing to lose weight, but we persist in trying the same techniques – crash diets, joining gyms, meal replacements, slimming clubs – even when they didn’t work before,” she said.

“What we need to do is redefine our relationship with food, understand that it is possible to feel full and fit, and establish healthy eating habits that lead to sustained weight loss. We can help people do that.”

The Adams Portion Pot system is a deceptively simple food measuring and online diet mentoring programme that has already been proven in a study, where those using the portion pot lost, on average, twice as much weight over a three-month period as those who only received diet and exercise advice.

Sarita adds: “The UK is facing a growing obesity crisis. Up to 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children are predicted to be obese by 2050, and costs to society are expected to hit £50billion.

“We need to harness the good intentions we all start the New Year with and, by following a few simple guidelines, this year can be the one when we really do stick to that resolution to lose weight and keep it off, so we don’t have to begin 2012 making the same promises.”

The Adams Portion Pot is available by mail order from www.adamsportionpot.com