“Obesity is the largest public health policy challenge of our time,” says Dr Nick Fuller, from the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders at the University’s Charles Perkins Centre and the University of Sydney School of Medicine.
“The public needs easy access to accurate and reliable information that will help them on their weight loss journeys.”
In his bestselling book Interval Weight Loss: How to trick your body into losing weight the scientific way – one month at a time, Dr Fuller explained we all have a set weight at which our bodies feel most comfortable, and why people who attempt fad diets – such as keto, Atkins or military – generally end up regaining the kilos they’ve lost.
Now in Interval Weight Loss for Life he provides nutritious new recipes to make cooking easy and further helpful, no-nonsense advice and information that has enabled thousands of people to lose weight and keep it off.
Here are Dr Fuller’s top three reasons why you never need to diet again – and should instead aim to reprogram your body to its new optimal weight or new ‘set point’, to become slimmer and stay that way.
“Diets have only contributed to the very problem they claim to solve – the obesity epidemic – and we largely have social media to blame,” Dr Fuller says.
These days it seems like everyone is a so-called wellness and weight loss expert. But obesity needs to be treated seriously, and advice should be given by people qualified to do so.
“These ‘influencers’ and celebrities we follow on Instagram generally don’t know what they are talking about, and their advice or programs are typically not evidence based – it’s anecdata.”
“Research has clearly shown that irregular eating and a history of dieting are two key factors that actually accelerate getting fatter, rather than preventing it,” Dr Fuller says.
“Our body is far smarter than we give it credit for and will always work to protect its ‘set point’ or level of fatness by changing how the body functions.
“Interval Weight Loss for Life takes readers stage-by-stage through the process of achieving weight loss in small amounts and explains how to kick-start this weight loss process, how to overcome barriers along the way, and what to do once you reach your goal weight.”
“The good news is we’ve discovered a way to help people redefine their ‘set point’ by giving the body a rest at regular intervals on their weight loss journey,” says Dr Fuller.
“This prevents the fight-or-flight response to weight loss that you usually witness – the decrease in metabolism slowing down your body functioning and the change in appetite hormones telling you to eat more.
“As a result your body doesn’t fight the weight loss and you’re able to not only lose weight but keep it off. It’s also a fun, relaxed and easy way to lose weight, and will ensure you never have to diet again.”
Interval Weight Loss for Life by Dr Nick Fuller is published by Penguin Random House.