14 DAY TRIAL // There is little women wouldn’t do in the name of fashion and, ultimately, looking good. Among the things they would put themselves through is strict dieting before Christmas, complete with buying party dresses in at least one size too small to act as incentive for the weight loss, a new survey cited by the Daily Mail has learned. Sadly, only half of them actually get to reach their goal.
On average, one in three women go on a pre-Christmas diet, to ensure they look their best for the winter holidays, the survey reveals. Of the women who, this year, will invest in buying a party dress especially for this occasion, about 50 percent will choose an item that is actually smaller in a bid to find in this the extra motivation needed to lose weight. Not all will get to see their efforts pay off, the findings also indicate, as only half of the slimmers will actually lose the weight.
“Research revealed the average woman will splash out £68 on a new dress to look her best for the office Christmas bash. But only 50 per cent will manage to lose enough weight to get into it while the other 50 per cent will either leave it in a wardrobe or return it. It also emerged, in the survey commissioned by commissioned by Herbalife, one in three women always go on a pre-Christmas diet – but only one in five keep the weight off permanently,” the Daily Mail says of the findings.
Gavin Aley, director of Sales and Marketing with Herbalife, a famed nutrition company, uses the opportunity to point out that “panic dieting,” as he calls the ongoing trend of more women trying to shake off a few pounds quickly and effortlessly, is not the way to go if they want good results. Acceptance and setting realistic goals, for one, are two of the ways to ensure that weight loss is sustainable in the long run, and this excludes from the start the very idea of buying clothing items that are too small, only in the hope that dieters will be able to fit into them later on.
“We are very familiar with tales of people wishing to lose a few extra pounds for a Christmas party but they always encourage a more holistic approach. Often dieters set themselves unrealistic targets and this can have a negative impact on their overall goals, leaving them feeling as though they have failed. Panic dieting in order to lose weight quickly for an event or special occasion can often be counter-productive in the long run.” Aley says.