Want to be a Dieting Genius?

by Maria's Last Diet

Are you one of the smart people when it comes to dieting? Take our sharpest True-False dieting quiz and find out what you know and what you need to know.

1. You can change your bad eating habits all on your own.
   True. Many people make important self-changes like losing the weight without getting outside help.

2. Exercise is better than dieting for losing the weight.
   False. Exercise is great for fitness. But the actual evidence shows that while exercise can help with weight-loss maintenance, it doesn’t necessarily help with weight loss itself.

3. Cheating while dieting is detrimental.
   False. You can learn from every momentary failure and use what you learn to do better next time.

4. There is a magic bullet for the weight-loss challenge and it’s called willpower.
   False. There is no magic bullet, certainly not willpower that always comes and goes. You need very good plans, lots of support, and adequate preparation.

5. Your chances of dieting successfully are greater if you’ve failed in the past.
   True. It takes several tries to make an important life change like how you eat, giving up smoking, drinking, etc.

6. There are a lot of positive things overeating or being overweight are doing for you.
   True. You need to acknowledge what your eating problem takes care of in your life and then take care of those things in a better way.

7. It takes two years for those who really mean it to stick to a New Year’s Resolution.
   False. It takes approximately five consecutive years for those who are resolute to stick to their resolutions.

8. Maintaining a weight loss is often more difficult to achieve than the weight loss itself.
   True. During maintenance you are most at risk of gaining the weight back. You need to continue to use all that you learned about yourself while you were losing.

9. You need to lose a lot of weight to reduce health problems like diabetes and hypertension.
   False. Researchers have found that losing as little as 7 pounds can have a large, positive effect on your health.

10. Having a friend who is obese doesn’t really affect you.
    False. If you have a friend who is obese, your chance of becoming obese increases by as much as 171 per cent.

11. When you kick a problem habit like overeating, it still keeps its hold on you for a long time afterwards.
    True. It takes a while to fully move into a new, better eating lifestyle.

12. There is a difference between having a slip and having a total dieting failure.
    True. Yes, all the difference in the world. A slip is a confined act as opposed to a total dieting failure.

13. People don’t really change.
    False. Researchers have studied many, many self-changers. People definitely do change, but it takes time, effort, commitment, and relearning.

14. When you lose the weight, those close to you are always affected.
    True. Some may not like it so much, some will really be happy for you. You need to be able to deal with both.

15. Positive reinforcement is a must for successful dieting.
    True. This is what keeps you going all the way to goal.

16. The first few days and weeks of a diet are usually the hardest.
    True. In the beginning it will feel strange because you are changing your routines and the way you do things.

17. When you are dieting, you should keep it private.
    False. Go public. Public pledges are more powerful than private ones.

18. It always helps to diet with a friend.
    False. It only helps if the friend is very motivated and committed to losing the weight too.

19. There is a perfect time to start dieting.
    False. When you wait around for just the right moment, day, week, season, it is often a delay tactic. The perfect time to start is when you really feel ready.

20. Most people who want to lose the weight can’t stick to dieting no matter which diet they’re on.
    True. Studies show that even with the latest, most popular diets, a high percentage of people can’t stay on them for long.

And here’s a bonus question for you.

In the U.S., we spend 33 billion dollars annually on weight-loss products and services, and still 66 per cent of adults are overweight or obese.
True. This suggests that what we are doing doesn’t work.

OK, so are you a dieting genius?

Scoring:

• If you got 10 or less right, you really needed this quiz.
• If you got 10 to 15 right, your dieting IQ is on the rise.
• If you got 20 right, you’re definitely a dieting genius.

And if you got the bonus question as well, you are incredibly well informed.

THE MORE DIETING KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE, THE MORE EQUIPPED YOU ARE TO REACH YOUR GOAL.