Recently, my dietitian colleague posted an old article by CBC news. “Obesity research confirms long-term weight loss almost impossible,” says the headline.

According to a study led by psychologist Tracy Mann from the University of Minnesota, only 5% of their participants managed to keep the weight off. Moreover, based on the long-term weight loss studies she looked into, she discovered that people only lose approximately two pounds on average.

Fellow expert in the field Tim Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta, shared that weight loss is really just a myth. While people are capable of losing the extra pounds on the short run, most of them end up earning them all back—sooner of later. Unfortunately, researchers are a little edgy about slipping this information out to the public. I mean, let’s be honest. Announcing to the whole world that NOTHING cures obesity, including nutrition, exercise, and surgery is pretty hard to swallow, right?

The Truth

Before waving the white flag, hear me out.

Of course, when we’re talking about obesity—not overweight—, things get more complicated. In certain circumstances, people suffering from obesity have no other option than to go under the knife. Even so, some of them can still regain the weight that they loss.  That much is true.

But contrary to what it is said in this article, there is an AVALANCHE of research supporting a healthy diet and exercise for weight loss (not just weight management). The reason why the extra pounds come back to haunt us can be due to several reasons, one of them being jumping back into our bad old habits.

Don’t forget that the number of the scale doesn’t say it all. If you are shrinking away fat and gaining more muscle, you might not see a huge difference in term of your weight, but the same cannot be said for the shape of your body. One thing for sure is that overeating and sedentary lifestyle are definitely not going to help trim your waistline.

Another point to mention is that weight gain is credit to several factors, not just nutrition and exercise. For instance, hormonal imbalance, sleep, and stress may all cause us to pack on more pounds. The goal of weight loss is to tackle every single of these items and to put all the chances on our side.

So is dieting and exercising enough to shake off the love handles? Maybe not, but they can certainly help!