There are many popular myths in circulation these days regarding how to lose weight and to keep it off. If you have ever gone on a specific weight loss diet, you have likely realized that dieting is not the answer for long-term success in achieving a healthy weight. You may have tried several diet plans, only to be disappointed at the lack of long term weight loss. This can lead to feelings of depression and loss of self-esteem, not to mention the burden placed on the body due to excess weight.

I have been involved in weight loss challenges at my workplace several times during the past few years. While I have seen some short term successes, I’ve noticed that most of the people who have decreased their body fat percentages during the challenge have regained the weight and the fat.

In essence, short-term changes yield short-term results. As soon as the diet ends, the weight starts returning because dieters revert to their former unhealthy ways of eating and living.

The key to successful and permanent weight loss is fitness and a healthy lifestyle. In other words, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to choose to eat, exercise and live in a healthy way every day, for the rest of your life. This entails long-term sacrifice, but it yields long-term gain. Unfortunately, most people are unwilling to sacrifice their unhealthy habits for the long term, even if it means living a lengthy, happy and fulfilling life. Some never make it to retirement, and others die soon after retiring.

Here’s a current and popular myth: low carb dieting leads to healthy weight loss.

A low carb diet, however, is counterintuitive. It doesn’t make sense. It’s comparable to saying that a lower percentage of gasoline (with a correspondingly higher amount of ethanol) will make your car run better. Most gasoline powered vehicles on the road today were not designed to run on more than 10% ethanol. If the ethanol percentage increased to 30 or 40%, your vehicle probably would not run very well.

If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, consider a lifestyle change that includes a diet consisting mostly of complex carbohydrates. Cut out all empty calories in the form of simple carbs. I challenge you to try this for 10 days and see if you notice a positive change in your energy level and how you feel in general. What do you have to lose?

You may conclude that it would be best to make this change permanent. If 10 days without any empty calories seems too daunting, try eliminating one junk food that you consume on a daily basis, such as a candy bar or a pastry. Even such a small change will be a positive step and if sustained over time will yield desirable results. That’s how healthy habits are formed.