Is your diet making you fat?

The number one rule of the universe: "If I always do what I've always done, I'll always be where I've always been." Alas, despite the apparent (lack of) results of some dieting behaviors, we blindly pursue these non-starters.

Elisa Zied, RD, an American Dietetic Association spokesperson and author of "Feed Your Family Right!" listed five unproductive behaviors. I - always the helper - have added my own commentary.

Unproductive behavior #1: Saving your calories for dinner.

Although the unflinching truth is summed up as "calories in versus calories out," banking them for the end of the day apparently causes hunger hormones to go wild. (I'm picturing plump hormones partying on spring break in Florida - must delete mental image!)

Of course, this presupposes that those of us who trying to lose weight are actually paying attention to hunger, which we're not; we're on auto-pilot, shoveling greasy, gooey, syrupy goodness down our gullet without regard to taste nor need. If we were actually responding to hunger, we'd stop well before dinner anyway.

Behavior #2: "Grazing" instead of eating regularly scheduled meals.

I wasn't aware of this little tidbit, but women who eat regular meals burn more calories in the three hours after eating than those who unplanned meals. Sit down. Use a plate. Lose weight.

#3. Quick, crash diets to "look good" for a certain event

Drastically cutting calories causes a loss of muscle with the fat - especially if you haven't been exercising. Muscle is one of the more important components of metabolism. High metabolism contributes to weight loss, while low metabolism causes one to be tired (and plump). The solution? Simply eat a little less than you want, and stay with that for a while. Besides, let's be honest, how attractive will you feel as a bony, tired, skinny person, with sagging, droopy muscles?

#4. Setting short-term weight-loss goals instead of long ones.

If your thought process is, "I'll lose the weight quickly so I can go back to eating 'normally,'" guess what? You'll normally look like you started. The National Weight Control Registry suggests that dieters who successfully keep off lost weight for more than a year made their new eating style a habit by continuing the process they started even after they hit their correct weight. Funny how we do something successfully until we're successful, then revert. Dance with the one who brung ya.

5. Assuming "healthy," "organic," "natural," "fat free," or "sugar free," equates to "low calorie."

Heed the almighty nutrition label! One half cup of "healthy, natural, organic" cereal might have 200 calories; think twice before consuming. Also, in order to keep the taste acceptable on many sugar-free foods, companies might add fat (or add sugar to fat-free foods.)

Bottom line? We engage in these behaviors because we're looking for the simplest road to our goal. That's normal; it's not like life is so easy that we need to complicate it. However, equally true - and certainly more frustrating - is that the less we adjust, the more unlikely we are to experience positive results. Change requires change.

My advice? Pick one thing; whether that be late night eating, start-and-stop dieting, or grazing from the office candy bowl. Be conscious, and alter it - even a little bit - whenever possible. Stick with that and repeat as necessary.

But most important, stop beating yourself up; after all, if guilt and shame were motivational, we'd all be skinny.