Low success rates do not necessarily imply that losing weight permanently is futile or impossible. All that we can reasonably conclude is that the majority of

Low success rates do not necessarily imply that losing weight permanently is futile or impossible. All that we can reasonably conclude is that the majority of people trying to lose weight are using inadequate methods and/or are unable/unwilling to adhere to their chosen method. Consider the following: -The ideal client for a health-club or gym is someone who signs up for a full year on January 2nd and then never returns. -Expensive state-of-the-art exercise machines are actually inferior to cheap, old-fashioned free weights. -A diet conducive to health loss typically consists of precisely the kind of foods that can't be pre-packaged and advertized on TV. I suppose I don't watch TV much these days, but if raw kale and spinach are getting superbowl ads, I haven't seen them. -Personal trainers, diet coaches, etc. are all service providers, and repeat customers are the life blood of the service industry. Succeeding in teaching clients how to achieve their goals permanently and independently is the one sure-fire way to shrink the client base. Fat people aren't a problem for the economy. They're a wonderful new growth industry! It's highly profitable to sell "light" TV dinners, diet shakes, diet soda, ab machines, balance ball workout lessons, miracle herbs, etc.. There's relatively little profit in pig iron and kale. The successful 5% aren't endowed with superhuman willpower. They just figured out how to reconfigure their lives to make physical activity and a healthy diet the easy default. Unfortunately, just being in the 5% doesn't make it easy to teach others to be that way too. Consider sports. Say you're an expert skier, snowboarder, etc.. You might have had some lessons a long time ago, but you probably got really good just by doing it a lot. You can do stuff that awes the instructors at the local bunny hill, but odds are that a newbie is going to learn a lot more in a lesson from the instructors than they would from you! Teaching uses a different skill-set, and it's hard to do well. The current situation in weight-loss land is this: The 5%'ers mostly figured things out on their own. Their ability to teach others is variable and, on average, not that great. The professional teachers are almost entirely people who aren't a part of the 5%. Even those who are 5%ers are financially disincentivized to actually teach people to become a part of the 5%. Becoming a 5%'er is like learning to ski at a hill populated by daredevil experts who suck at teaching and instructors who only get paid if you flunk their class and have to take it again. It really shouldn't surprise anyone that your chances of becoming a good skier are awful. End Result: Should you find yourself unsatisfied with being in the 95%, you really ought to examine the profit motives of the people you're paying to help you. If your success would hurt their bottom line, they might not really be helping you.