The American Psychological Association reported that dieting doesn’t work.

Only a permanent (and healthy) change in one’s eating habits can result in sustained weight loss and good health. No Dim Sum should be classified as “good” or “bad,” and none should be off-limits. Want Ha Gow? Sure, just not every day. Siu Mai? Go ahead – just in moderation.

Most people see diets as a temporary fix. As the APA study shows, more than 83 percent of overweight patients who embarked on a diet gained back the weight, and more in less than two years. Furthermore, researchers discovered that it would have been better for most of the study subjects if they had not gone on a diet at all.

I recognize the benefits of diets for some people, in that it teaches them portion control and size, and to eat healthier foods. But, diets also place a large, if not extreme, focus on rules and control, which are too drastic and/or unrealistic to maintain for a lifetime. You can’t eat Dim Sum forever, or attend Ha Gow Watchers classes and closely guard your Char Siu Bau intake all your life.

It’s this built-in failure that has made the diet field into the multi-billion industry that it is. Instead of blaming the diet for its ineffectiveness, we often blame ourselves, thinking it’s we who are lazy or undisciplined or a failure. But only five percent of people who lose weight on a diet keep it off. It’s through this yo-yo dieting that diet companies make the most profits.

Instead of dieting, we should instead learn to listen to our bodies. Eat healthy foods but feel free to indulge every once in a while. Move. Instead of obsessing over calories and carbs, live and enjoy Dim Sum.

I tried the Siu Mai Diet hoping to lose a pound or two and was amazed to find on the morning of the day 2 that I had already dropped 5 pounds! It was all the incentive I needed to continue...that was 3 months ago and I love my lean look. I do the Siu Mai for 2 days every few weeks and I feel fantastic! Thanks for helping me to lose 10 pounds with little effort!!!!