No diet is sustainable. This weight management approach works.

On the one hand, you can’t outrun a bad diet. That I agree with. We vastly underestimate the calories we consume or we just don’t estimate them at all. The other day my oldest son asked me to drive him to a local shopping plaza to get ice cream, so I did. I was thinking of getting something for myself but then read the calories on the menu… I’m all for indulgencies every now and then but it just wasn’t worth it. I don’t obsessively count calories but I have the awareness. I didn’t crave ice cream and if I had it, I’d need at least half an hour of rigorous exercise to offset the consumed calories, hundreds of them. Though I’m in great physical shape right now and exercise a lot, the mental image of exercising for half an hour isn’t that light-weight; it feels especially dramatic when you compare it to how effortlessly and thoughtlessly we devour foods and drinks that are high in calories.

Two years ago I started my running and my weight loss journey. From 185 pounds to 155. Two months ago I ran a 2.49 marathon.

For the initial weight loss, undereating worked. I ran and I eat less. I dropped 20–30 pounds over the course of five-six months. Calorie restriction does work. So I want to contradict the title of my story. You do need to go on some diet if you’re on a mission to lose weight.

However, it’s not sustainable. In these last two years, I tried to go vegetarian. I tried to go very low on carbs. I tried different things. Even when I didn’t need to lose…