We’re off our diets.
Frustrated with restrictions, rules and measuring, more Americans are abandoning formal diets in favor of their own ideas about what works in keeping the pounds off, according a new report.
Just 26 percent of Americans say they are currently dieting, down from 32 percent in 2013, according to The NPD Group, which found that people are turning to Fitbits, apps and simply eating fresher foods to slim down.
“Over the long term Americans don’t want to be on a diet anymore,” said Darren Seifer, a food and beverage industry analyst for NPD. “People are looking for something that suits them individually.”
But that doesn’t mean the country is getting thinner.
More than 35 percent of the US adult population is obese — and that’s an all-time high.
“We’ve seen a plateauing,” said David Ludwig, author of, “Always Hungry,” and a Harvard Medical School professor.
“Obesity is not significantly increasing as it had in the 1980s and 1990s, but its at an unprecedented high.”
Obese is classified as being more than 35 percent over your ideal weight.
The NPD findings on Americans falling out of love with diets come at the time of year when diet companies typically make their biggest push to get new customers.
Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem are spending big bucks to tout their plans and their pitchwomen — Oprah Winfrey and Marie Osmond, respectively.
In fact, Oprah just told People magazine that she’s down to a size 12 — having shed 42 ¹/₂ pounds since she started on Weight Watchers 17 months ago.
“This has been the easiest process that I’ve ever experienced,” Oprah told the magazine. “At no time during meals do I deprive myself.”
But many Americans are not buying it.
“We have seen a decline in people saying they are on one of these diets [including Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and The Paleo Diet],” said Seifer.
Weight Watchers, for one, concedes in earnings calls that one of its biggest challenges is retaining new customers beyond the promotional period.
“We’ve seen continued high churn rates on the three-month packages,” said John Tomlinson, who covers Weight Watchers for M Science.
“Weight Watchers has good success attracting new subscribers, but they need to be more committed.”