--- title: Weight Loss: Why Choosing Your Own Diet Might Not Help You Lose Weight description: The best diet is the one you’ll stick to. And a new study suggests that might not be the one you’d pick for yourself canonical: https://time.com/3922095/diet-weight-loss-low-carb/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-16T14:58:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:55.106Z article:section: Health og:title: If You Want to Lose Weight, Don't Pick Your Own Diet og:description: The best diet is the one you’ll stick to. And a new study suggests that might not be the one you’d pick for yourself og:url: https://time.com/3922095/diet-weight-loss-low-carb/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabfbfa348a9ff244/69878152e20a875366a85527/time-50-healthiest-foods-kamut.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1707 og:image:height: 960 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, kamut, grains og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: If You Want to Lose Weight, Don't Pick Your Own Diet twitter:description: The best diet is the one you’ll stick to. And a new study suggests that might not be the one you’d pick for yourself twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabfbfa348a9ff244/69878152e20a875366a85527/time-50-healthiest-foods-kamut.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # If You Want to Lose Weight, Don't Pick Your Own Diet > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Drink Nonfat Half-And-Half? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Drink Nonfat Half-And-Half?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OXuvbc41.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2015-04-16. Whether you're wondering about the health benefits (or harms) of fat-free half-and-half, or simply wondering what it is, here's why all five of our health experts this week warned against it._  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 16, 2015 2:58 PM UTC  Danny Kim for TIME  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 16, 2015 2:58 PM UTC The best diet is the one you’ll stick to, but a new study suggests that might not be the one you’d pick for yourself. In the experiment published in the [_Annals of Internal Medicine_](http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2322797), a group of 207 veterans, mostly men, followed a diet for 48 weeks. About half were given a choice between two diets—low-carb or low-fat—while others were randomly assigned to one diet or the other. Of those who got to choose, 58% picked the low-carb diet, and 42% chose the low-fat diet. Everyone in the study got group and phone counseling over the course of the study, and the researchers measured weight loss, adherence, attendance and weight-related quality of life. “We figured that if people chose the diet on their own or with assistance that they would be more invested in the diet,” says lead author Dr. William Yancy, a research scientist at the Durham VA Medical Center. “We also thought that if they chose the diet based on what foods they preferred that that would help them stick to the diet better, but that’s not what we found.” Contrary to what the researchers expected to find, choosing a diet _didn’t_ improve weight loss or make people any more likely to stick to their diet. In fact, people in this group actually lost less weight (an average of 12.5 pounds) than those assigned a diet (an average of 14.7 pounds). Statistically, however, there was no difference between the groups in any of the measures. That might be because people are more likely to overeat when following a diet that emphasizes the foods they like—which would likely be the diet they’d select, Yancy says. The weight loss disparity could also be due to something the researchers call a “personal trainer” effect: you adhere to a workout program better if you’re told which exercises to do. “We all know we can go and exercise on our own,” Yancy explains. “But a lot of people still prefer to have a trainer or go to a setting when someone is overseeing what they’re doing.” Future research is needed, he says, but especially in the little-explored areas of prescribing diets for individuals. There may be promise in future weight loss interventions that focus on pairing a person with a diet through personality questionnaires, metabolic profiles like cholesterol tests or insulin tests, or even a person’s genetic profile, Yancy says. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Should you drink fat free half and half? We put that question to Doctor David Katz. His response? Hell no, what is that? Unfortunately, that response was echoed by all five of our experts this week. Half and half math is simple. It's whole milk plus cream. But the fat free version requires some more advanced calculations. Julie Zumpano says that milk fat is typically replaced by corn syrup and thickeners. Kristi King agrees that the real thing is better than all those additives. It might have half the calories as regular half and half, but it also has about twice the sodium and sugar. It exists, of course, because people want the rich texture and flavor. Plus calcium benefits without the fat or calories. But our full fat dairy phobia is misguided. Mario Kratz researches dairy. His findings might sound shocking. Full fat dairy might actually be healthier for you than non- fat dairy, especially when it comes to things like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even weight gain. That not chugging a carton of regular half and half is a good idea. Just that drinking the non fat version might be a worse one. Andrew Weil says that milk contains natural sex hormones. And that making it non fat seems to mess up the balance between male and female hormones in the milk. 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