Weight loss is wonderful. Unless you are one of the people who have a problem gaining weight and/or keeping their weight on then weight loss is a huge bonus that often comes from real, intense, hard work. But what’s more wonderful than weight loss? More wonderful than weight loss is weight loss in a short amount of time.

Weight loss completed over a short time period is bad. That’s what most people believe. They believe that weight loss lost in a short amount of time is nothing more than water weight. They believe that weight loss completed in a short time period is just depressing because as soon as they’ve lost it and stopped dieting it will come right back. But recent research indicates that weight loss completed in a short time period is not bad. But you wouldn’t know it from talking to most people; the public is stubborn when it comes to admitting they’re wrong.

When new information is offered to the public it would be nice if they immediately saw the error of their ways and changed their opinion on the matter. But that’s just never the case. The public is a little slow to catch on when new information proves wrong a theory they’ve been embracing for years.

This type of weight loss is almost always defined as negative by the general public. They think of it as water weight. Or they think of it as weight that is lost that will come right back as soon as they stop dieting.

These negative people may have been right in some instances. Some weight loss that is lost in a short amount of time may be strictly water weight. Some weight loss completed in a short amount of time may be gained back immediately when the dieting stops. But new research published by the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine suggests that this type of weight loss is actually a positive indicator.

Why is it a positive indicator? There’s more than one reason. Apparently women that lose weight in a short amount of time end up losing more total weight in the end. They are also more likely to diet for longer consecutively. And that same group (women who lose weight in a short time period) are more likely to maintain their total weight loss long term.

And those aren’t the only positives. Women who experienced weight loss in a short amount of time also seemed to keep the best weight loss journals. They were able to keep track of their eating and weight changes more efficiently than other dieters.

Weight loss journaling is a major plus for two reasons: it makes dieting more effective and it makes successful dieters more aware of their eating preferences that lead to both weight gain and weight loss. Some individuals find that when they eat at a certain restaurant or location they tend to make unhealthy eating choices. Others find that whenever they find themselves in a certain social situation they tend to make unhealthy eating choices. And knowing what the problems are makes it easy to avoid future issues that could lead to weight gain.