(来源：沪江英语)Sticking to a diet is key for losing weight. So it stands to reason that letting would-be dieters choose a weight loss program that seems relatively tasty and palatable would help them lose weight。

　　坚持特定饮食是减肥的关键，所以，“让想要节食的人选择一种相对来说美味可口的减肥计划会帮助他们减肥”这种说法就显得合情合理了。

　　Right?

　　是这样吗？

　　Possibly not. When a group of researchers recently tested it out, they found the opposite was true: Obese clinic patients at a Veterans Affairs medical center in North Carolina who were allowed to choose a diet plan lost less weight than obese patients who were assigned a diet to follow。

　　大概不是。当一组研究人员最近对此进行测验时发现，结果恰恰相反。在北卡罗来纳州退伍军人医疗中心收治的肥胖门诊病人中，那些被允许选择饮食的比被安排好饮食的肥胖病人减掉的体重要少。

　　"Providing a choice of diets to patients does not enhance and may actually hinder weight loss," wrote Dr. William S. Yancy of Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center and coauthors in a study released in the Annals of Internal Medicine。

　　威廉·S·杨斯博士写道：“让病人自己选择饮食并没有提高减肥效果，而且可能恰恰阻碍了减肥。”他就职于美国杜克大学和达拉谟退伍军人医疗中心，也是一项在《内科医学年鉴》发表的研究的合著者。

　　The team recruited 207 participants for its study between May 2011 and June 2012 from clinics affiliated with the VA medical center. The average age of the dieters, who were required to have a body mass index of 30 or more, was 55 years old. About three-quarters were men, and about half were African American。

　　这个团队为2011年5月至2012年6月进行的这项研究招募了207名参与者，均来自退伍军人医疗中心门诊，平均年龄55岁，据研究要求，他们的身体质量指数都为30或30以上。大约四分之三为男性，大概一半是非洲裔美国人。

　　Of the subjects, 105 were assigned to a so-called choice group and were allowed to pick whether they wanted to follow a low-carbohydrate diet or a low-fat diet. The remaining 102 were assigned to a "comparator" group that was assigned to one of the two diet plans by the study organizers。

　　所有研究对象中，有105人被分到所谓的“有选择权小组”，允许他们选择自己喜欢的低碳水化合物或低脂肪的饮食。剩余的102人被分到“参照小组”，研究组织者给他们规定了采用这两种饮食中的哪一种。

　　Both groups received group and telephone counseling over the course of the 48-week study; people in the choice group additionally were allowed to switch their diets at the 12-week mark if they were unhappy with their first pick. Only five opted to make the change。

　　两组研究对象在48周的研究期间接受了小组咨询和电话咨询；此外，“有选择权小组”的人还被允许如果不喜欢最初选择的饮食可以在第12周时进行调换，仅有5人换了。

　　After 48 weeks, members of the choice group had lost about 12.6 pounds (or 5.6% of body weight) on average, while members of the comparator group had lost about 14.7 pounds (6.2% of body weight) on average。

　　48周后，“有选择权小组”的成员平均减了12.6磅(或者说是体重的5.6%)，然而“参照小组”的成员平均减掉了14.7磅(占体重6.2%)。

　　The researchers speculated that people who chose a diet that included more foods they liked may have been more likely to overeat, or that dieters might have experienced something like a "personal trainer effect," in which they were more likely to follow the regimen if someone else directed them to do so。

　　据研究人员推测，那些选择了含有很多自己喜欢食物的饮食的人更有可能吃多。又或者是研究对象可能体验过“私人教练效应”，也就是在别人的指导下，他们更有可能遵循养生法。

　　"Future research might examine matching patients to their optimal diet on the basis of other characteristics (such as metabolic profile or genetics) instead of their preferences," the researchers wrote。

　　研究人员写道：“未来的研究可能测试的是在其他特点(比如说新陈代谢图或遗传学)的基础上为病人搭配最佳的饮食，而不是看病人自己的喜好。”