why Diets Fail

thust377

The first thing you lose on a diet is brain mass. Diets drive us crazy, why do we constantly do this to ourselves. Hearing the word “diet” is depressing. I instantly start thinking of all the foods I can no longer have, how hungry I’m going to be, and how I won’t be able to savor that double chocolate molten lava cake for dessert. Diets can make you feel deprived, alienated and alone. Eventually the diet fails and we go back to a harmful cycle of carelessly eating what we want whenever we want.

Ninety-five percent of diets fail for multiple reasons. The main reason they fail is because most people can’t sustain the type of lifestyle and eating habits that a diet program requires. We begin a diet determined and motivated, but get discouraged once we realize how difficult dieting really is. Usually at the end of a short fix diet we fall victim to old habits and regain all the weight. Dieting alone can be very challenging, especially if you are surrounded by others eating the foods you are depriving yourself of. The people around you can be great assets in making lifestyle changes successful; but they can also strongly contribute to its failure.

I am approaching my late twenties and I’ve realized that the older you get the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat are really good friends. Joking aside, just like many of you, my experience has been filled with the struggle to fit into the ideal body shape. I have learned that to lose weight, look good, feel healthy and most importantly stay that way, is no easy task, but it can be done. After gaining a significant amount of weight in college, I tried popular diet pills that didn’t work. I tried eliminating certain foods, but that made me feel deprived and lonely. As I lie on my bed, out of breath & overcome by defeat, trying to squeeze my size 12 butt into a pair of size 8 jeans I decided I needed a lifestyle change. I could no longer handle the stress that extra weight placed on my ability to enjoy life. I allowed myself to eat what I wanted, but became aware of what it was I was eating and when. If I wanted pizza I had pizza, but I balanced out the day accordingly by eating healthier things around that and exercising. I created a guilt-free and nutritious way of eating, enjoyed living again and stopped dieting.

A diet is a short lived attempt at changing your weight, an entire lifestyle change takes small steps to reach and maintain a sharp mind, fit body and a healthy weight for life. Start by adding daily exercise, pick activities you enjoy like walking, biking, and swimming. Then make small changes to your eating habits. In the first week try to cut out 100 calories by drink less soda, use non-fat milk, and use portion control. This goes back to my Thanksgiving advice to scan the buffet before diving in. By planning your meals ahead of time you will help keep your calorie intake balanced and food costs low. Remember, dieting only leads to wishful shrinking, but healthy habits lead to a healthy weight.

Onesnap

It's lifestyle, not a diet. For me at least.

Mtsidad

"The first thing you lose on a diet is brain mass."

I had to laugh at this one. It's so true. You also lose your self-control and find yourself telling everyone about your Great New Diet Plan Which Will Work This Time Because You Mean It.

I'm not so sure I see it as "I can't eat these foods anymore." I still can eat whatever I want; it's just the portions are different.

But isn't it weird how so much of what we do on a diet is controlled not by our mouth or our stomach, but by our minds?

thust377

Yeah, our minds have way too much power over us

It is so true, we have to refocus our thinking from brain and ask ourselves....what does my body want.

LaJauna

Diets fail because people think of them as temporary fixes. To be successful a person must think of their new way of eating as a lifestyle change. Like making a decision to become a vegetarian...I might make a list of the foods that are now a part of my "new" lifestyle, as a healthy eater, I will make a list of foods that are now no longer a part of my "new" healthy lifestyle and not feel deprived or obsessed with the do's and don'ts of my new eating. IT needs to start in the thinking and then progress to the heart. It needs to be a mental shift.

LaJauna

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