What are the main reason behind your failed diet attempts?

ilovefood9998 · August 2017

Personally for me it has mainly been a lack of will power combined with the lack of visible results. When I see no physical changes it makes me question the entire process and I end up quitting and feeling sorry for myself. I also find that once I begin eating bad foods it then spirals out of control and I continue to push the limits and then I realise that my diet has completely messed up and as a result I give up. I then end up eating whatever I like without thinking about the consequences for a few weeks until I come to my senses and the cycle repeats itself. Currently for the first time ever I am successfully dieting and have lost around 12 pounds in the past 3 months which is crazy. I have a long way to go with a further 14 pounds to go to slip into a healthy weight ratio but 25 pounds away from reaching my target weight. Unfortunately I do not see the physical changes even after 12 pounds of weight loss but I know I just need to stick at it no matter what. What are everyone elses experiences like when it comes to failure with diets and your successes

VeronicaA76 · August 2017

Me. I gave up. I didn't love myself enough to take care of my body.

HarlemNY17 · August 2017

Sometimes you don't see or notice it . Other ppl will though. As far as me I use to eat kinda bad while in a deficit which leds to up and down scale movements. But I've gotten it all the way together because I have to make this change for ME and I understand that only ME will be able to accomplish this goal . I definitely wish you luck losing weight isn't a easy thing at all just stay committed and believe in yourself.

jennybearlv · August 2017

I dropped out of Weight Watchers because the point system was overly complicated. I lost 30 pounds with Lose It, my first experience with calorie counting, a few years ago, but got tired of dieting after six months. I lost a few pounds with MFP last year, but I was moving across the state and decided it was too much to track and pack, didn't pay attention to what I was eating and gained it all back.

After I moved and got settled in I got back with MFP. It will be a year next month this time. I had a few months sort of off after six months, that seems to be my too much dieting point, but I would just tell myself it was a diet break, not throw in the towel and say screw it I'm eating everything, and get back to it when I was ready. I was ready a few weeks ago and have eased back into my groove. I'm sure I'll have more don't feel like it episodes, but I gotta just maintain it and get back when I'm ready.

laurabadams · August 2017

I made excuses, blamed external sources, gave up, didn't want it badly enough.

I'm now about one week shy of maintaining a 50+ pound weight loss for a year. I track daily, weighing & measuring my foods, & I periodically try to refocus by pretending it's my first day all over again to recall that sense of determination & excitement. I regularly read fitness & nutrition books & articles, & follow a few exceptionally good blogs/writers.

Heather4448 · August 2017

Woo. Black and white expectations in a gray world. Completely erroneous calorie/portion control.

Seffell · August 2017

I've only failed twice and the reason was that I was unaware that weight fluctuates. So not losing consistently would make me feel frustrated and helpless after just a week or so.
MFP folks taught me so much!

yourfitnessenemy · August 2017

Eating out in restaurants too often. Also hurting my wallet!

BananaJoanna · August 2017

In the past, whenever I decide to improve my nutrition and activity levels, I think I have been too strict about maintaining a specific routine. For example, I would follow a program that meant doing a specific kind of workout on a specific day, etc. This would work really well for a few weeks, but inevitably, having to travel for work, a special occasion, a vacation or even just plain boredom would throw me off track and pretty soon I would just throw in the towel. This time, I have decided against an all-or-nothing approach. I try to get some kind of exercise at least 4 times per week, but whether it's weights or walking or swimming or spinning, I don't care. I bring my lunch to work most days, but if I am invited to a pizza night with friends and I have one more slice than I should have, I don't get down on myself about it. I just get back to basics then next day. It's a slightly slower rate of weight loss (my goal is 1 lb/week, whereas it always used to be 2), but I feel like the change is sustainable and will actually work this time. Ping me in a few weeks to see how it works out!

Jemma9922 · August 2017

Eating too little which always lead to binging or being impatient and expecting faster results.

estherdragonbat · August 2017

I was doing an older WW program. At first, I'd have a cheat evening right after weigh-in. Then I started going off the rails on weekends. Then I went back to school for the first time in about 15 years to retrain and my stress eating resurfaced. Going to meetings distressed me. Getting on the scale distressed me. Eventually, I just... gave up and kept eating. Not so much 'junk' food, though I was eating more of it then than I do now. A lot of it, it was just being in a calorie surplus of 'healthy' choices.

drgnfyre · August 2017

I was told to go low fat! and after a year and a half on that I started going nuts. On top of it, i had dry skin, and other issues. Also to stay low fat, and still eat snacks, I was eating those fake treats they make for dieters. All my food tasted like crap. I was so scared to eat any fats that it literally was making me sick. I failed because what people told me was healthy was clearly not. It wasn't for me at all, I was miserable but I was thin. I decided I'd rather be fat and happy so I quit my diet. Finally, I understand that no one food makes you fat. (other than I believe we all need less sugar in our foods) I now eat foods that taste good and make me happy, but i watch how much i put in my mouth.

soufauxgirl · August 2017

Laziness.

ninerbuff · August 2017

LACK OF COMMITMENT. If someone was truly committed to a goal, they do WHATEVER it takes to complete it. And many times that means sacrifice.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

vegaslounge · August 2017

For the most part, the whole "diet" mindset and fads as opposed to knowing actual science "prevented" me from losing weight as I had no understanding of CI<CO or even calories. I grew up in the age of Susan Powter, SlimFast, Wow! chips, Alli and Snackwells and God knows how many more in between, it seems that every few months in the '90s there was a new product or plan on the market and I tried them all.

The worst was Atkins because that was popular when I was a teenager and so it's the one I remember the clearest. If my mother went on a diet the whole family went on a diet (I literally remember her saying, "we have to completely revolutionize the way [our family] eats") and those were the most miserable three months of not only mine, but all of our lives. I love bread– it's undoubtedly my favorite food– and by week three, no kittening you, I was about ready to shank my best friend over the hunk of bland baguette she was mindlessly chewing in the high school cafeteria.

Now, I eat everything I like to eat (especially bread

), I just weigh the right portion sizes and don't go over my limit for the day. I see it as a budget, the same as with my finances. Honestly, this is so much simpler than the crazy crap I was doing for so long. It takes so much more mental stress to adhere to arbitrary diets than it is to...eat less and exercise more.

Crazy, I know.

~VL

peraltapiano · August 2017

Hey... congratulations on your success anyway! It took me more than a year to lose 20 pounds. 12 in 4 months is pretty good!

The first time I failed... lack of access to mental health care as a teen... I put on a lot of coping weight (stress eating, feast or famine mentality, fear of attention), hit about 148-150 at 16 (I was 5'2). Got sadder. I decided to change.

But it was hard to create healthier coping skills and eating habits while still enduring the abuse from home and I did not make efforts to correct my self-destructive, learned behaviors. I didn't commit to getting better, and then losing the weight until around 20.

You can do this OP, I believe in you.

kommodevaran · August 2017

For me, it was that the dieting method I picked (low fat, high fiber, exercise), seemed to work. Depriving myself and forcing exercise only made me resentful, and eventually I'd cave, binge and regain, plus some. I have never tried any "preposterus" diets. The problem with the diet I chose, was exactly the opposite - it looked alright, so I tried desperately to stick to it, and when I just couldn't anymore, I blamed myself. I felt so miserable, but it felt so good to eat, and I had missed a lot I liked.

My story is just one of millions similar. The main difference is that now it's more and more about low carb instead of low fat. But this remains: We can do anything for a short while, but for a diet to work, it has to be stuck with forever. MFP gives us a forever-approach. MFP takes willpower out of the equation and teaches us about structure and patience, to trust the process, to find personal strenghts and address personal challenges. It discourages demonization of foods and food groups. It teaches balance and moderation in all things. MFP lets you eat any food you like. I would go so far as to say MFP saved me.

missevil · August 2017

I lost ~20Kg with WW a few years back and that worked well because I had eaten absolutely horrible before and just switching to real food and cooking by myself was such a success. However, because of the points and stuff, I never really researched or cared for the entire weight loss and CICO things.

So when I tried to loose weight by counting calories, I was absolutely uninformed and just followed what I thought was right. I took things like "2000 calories is the TDEE of normal women" for granted, ignoring that I'm only 5'1 and my TDEE is easily 400-500 calories below that. So I planned for 1400-1500 calories in my diet (you know, the universal number for any published diet in magazines) and always gave up after a few weeks because nothing happened. But instead of researching, I just stopped dieting.

This spring, I actually learned about my real numbers and finally understood why a 1500 calories diet could never work for someone like me. So here I am, finally educated enough to stay on track and this time, it actually works.

litoria · August 2017

Not eating enough, being crazy hungry a lot of the time, being obsessive about calorie deficit an how much weight I'll lose, then binge eating when I failed to meet my own expectations. I know recording everything works for a lot of people, but it also doesn't work for some folks.

tlpina82 · August 2017

That's the mantra that works for me. I mean no disrespect to anyone.
I gained weight after bending my left knee 75 degrees backwards and spending nearly 2 years between a full leg cast, surgeries and therapy before I could put some weight on it again.
Took 3 before i was confident in movements again.

Before embarking on a 'diet', i had to learn to eat for nutrition.
Nutrition keeps the organs working while you put the system through a caloric deficiency.
3,500 calories = 1lbs of fat.
Work it in your math and cut calories as needed to achieve your goal.

Don't track weight. Track measurements, particularly your waistline. (I chose a t-shirt from before the injury and been working to fit on it)
Improve your flexibility. This may sound weird, but being able to touch your toes without bending your knees prevents a ton of back injuries.

The main reason a diet fails, is because you're making a change that is impossible to keep for life.
That's a choice that anyone who's truly interested is losing weight needs to make.
High carb, low carb, paleo, atkins, 1000kcal, 1500kcal... Those are all quick fixes, which can be quite handy to achieve a specific short term goal, but can't be sustained, especially, if you're cutting food groups to achieve your goal.

Hope this helps.

newlark01 · August 2017

tlpina82 wrote: »

The main reason a diet fails, is because you're making a change that is impossible to keep for life.
That's a choice that anyone who's truly interested is losing weight needs to make.
High carb, low carb, paleo, atkins, 1000kcal, 1500kcal... Those are all quick fixes, which can be quite handy to achieve a specific short term goal, but can't be sustained, especially, if you're cutting food groups to achieve your goal.

This. I tried WW, SW, low carb and other "book" eating plans/diets - couldn't stick beyond a few weeks as it wasn't a good fit/too restrictive/complicated etc. even if it worked short term. Never managed more than 10-15 lbs which went back on within a few months. I've been logging daily on mfp for 72 days, have lost 22 lbs and am eating normal food for me that fits with my life - my current diet is completely sustainable long term (I only have another 10 lbs to go) and the logging is so easy it really isn't a burden. I'm eating at a level that means loss will be slower long term but I don't feel hungry - the first 10 days I set my mfp calorie level to 0.5 lb per week so hunger wasn't an issue and once my body adapted I increased to 1lb per week (have lost more due to not eating exercise calories)

I am tracking weight though - plotting daily so I can see that the normal fluctuations are normal and part of an overall downward trend. On paper there were 10 days when I lost no weight but on the graph you can see that the weight on day 1 of those 10 was at the bottom of the range for that period whereas the day 10 weight was at the top of the range for that period.

What are the main reason behind your failed diet attempts?

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