Why Most Diets Fail

Most diets ultimately lead to failure because of a few key mistakes people make with their nutrition plan. This article explains these key issues.

It is often claimed that up to 95% of all those that go on a diet fail.

Is this true? It is probably too hard to determine the actual number of people who fail or are successful going on a diet plan, but the number is pretty high.

Just knowing this stat can be incredibly frustrating and many are defeated before they even try.

The word diet, is probably not the best way to go about making a change. When we hear the word diet we often think of short term, drastic changes to help us lose weight.

There are many problems with this idea, and why so many diets will consistently fail. We will discuss the proper mindset you should have instead of dieting, but let's look into this topic more.

Here are three reasons why most diets will fail.

First, people tend to focus on short term fad diets, with little to no evidence that they even work. Second, which is usually related to the first, is extreme restrictions. Finally, we have the "all or none" mindset.

Let's discuss why these lead to failure and what you can do about it.

1. Fad Diets

Unfortunately, we are constantly exposed to celebrities, influencers, and pseudo-doctors, that are claiming the secret to success with diet. It usually pointing the finger at the one food that is leading to all of the world's problems or the supplement that we must take in order to fix everything.

Most of these claims are typically made with either a lack of or misunderstanding knowledge of human physiology. It often tries to simplify our very complex anatomy or falsely apply research findings that don't make sense.

Whenever you hear the words detoxes or cleanses you should probably run. These are claims that will be made about removing harmful things from our body with little to no proof that it does anything.

Instead, focus on being consistent with the foundational nutrition strategies that we know work. Yes, these are the boring ones that no one wants to do, but they work. Get enough protein in your diet, eat a variety of fruits and veggies, and get fats and carbs in to support your energy needs.

2. Restrictive Diets

Ok if you are overeating regularly, you will have to restrict some things in your diet in order for it to work. But many diet programs are incredibly restrictive which will always lead to their downfall.

Diets are restrictive and short term. A healthy nutrition plan that supports your lifestyle is a better approach. We need some flexibility built into our nutrition plan. If you restrict too much you won't be able to realistically stick with it.

This is the result of many fad diets. Restricting foods so much that, while they work initially, you just can't live that way. And unusually they are unnecessarily restricting foods.

A better approach is to thinking about reducing certain foods. Some foods you consume may have high calories and little nutritional value. These types of food are ok to have in your diet, but we might want to reduce the amount that you are eating.

Making smaller reasonable changes we are more likely to enjoy the program and stick with it long term.

This leads to another reason why so many diets fail. Unrealistic expectations. You have probably been on a fad or restrictive diet before. And you have probably seen some success initially where the scale moved in the beginning.

Now we expect every nutrition plan we follow to have the same results. Faster is not always better however. The fact that you still aren't on that diet program is the proof. People love saying, "well the diet worked though." But did it? If it worked you would still be on it and exactly where you want to be.

3. The All Or None Mindset

The other big issues with diets is you are either on it or off it. There is no in between. So when you have a bad meal, you are now off the diet and might as well do whatever you want.

We no this is illogical, yet we all fall for it. One small mishaps means we blew it and will have to start another day.

I like to use the analogy of driving. If you were driving down the highway and missed your exit, what would you do? Would you say, "screw it?" You messed up so you might as well keep on driving. Of course not. You recalculate the directions and go on a slight detour to get back on track.

Nutrition plans aren't perfect. There is no one or off. You are constantly working on it to find what works best for your body and your life.

Think of it more of mini experiments where you are trying new things to see what results you get. Some things will work better than others, but you start to learn more and more about your body.

The main reason diets fail is because people view them the wrong way. Stop thinking short term solutions. Think long term, flexible nutrition strategies that get you closer to your goal without making your life miserable.

There will always be shiny objects on the way. Don't let them distract you. If they fit in your plan and you want to test it out you can go for it. But if it is constantly making you start over, ignore it and keep working on what works best for you.

If you need help implementing some simple nutrition strategies and have a solid plan, check out our 8 week nutrition program. Not only will you get an incredible program that has helped hundreds of our clients see amazing results, you will get the often missing ingredient of accountability to help you stay on track.

To learn more click here and get on our waiting list for the next program.

Categories: : Nutrition