3 Reasons Why Diets Don’t Work and What You Can Do Instead.

19 Dec

The Christmas holidays have been and gone, with holidays being a time that we allow ourselves to indulge in sweets, alcohol, and other festive treats.

At holiday parties, we give ourselves permission to eat without guilt by assuring ourselves that we’ll lose the holiday weight after the New Year. Let me guess, your New Year’s resolution is to finally commit to dropping 5kgs (again)?

You’ll tell yourself you’re finally going to use the gym membership you bought last January.

You’re going to be that girl who wakes up at 5am to work out and drink a green smoothie for breakfast.

You’re going to stop eating white bread and pasta, ice cream, and chips for good this time.

And you’re finally going to be able to wear those jeans that haven’t fit since you were 22.

All you need to do? Go on one. more. diet.

But, as you’ve probably heard by now: diets don’t work!

Diets are short-term fixes. Usually, you go on a diet for a special occasion like a wedding or vacation. You deprive yourself from eating your favourite foods for a couple of weeks and maybe shed a couple of kilos. But as soon as you go back to your old habits, the weight that you lost comes right back.

This is what I call the diet-weight trap. The weight that you lose over a couple of weeks is nearly impossible to keep off because it’s hard to keep restricting yourself day after day!

Diet supplements aren’t the solution either. No pill, cleanse, tea, or powder can make you instantly lose weight or keep it off either. There is no magic solution!

Instead of trying to sustain a restrictive diet for the rest of your life, what if you could transform your way of eating to finally feel good about not just your body but your overall well-being?

As the New Year is here, here’s what you need to know about why fad diets don’t work and how you can manage your diet and weight instead.

1. Restrictive Eating is Unsustainable

Picture this: you finally decide to meal prep your lunch for work every day. You spend hours on Sunday afternoon cooking chicken, rice, and vegetables. When it’s all done, you perfectly measure out portions of each into your new plastic containers.

You bring your lunch to work three days in a row and are feeling great about your progress. This is it! You’re finally going to stick with it!

But in those three days, it seems like all you can think about is food. Especially the leftover donuts that have been sitting in the breakroom since the morning meeting.

The next day at work, you give in when your coworkers invite you out to lunch. You order a burger, and it tastes even more delicious than you imagined. Suddenly, you remember why you’ve never been able to stick with a diet.

By the end of the week, you feel defeated as you toss leftover chicken and broccoli in the trash. Again.

Sound familiar?

This is normal! And I want to assure you that you have nothing to be ashamed of.

So, why does it happen?

When you deprive yourself of certain foods, those foods suddenly become more appetising. And obsessing about the foods you’re trying to avoid can lead to binging and overeating.

After you inevitably give in to your cravings, you feel shame, failure, and defeat. But instead of being so strict with yourself, health professionals recommend eating a variety of foods in moderation.

I really like how Emma Storey-Gordon, a sports scientist and personal trainer, puts it: “The answer here isn't to try to avoid the over-indulgence, which is where most people focus, but to stop the over-restriction.”

Your past diets haven’t failed because you lack self control. Diets fail because your body isn’t meant to be restricted. It’s impossible to deprive ourselves from eating. Especially when good food is one of life’s pleasures!

2. Your Weight Isn’t the Only Way to Determine Your Health

Speaking of life’s pleasures, have you ever said no to a party or declined a dinner invitation because you were on a diet? Maybe you were anxious about not having control over what you could eat and were afraid you might give in to eating something you’re trying to avoid, so you decided to stay home instead.

You’re not alone.

But, I want to remind you that your weight isn’t the only thing that determines your health. Obsessing over food can actually affect your overall mental and emotional well-being!

Saying no to our friends or skipping out on parties can lead to isolation. As humans, we crave social connection. Isolating yourself because you’re worried about what you’d eat could affect your mental health in the long run.

Let’s say you’re out having a girls’ night with friends. Only, instead of relaxing and having a good time with your girlfriends, your mind is busy overthinking whether it’s okay to have a third slice of pizza instead of simply savouring the taste of the crispy crust, tangy sauce, melty cheese, and all your favourite toppings.

Is denying yourself the pleasure of eating with your friends really serving you? Or is it holding you back from living in a way that you desire? Perhaps you need to take a step back and ask yourself “is this supporting my overall health and wellbeing?”.

Restrictive diets may result in temporary weight loss, but this comes at a cost. While maintaining our weight is important for our health, it’s important to consider our mental, social, and emotional health too.

3. You Miss Out on Essential Nutrients

Fad diets that require you to restrict or cut out whole groups of food, like grains or legumes due to their carbs, are ineffective, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

By depriving yourself of food, you’re cutting not only calories but essential nutrients that your body needs in order to function properly.

When you skip meals, you feel the effects on your body. Maybe you feel dizzy, lightheaded, irritable, or fatigued. You know that you’re not at your best but might not understand the reason why.

Similarly, if you avoid eating certain core food groups because you think of them as “bad,” you may risk nutritional deficiencies in the longer term, which could lead to health issues.

For example, popular fad diets vilify carbs and fats. However, foods that provide good-quality carbs and healthy fats are foundational to a well-balanced diet.

“Even if you are trying to lose weight, cutting carbs is not the answer. Carbs are crucial to maintaining energy levels throughout the day. Our bodies and brains need carbs to function. They are an essential nutrient – just like protein and healthy fats – and we need a certain amount every day to sustain our energy levels and fuel our body and brain,” says Sanitarium Health Food Company.

Fad diets tell you which foods to eat and which to avoid, but they don’t help you to understand nutrition. It’s essential to remember that we are all complex human beings with different nutritional needs. What may work for one person may not work for you, and there is no one way of eating that works for everyone.

Okay, so what can I do instead?

You’ve probably heard by now that the only way to stay healthy in the long run is by making a lifestyle change.

But a lifestyle change isn’t simply a euphemism for “diet.” Making a lifestyle change is a holistic approach that means eating a more balanced and plant richer diet, moving your body, managing your stress levels, and getting more hours of sleep.

When it comes to your diet, the key to sustaining a more balanced diet is understanding nutrition.

Understanding nutrition means knowing which nutrients your body needs, why your body needs them, which nutrients can be found in which foods, and how to combine certain foods to get the most out of every meal.

Getting the most out of your meals means you’ll stay fuller longer and feel more energised. (There’s tons of other benefits, too!)

Understanding nutrition will help you to see that there are no “bad” foods as you may have been led to believe.

You can eat potatoes, bread, avocados, and all the other foods that have been demonised by fad diets. (Along with a hearty portion of veggies, of course!)

By allowing yourself to eat a variety of foods, you’ll realise how great you feel when you balance fries and chocolate with kale and whole grains.

You’ll finally stop obsessing over the foods you daydream about.

Understanding nutrition and transforming your relationship with food can help you to repair your relationship with your body. Especially because you’ll see how easy it is to maintain your weight without much thought or effort when you’re eating a balanced and plant rich diet.

Ultimately, the goal is for you to build a healthy eating pattern that you can feel confident in and happy with!

So, instead of telling yourself you’re going to manage your weight in 2024 by signing up for an intense weight loss money back-guarantee fitness bootcamp or by never eating a cookie again, I hope you’ll commit to understanding nutrition so you can start giving your body what it actually needs and finally experience freedom from the diet-weight trap for good.

What’s the next step?

Ready to end the diet cycle? You don’t have to do it alone! I’m here to support you every step of the way. Here’s how you can work with me in 2024.

During certain phases of life we have different nutrition needs. Our Phased Programs are designed for optimal health during these times.

Sign up for one of my signature nutrition programs packed with a recipe & meal planning app, 1:1 nutritionist support, instant messaging + more!

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