The One Thing You Should Know Before Starting a Diet

Most Diets Fail

That's right. The one thing you should know before starting a diet is that most diets fail.

There are thousands of people dieting right now but the general consensus is that nearly 95% of them will not be able to lose the weight and keep it off.

Here is an interesting post called Do 95% of Dieters Really Fail?

I honestly believe most diets do fail because I just so happen to be one of those people who has tried and failed. Well maybe that wasn't a diet. More like change my eating habits. I'm doomed.

These are the Most Common Reasons that Diets Fail:

1. Many diets are way too strict.

When a diet puts too many restrictions on the types and quantity of food it becomes practically impossible to stick to it.

A diet that bans my favourite foods like chips, chocolate, ice cream, or cheese leaves me feeling like I am torturing myself. 

I might last a few days or weeks but I always give in and over indulge on actually anything yummy I can get my hands on. I mean life is too short to deny myself the simple pleasures.

Can you stick with a strict diet?

2. Many of us see a diet as temporary.

We've all done it or heard it. Haven't we? I need to lose 10 pounds before the wedding or before summer... And so we'll do just about anything to reach that goal even if it means starving ourselves.

I'll bet there even are many success stories to go with that. Yahh for us. Problem is the diet was only temporary. We go back to eating the same way we always do and before we know it the weight has snuck back on.


3. Diet is only half of it. 

Maintaining our ideal weight isn't just about what we eat. It's also about the amount of physical activity we get each day.

Now the amount of activity needed depends on who you ask. My doctor suggests 30 minutes a day while others may recommend up to 90 minutes a day. 

4. Inadequate Sleep.

There are more and more studies proving the link between inadequate sleep and heart and kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, and obesity, as well as depression and other mental health concerns. 

To me this makes sense. If I'm sleeping I'm not going to want a midnight snack.


5. You’re too impatient.

I don't know about you but if I'm on a diet I want to see results. I want to see the pounds just falling off me like all those women in the advertisments for weight loss.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I'd be lucky to lose one or two pounds a week which I understand is a healthy amount.

I'm sorry but it just doesn't seem worth all the aggrivation for one or two pounds a week. Would I even see that on my scale?

I give up. At this rate I'll be obese forever.

6. It's an all-or-nothing diet.

I have to say I personally don't think this way but I have seen it many times. And it just isn't for dieting. It works for other goals like quitting smoking.

This is a good example.You're on a diet and for what ever reason you eat a forbidden food. You now have two choices.

One, you think oops I messed up but if I stop right now I can continue trying to eat healthy.

On the other hand, someone who thinks it's all or nothing with think oops I messed up. My diet is ruined so I may as well forget the diet for now. I'll start again next week.

Do you see the problem with this way of thinking?

7.Your metabolism slows down.
Most people who battle with their weight have a history of losing weight then gaining it back again. 

What has dieting done to your body? Your body thinks there is a famine so it teaches your body to be as efficient as possible with every little calorie. Your metabolism has slowed down!

So what does that mean exactly? That means that you now burn fewer calories no matter what you are doing. Whether your resting or exercising you just don't use up those calorie like you used to.

Then when you over eat your body stores as much fat as possible so that it can sustain you through the next famine (diet). 

This is known as the famine reaction. You may think this only happens to lean people after rapid weight loss to protect them from wasting away but this isn't the case. It happens to overweight and obese people when they lose as little as 6% to 12% of their body weight. 

Get weight loss tips at Best Health Magazine


8: Underlying causes of weight haven't been addressed.

8a. Addiction
Research suggests that sugar addiction is real. Very few people realize they have an addiction to sugar let alone acknowledge it. Like any addict there are steps that must be taken to change the addicts behaviors.

8b: Emotional Eating
I'm sure you've seen the girl in movies who is upset about something sitting on the kitchen floor eating a tub of ice-cream. 

Some people are emotional eaters. They eat when they are depressed or stressed out or over eat at social functions.

If you are an emotional eater you have your work cut out for you. 

And so those are my top reason for diets failing. I'm sure there are more. If you can think of any let me know, I'd love to hear them.



To find out how to avoid diet failure check out this book -  Why Diets Fail (Because You’re Addicted to Sugar).

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I am so unbelievably grateful and happy to Margo for featuring this post on her blog's linky party.

To see the other posts that Margo featured please click HERE.

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