The dieting industry is designed for people to fail and come back later to restart.  The idea is to market to people at their weakest moment. People are suffering with their health and are willing to do what it takes, but do not know what to do. Most people begin a weight loss program with a short-term mindset and only wishes to see results as soon as possible but does not understand that dieting is a lifelong commitment to your health.

 

Diets like Ketosis, Calorie restriction, Intermittent Fasting, Appetite suppressants are focused on deprivation and restriction. People do not need to starve or deprive themselves from their favorite food in order to lose weight. People need to understand their food so that they can control their metabolism. People need to understand that a diet needs to be sustainable.

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Many researches suggest that at least 80% of people who has lost a lot of weight will not maintain their lost weight for 12 months; and in fact, rebound with interest within two to three years.

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Below is a list of reasons why diets do not last:

 

1. Unrealistic Goals

Do not expect your weight to lose immediately, it took time to put on, it also takes time to take it off. Eating Macdonald’s for a day will not make you fat but eating Macdonald’s every day for 6 months will. When you decide to go on a diet, you cannot expect to change all your eating habits overnight and expect the habit to last. Set realistic goals and stay on course, it is important to have the right mindset to stay strong and make 1% changes daily rather than drastic ones.

 

Many people have unrealistic goals and view diets as a temporary solution. Many resort to extreme diets that can give immediate results rather than a more realistic diet that allows small incremental changes that you can sustain for life and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

 

2. Inadequate Sleep

Having adequate and proper of around 7-8 hours of sleep is very important to everyone. Studies have shown that sleep deficiency can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney disease, and obesity. Lack of sleep increases your level of ghrelin which makes you feel hungry and reduces your leptin, it can disrupt the body’s ability to regulate hunger. Lack of sleep also risk developing metabolic disorder which makes losing weight near impossible.

 

3. Binge Eating

Generally, most diets are focused on food deprivation and restriction, depriving us of certain nutrients that our body needs, therefore we end up binge eating. Binge eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food and feel unable to stop eating. Changing our eating habits can cause headaches, fatigue, mental fog, confusion, and irritability too. Understanding nutrition and committing to a diet or weight loss program that suits to your lifestyle is important.

 

4. Lack of Support

There are a lack of community or people around us to motivate and encourage one another. It makes it hard to stick to a diet when no one around you is supportive or when the people around you feel that you do not need to lose weight. There are also people who have failed many times in the diets and embarrassed to share with the people around them. The need for a community that are truly supportive, to share experiences and give creative ideas on food to make dieting fun is truly key to success.

 

5. Lack of Energy

Research and choosing a diet that suits you is very important. Diets that are simply too low in calories or lacks a deprived food group in your diet like carbohydrates can cause tiredness and does not provide you enough energy for your workouts or basic energy needed for the day. These diets are short-termed solutions at best. Caloric restriction diets pay little attention to muscle mass causing you to shed some weight, cannibalize your muscles and dropping your basal metabolic rates.

 

Before you embark on any diet, do ask yourself these 3 simple questions:

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 1. Is your program based on body science? 

2. Can you do your program for the rest of your life?

3. Would you put your kid on this program?  

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There is no miracle pill or quick fixes to weight loss. If any of your answer is a “No” to the above questions, there must be a bell ringing suggesting with you should not even start.