Why diets fail
95% of diets fail.
Maybe you’ve heard this statistic before, pointing out the futility of intentional weight loss. But what does it actually mean?
Essentially, it refers to the number of people who intentionally lose weight through dieting, only to regain the weight they lost eventually, which happens 95% of the time.
So why do we still think that we’re the exception to the rule? The 5% who’ll somehow figure it out?
It’s so easy to get sucked in to the rhetoric spouted through podcasts via ‘experts’, claiming to have the special secret, the thing that you haven’t tried yet, the tool that’s going to fix everything.
Because apparently, it all comes down to your hormone levels.
Your cortisol is too high!
No wait, it’s your insulin!
Or is it your oestrogen?
Actually, it’s your gut health.
No no… it’s your mindset
You’re not disciplined enough
Or your emotional blockages are getting in the way
Your chakras are out of alignment (I’ve genuinely heard that one)
You don’t want it badly enough
No, but now you want it too badly that you’re pushing it away (remember - we don’t chase, we attract!)
There’s always some reason, something to point the finger at which you might not have thought to consider
And fortunately (how convenient), said podcast guru has just the solution for you!
Presenting…
~another diet!~
But the emphasis is on the fact that it’s not like other diets
Because it’s targeting the thing that’s keeping you from success
As if the 5% of people who do lose weight and keep it off are all gatekeeping this one thing, and now you’re finally getting exclusive access to it
How exciting for you.
So you buy all the supplements, the workout gear, the fancy groceries.
Throw out all the ‘bad’ food corrupting your fridge and pantry.
Clear your entire social calendar for the next 12 weeks, and off you go.
And guess what?
You do feel great (take that, haters).
You become an evangelist, actually.
Because you are getting results. Feeling lighter, more energised, you’re in the groove, you’re on a roll.
Why would you want to go back to how you were before, when you feel so much better now? It’s not that hard to keep this up. Imagine where you’ll be in 6 months, a year, 5 years, even!
But at the end of the day, what you’re doing is still a diet.
Diets aren’t meant to be something that you sustain for life.
The body does fight back. The drive to eat comes back in full force. It can make you feel like an animal, out of control, voracious.
Diets don’t fail because people want to go back to how they used to live. It’s not usually because people preferred their old body so they’re deliberately reverting back to their old ways.
It’s because people don’t know how to end them. People often don’t know what the middle ground looks like of eating in a more restrictive way versus completely inhibitionless.
It’s incredibly hard to maintain an energy deficit for extended periods of time because the body is literally functioning at a sub-optimal level.
So if you are tempted by that new diet that you heard about,
That’s supposed to work really well,
Just remember - it’s still a diet
And maybe another diet isn’t quite what you need,
But an approach that teaches you how to not need to go on another diet.
There is no magic pill, no secret that people are gatekeeping.
But there are loads of people trying to convince you that there is.
Be sceptical of promises that sound too good to be true, because they usually are.
Obviously, I’m always here if you’ve got questions, queries, and I promise I’m not trying to sell you something that I don’t truly believe in
I’m always curious to hear your thoughts.
