Losing weight is the national pastime. Everyone starts off full of hope and enthusiasm. You lose a few pounds and everything seems great. Weeks later we’ve given up and it’s back to normal. So looking back, why did the diet fail?
Expectations can run very high when starting a diet. Sometimes, they run too high. Looking good for summer seems unlikely when we decide to start a diet in June. Gaining weight didn’t happen quickly and losing it takes even longer.
When we look back and analyze the reasons why diets fail we can see that they often fall into predictable categories. Here’s 4 of the most common reasons that diets fail.
Sudden deprivation. Many diets force you to go from “anything goes” to “full stop”. Eliminating whole groups of foods from your diets while severely restricting the rest can often be just too much for the average person and often can lead to poor nutrition.
Diets get in the way of our lives. We all go out to eat and that includes eating in the cafeteria at work or joining friends for drinks and appetizers. It’s practically impossible to eat in a restaurant and stay on a diet that requires you to weigh your portions.
You can’t sustain weight loss solely by dieting. Dieting is only half of the battle to lose weight. You may be able to lose weight strictly by deprivation but it’s almost impossible to keep up that level of discipline in the long run without burning extra calories through exercise.
Dieting until you reach a target weight. Too often being on a diet means you have the mindset that you’ll be on the diet until you reach a goal. After that, it’s back to the same old eating habits that caused you to gain the weight in the first place. Unless you change your lifestyle, the problem returns.
People who have gone on a diet and kept it off have done some important things to change their lifestyle and the way they think about food. A balanced variety of healthy foods, a regular exercise schedule and getting support from other people are the keys to success. Getting educated about food and nutrition are key as well as approaching it for the long term and not just until a goal is reached will ensure that the weight doesn’t come back.
Learn more about exercise and health. Visit HealthyLiving411.com where you can find reviews to choose the best exercises for you.