Why most diets fail
Most diets fail. The science shows it’s the case, and certainly in my ten years as a Dietitian, my observations have shown time and again that diets are almost always, a destiny for failure.
Diets are hard and the more restrictive they are, the harder they are to stick to. But even with great intentions and truly believing you’re doing the right thing, weight loss can still fail.
Here are my top reasons why most diets fail:
1. Strategies don’t match body type
Our bodies are all so very different that a weight loss strategy that works well for one person may be a disaster for another. Successful weight loss has so many different components that I spend an hour initially with my patients gathering information on work hours, stress, home life, routine, food likes and dislikes, current eating and sleep patterns, alcohol intake, blood tests results and family history. Then we create a personally tailored meal plan for every patient, but even then it may take some adjustments and jiggling around to get just right.
2. Accidental non-compliance
This occurs when someone truly believes they are following their diet or their meal plan to perfection but are in fact, not. This is not intentional and I find it is usually due to a couple of reasons. It may be due to a misunderstanding with dietary instructions, for example eating all three of the snack options I’ve suggested rather than choosing just the one. After a couple of weeks on a meal plan, many people stop referring to it and unintentionally little bits begin to creep back in. It may be the second milky coffee, butter on their toast, two or three different fats in their salad rather than just the one. It doesn’t seem like much at the time and certainly is not comparable to a chocolate bar or a bit of cake but they can add up nonetheless to hundreds, sometimes thousands of extra calories each week and put a stop to weight loss efforts.
3. The BLT’s
I pinched this from weight loss guru Dr. Laura Lefkowitz who assures us this is NOT a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich but a phenomenon known as ‘bites, licks and tastes.’ This is a brilliant acronym for the bites of chips we steal from our husband’s plate, the licks of cake batter from making the kid’s cupcakes and the tastes of dessert when eating out. These are conscious and intentional extras, not accidental. We know they’re not part of a healthy meal plan and doing this even just once per day can add up and put the breaks on weight loss.
4. Super confidence
This can kick in as early as 2 weeks on a diet or eating plan. Great results are achieved, motivation is still high and we get super confident that we can start to loosen the reigns and get away with a little extra. This might be an extra glass of wine, the bread with dinner, a little seconds of dinner. The problem with this is that most people are not even close to their final goals and haven’t had enough time in a healthy routine to have it well established yet. More often than not following this, they weigh in and they haven’t had any weight loss and are disappointed and may lose their puff. For those who like to test the waters, sometimes this needs to happen to remind them why some bad old habits caused weight gain in the first place. Getting back on track again then can feel like starting from scratch.
If any of this sounds familiar, get some weight loss support with a Dietitian, Nutritionist or a doctor or trainer well versed on weight loss. The accountability and food diary are excellent tools to keep track of the extras, whether they’re conscious or not.