Why do diets fail? part 1
I think maybe I should start with my definition of "fail." Since very few people go on diets to lose weight with the intention of gaining it back, I'll state the goal of dieting to be losing weight permanently. So if what you do doesn't remove the intended amount of weight from your body it's a fail. If that weight comes back, it's a fail.
I think that's a key point to mention, because most of the time- as much as 95% of the time depending on the study- dieting results in regained weight. While it is becoming widely accepted in the professional world that exercise is probably the key to keeping weight off, the dieting world is holding out against that concept for various reasons.
The first reason why diets fail is that some of them have a tendancy to restrict people nutritionally. I haven't heard anyone mention grapefuit diets recently, but that would be an example of the type. Any diet that restricts your food choices to just a few items stands a chance of putting your health at risk. Your body needs a variety of minerals, vitamins, fibers, fat, carbs and protein, and it can't make everything it needs. While restrictive diets might be "good" for your total body weight, it is almost certainly not good for your health, and THAT is not good for your total body weight.
Also, diets tend to put us in foul moods by restricting the amount of food we eat to a point where we just feel unhappy and cranky. Don't think it's you? Ask your significant other, or your mom, or your sister, or your coworkers. You might be surprised. Anybody who has ever quit a job knows that you can't do something for too long if it makes you unhappy.
Other diets are simply ineffective, or based on bad information. For instance, I know some people who only count fat grams. That's it. Carbs don't matter, protein doesn't matter, nutrition doesn't REALLY matter, just fat grams. After all, they are trying to lose fat, right? Problem is, food can be fat free and HORRIBLE for you. Take sugar for example. Not a gram of fat in the whole bag. Many "low fat," "reduced fat," and 'fat free" foods are the same. Loads of calories sans fat. Doesn't make them good for you or your goals.
I think that's a key point to mention, because most of the time- as much as 95% of the time depending on the study- dieting results in regained weight. While it is becoming widely accepted in the professional world that exercise is probably the key to keeping weight off, the dieting world is holding out against that concept for various reasons.
The first reason why diets fail is that some of them have a tendancy to restrict people nutritionally. I haven't heard anyone mention grapefuit diets recently, but that would be an example of the type. Any diet that restricts your food choices to just a few items stands a chance of putting your health at risk. Your body needs a variety of minerals, vitamins, fibers, fat, carbs and protein, and it can't make everything it needs. While restrictive diets might be "good" for your total body weight, it is almost certainly not good for your health, and THAT is not good for your total body weight.
Also, diets tend to put us in foul moods by restricting the amount of food we eat to a point where we just feel unhappy and cranky. Don't think it's you? Ask your significant other, or your mom, or your sister, or your coworkers. You might be surprised. Anybody who has ever quit a job knows that you can't do something for too long if it makes you unhappy.
Other diets are simply ineffective, or based on bad information. For instance, I know some people who only count fat grams. That's it. Carbs don't matter, protein doesn't matter, nutrition doesn't REALLY matter, just fat grams. After all, they are trying to lose fat, right? Problem is, food can be fat free and HORRIBLE for you. Take sugar for example. Not a gram of fat in the whole bag. Many "low fat," "reduced fat," and 'fat free" foods are the same. Loads of calories sans fat. Doesn't make them good for you or your goals.
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