Unfortunately, there are a lot of diets being promoted today that don’t provide the results they promise. In fact, more than a few actually have just the opposite effect as, although they might help you lose weight in the short term, you’re often not able to keep it off and soon find yourself back in your old jeans…and your old unhappy and less than stellar life.
Why is it that so many diets don’t work despite their claims to the contrary? Here are some of the most common reasons:
- They’re too low in calories. While it is true that you need to lower your calorie intake in order to lose weight, if you lower it too much, your metabolism will slow and it will be harder to drop your excess pounds. That’s not to mention that you tend to feel deprived on an extremely low-calorie diet which can lead to binging and weight gain in the end.
- They aren’t long term. The only way to sustain a weight loss is to continue doing everything you did in order to lose weight to begin with. Therefore, if you’re on a diet that is short term, then your results will likely be short term as well.
- They don’t teach you how to make lifestyle changes. If you’re following a temporary eating and exercise plan that doesn’t teach you how to make the changes part of your everyday life, you won’t have acquired the skills necessary to continue with the program and enjoy its results once you’re no longer on it.
- They don’t address the reason you gained weight to begin with. In order to lose weight once and for all, you have to figure out and address the reason that you gained it initially. This often goes well beyond your food intake and exercise and typically involves some type of emotional trigger that you must identify and rectify to enjoy long term success.
If you’ve had a diet fail, what are some of the reasons you’ve found?
