Why Dieting Fails

Diets (aka restrictive eating) don’t work. Period. So many women come up to me and say, “I know what I should do, I just don’t do it”, and “I have no will power”. That is the ultimate lie that the diet industry is selling you. Studies show 80% of the time, people gain back all of the weight after a diet. 80 FREAKIN PERCENT of the time. Can you imagine buying anything else that had an 80% chance of failure??!? And then actually blaming yourself when it didn’t work? Imagine the amazon reviews. Below are 4 reasons diets don’t work.

• One size does NOT fit all. A diet plan is designed for a theoretical person. Not you. It doesn't account for your unique genetic makeup, your biological differences, your food and taste preferences, your day to day variations in nutrient needs. Diets are like a box. You deserve more than a box.
• Restrictive eating actually causes an INCREASE in desire for food. When you diet or restrict food your body's hunger signals increase- the hormones that tell your body you need more food are actually elevated in an effort to get you to eat more. This biological response to food restriction increases your preoccupation with food. In a study done in the 1940s, young men were restricted to ~1750 cal/day. They became so preoccupied with food they started collecting recipes and cookbooks, some even snuck out and stole food. No wonder we go “off the wagon” break the diet and eat like wild women. It’s not because you have no willpower, it’s simple biology. Read more about the science here. 
• Diets cause a decrease in your muscle mass and metabolism. So that when you start eating “normally” again, you will not be able to burn the same amount of calories you could before you began the diet. In other words you would have to maintain the restrictive eating indefinitely to continue to maintain your weight, all while having that increase desire for food. 

• Diets don’t account for real life. Satisfaction is not usually a primary focus in dieting (but it is in Intuitive Eating!) so when we go to a party and our palette is being teased, we “fall off the wagon” We end up feeling bad about not doing our diet perfectly and often end up eating like a wild woman because we get the "F’-its". Diets also tend to fail to be flexible enough account for variation in energy needs, to take on vacation, to have good options when you are fail to plan or dont have the ‘right’ food available.

A Diet is like a box, it wasn’t designed for you, it is too small and too constraining to live there. It is possible to bust out of the box for good and finally heal your relationship with food using Intuitive Eating. Join my email list here, to get my blog and learn about upcoming opportunities, or my group on FaceBook, Deserving Women, to stay in touch.

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