Lifestyle

3 Reasons Most Fad Diets Fail

You were just looking into hiring a fencing installer when you got an advertisement pop up about a new diet that promises to help you lose weight. You’ve tried fad diets before, and they never seem to last long-term. There’s a reason for this. Here are three reasons most fad diets fail.

Let’s dive in!

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Eating Healthy Should Be A Lifestyle, Not A Fad

One of the main reasons that most fad diets fail is that they don’t account for a change of lifestyle. Instead, they usually tell you what you can or cannot eat. This leaves little room for acclimating to a diet that’s right for you. If you want to lose weight or eat healthier, it’s important that you make this a lifestyle change – not a fad.

If you view food as either good or bad, you’re not learning the true role it has in your life. We don’t do well being told how to behave over a period of time. This is why fad diets don’t usually last. Instead, make your relationship and journey with clean eating a lifestyle that fits your needs and desires.

Restrictive

Fad diets are usually incredibly restrictive. They either completely eliminate an entire food group or they severely limit your portions. This is one of the reasons that the majority of fad diets don’t last long. If we have grown accustomed to eating the same portion of food, it can be quite a challenge to change this up too much. This often results in binge-eating or gaining the weight back (plus sometimes more) after you stop your fad diet.

Instead, a healthier approach would be to not focus as much on the quantity of food but the quality of it. You can eat the same portion of food as long as you are making healthy swaps. This all has to do with something called calorie density. Calorie density is the number of calories for a certain amount of food. Mayo Clinic says that “choosing foods that are low in calories, but high in volume, you can eat more and feel fuller on fewer calories.” Healthier foods like vegetables and fruits are often lower in calorie density compared to other foods.

Creates An Unhealthy Relationship With Food

Food is something that should be both enjoyed and used as fuel. After all, we need food in order to survive, grow, and have energy throughout the day. Fad diets completely shift your relationship with food, which could lead to an unhealthy relationship with it. You start to view food as a “bad” thing or an enemy. This has the potential to cause eating disorders or overeating in the long run.

If you want to have a healthy relationship with food, you should shy away from fad diets. Instead, get information on what foods are healthy for you, and create dishes that you actually enjoy eating. Food isn’t the enemy; it’s our mindset about what we consume. Evaluate your relationship with food in order to build and grow it in a healthy, sustainable way.