Think about the huge variety of dietary trends that are floating around the world of health and fitness. Every day I check, there is some kind of crazy new diet that people are promoting for “Extreme Weight Loss” and “Crazy Six-Pack Abs”. In reality, most of these temporary diets fail to give you results because of physical and psychological reasons. Before you hop on the train with a trend diet, you should know a few things about why diets don’t work.
They Can Starve Your Body of Necessities
A lot of trend diets call for a ridiculous change in the types of food you take in. Some try to convince you that bread is the devil and you should avoid ingesting carbs at all costs. Others claim that you should abandon any type of fats. When it comes down to it, many of these diets are keeping your body from functioning healthily.
A major part of living a long and healthy life is having a well-balanced and diverse diet. The correct balance of carbs, dietary fat, and protein is essential to all of your bodily functions. Each of these macronutrients plays specific roles in promoting health throughout the day. When you deprive your body of these, you will experience a plummeting decrease in overall energy and less efficient bodily functions.
Sudden Changes Are Bad For You
Another negative aspect of dieting is the immediate plunge into a completely different routine. Prior to the diet, you were probably used to eating the same thing day after day. Many people fail to commit to a diet because they are required to completely change everything about their habits overnight. Weight loss is a big commitment much like quitting smoking. Shocking your body with sudden change will most likely result in failure. Progress is something that requires patience and persistence.
They Aren’t Long-term
One trend observed by health and fitness experts is the relapse period after finishing your diet. Most of these diets require you to change the types and quantity of foods you ingest on a daily basis for a limited amount of time. More than 90% of people that complete a diet period will eventually lean back towards the habits they were previously used too and end up gaining the weight back.
They’re No Fun
If you are struggling to achieve a goal there is one tested way to guarantee results. That’s by making your journey towards the goal enjoyable. Eating diverse and delicious food is one of the greatest pleasures of being human. When you put strict limitations on the food you eat, you could end up miserable and frustrated. These emotions can eventually lead to emotional binge eating, one of the main reasons for obesity.
The toll on your mental health is one of the most serious downsides of dieting. As mentioned above, changing your diet can and will affect you emotionally. People also become obsessive about results when they are on a diet. In many cases, the impatience to see change will lead to life threatening eating disorders like anorexia.
So How Do You Lose Weight?
I’m not here to tell you that you should just go ahead and keep eating nothing but cheeseburgers and pizza to lose weight. When I talk about why diets don’t work I am strictly referring to all the fad diets that call for drastic changes. The first thing you should do is practice self-control and make sure you are eating balanced meals.
The next most important thing is exercise. I know, one of the main reasons people diet is to lose weight without exercise, but if you want to be healthy you have no other option. Daily exercise is great for physical and mental health. After you begin an exercise routine, the brain increases the amount of serotonin produced. This in turn leads to a happier and more fulfilling day filled with less emotional eating and much more energy.
In the end there is no magical diet that will give you “A Killer Beach Bod” in a few weeks. Results like that come from hard work and self-control. Ease your way into it and make sure you balance an enjoyable routine without over-indulging.
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