7 Reasons Fad Diets Don’t Work
Fad diets can be very tempting when you have weight to lose and want it off yesterday. You get caught up in their gimmicks and hype, imagining yourself in a thin, svelte body, and, before you know it, you’re entering your credit card information online, telling yourself that this is the last time you have to walk this path. All too soon though, you’re right back where you began and the cycle repeats itself.
The good news is that your inability to enjoy long-term success with fad diets is not your fault. They’re actually set up for failure. Here are seven reasons why:
They Offer Short-Term Results
Most fad diets come right out and tell you that you should only sustain them for short periods of time, which means that when you go back to your regular eating habits, your weight will return as well. So, if you find one that says this, let that be a big red flag for you.
They Don’t Change Your Behaviors
You can’t expect to lose weight and keep it off if you don’t permanently change your behaviors. It is like brushing your teeth once a month and anticipating no cavities on your next visit to the dentist. It’s not likely. However, when you focus on learning healthy, lifelong practices such as portion control and eating only when you’re physically hungry, that is when true change starts to occur.
They Mislead You
It’s easy to get sucked in by claims of “Lose Up to 10 Pounds in 10 Days.” Who wouldn’t? However, if you pay close enough attention to what they’re saying, you’ll see the two little words that matter most – “up to.” That means that if you lose 1-2 pound in 10 days, you’re still a success in their book even though the picture they are trying to paint looks very different than the one they are actually selling you.
They Don’t Make You Lose Fat
Even if you are able to achieve a large weight loss on the fad diet, chances are good that it isn’t actually fat that you shed. Normally, it is water loss that is registering on the scale and, if it is very strict over a longer period of time, it could be muscle loss too.
They Don’t Promote Health
Sure, losing weight is better for your health, but there is a way to go about it that is good for you and many ways to achieve weight loss that could hurt your body in the process. When you follow a fad diet that isn’t focused on your total health and only on weight loss, there is a greater chance that it just might negatively affect your overall well-being.
They Don’t Address the Problem
Fad diets are usually based on some sort of zany eating plan or liquid diet that doesn’t address some of the major issues that often lead to weight gain. That is partly why they are so ineffective for long-term weight loss. Instead, learning portion sizes, such as with SlimPlate’s portion control plan, and discovering ways to deal with emotions without food are better ways to go when your goal is to lose the weight and keep it off for life.
They Aren’t Based on Nutrition
Finally, if you were to do a nutrition breakdown on most fad diets, you will find that they are lacking in a number of vitamins and minerals necessary for total body health. The best way to ensure that you get all of these key nutrients is to eat a variety of foods from all of the food groups, something that most fad diets forbid.
If you’re after long-term, healthy weight loss, fad diets aren’t the way to go. Instead, you need to change your behaviors and find an eating plan that fits in your lifestyle.
What to Look For
Here are just a couple things to look for in a program that DOES work:
Ability to eat a variety of foods
A focus on healthy, nutritious foods
Teaches portion control
Allows you flexibility and isn’t so rigid that you can’t have “treats”
Changes your behaviors that have led to your weight gain
SlimPlate System does all of these things, and more, which will help you lose your excess weight and keep it off for good.
What weight loss advice have you found that works best for long-term weight loss? And if you no longer give into the temptations of crazy, unhealthy and unrealistic eating plans, how long have you been “fad diet free”?