Why Most Diet Programs Fail?
Get the truth…the real reason most diet programs fail is that they keep the human element out of the actual weight loss equation.
Diet programs fail because most diets require too much focus on food and they don’t address the emotional reasons people overeat.
Diet programs fail because most diets require too much focus on food and they don’t address the emotional reasons people overeat.
Why Most Diet Programs Fail
How many of you have been on a diet? Yea, me too. It seems like I’ve been on every weight loss and diet plan: zone, high carb, Atkins, weight watchers, etc. None have seemed to work for me. Why? I fully believe that it wasn’t because I didn’t have a desire or strong will. I am very motivated and driven. Just about anything I have set out to accomplish in life, I have. So why couldn’t I seem to take the excess pounds off and keep them off?
Much confusion about dieting and weight loss
It seems there is so much confusion about dieting and weight loss. I almost hate that word because I’ve tried so many and never succeeded. I was never an obese person by any means. But when I hit my late twenties, the pounds started adding up. I ate what I thought was a healthy diet, exercised a couple of times a week, but I still gained a few pounds each year.
I’ll tell you right now that it made me so frustrated. I seemed so chipper on the outside, but deep down, I had low self-esteem and didn’t like how I felt. Maybe you know what that’s like.
Well, at the age of thirty, I was approximately thirty pounds overweight. My pants fit tight. I had a belly, and oh yeah, a big butt to boot. I had tried so many diets at this point. I’d lose some weight but always gained it back and then some. I felt very low.
Fat and depressed
I would like to share something with you. Here I was in my early thirties, fat and depressed. But you know what. I thought I knew everything. I mean everything about weight loss and nutrition. You see, I have been working out and studying nutrition since I was a teenager. I have read so many trade journals, books, been to so many seminars and classes, listened to everyone’s favorite free weight loss tip, and look at me—thirty pounds overweight and then some. I mean, I read all the latest books and had been on so many diets, but I was still as fat and depressed as ever.
Conflicting advice
I followed most of what I learned and never succeeded at keeping the weight off. One reason: There is so much conflicting advice out there about dieting and weight loss. Eat low carb is the latest free weight loss tip and will undoubtedly be replaced by something else in a few years. Are you old enough to remember the low-fat craze of the late eighties? You know, eat low fat, and all the food companies followed suit and put low-fat foods on the grocery shelves. Now we all should know that the low-fat diet is not the best. You need healthy fats in your diet to function and lose weight.
Diets just don’t work
The plain truth is that diets just don’t work. You might lose weight for a while, then gain it back and then some, like me. I guess that’s why the federal trade commission says that 95% of people on diets gain the weight back. Do you see a problem here? I sure do. With so much advice and free weight loss tips from so-called experts out there, why are we so overweight as a society in the U.S.? I would venture to guess that people are just plain tired of dieting.
Fuel my body with healthy food
I know I sure was so I decided to take a different approach. I decided to look at food for feeding my body. It needs fuel (food) to survive and function properly, so why not provide optimum fuel. Not fast food, junk processed food like cookies, crackers, white bread. Which most have no nutritional value. I know they do taste good, but healthy food can taste great too.
Here is what I did to lose over thirty pounds of unwanted body fat, lower my cholesterol from 230 to 150, and start feeling great about myself and how I look. The fact is you can, too, with a small amount of determination, the willingness to read food labels and avoid damaging, weight gaining ingredients in the foods you are used to eating. Once I realized that this whole thing wasn’t about dieting but about putting healthy food in my body, my entire mindset changed, and so did my weight and the way I looked. It was like a light switch turned on.
Here are a few things you can do to get started
Never Skip Breakfast
Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. It helps jump-start your metabolism, prevents snacking, helps fill your stomach and protect against nutrient deficiency symptoms (such as headaches and digestive problems), and can even improve your mood and memory. It’s no wonder that some people swear by getting up and moving around as soon as they get up in the morning, skipping breakfast. Others think skipping breakfast is fine for some people but not others.
If you skip breakfast, you are setting yourself up to overeat all day. A decent breakfast, such as a serving of oatmeal, some egg whites, and a serving of fruit, jump-starts your metabolism and prevents you from stuffing yourself at lunch.
People who skip breakfast tend to be fussy eaters. They complain that they can’t eat everything at once since breakfast is so important, and they remember all the wrong foods they ate throughout the day. Skip it for breakfast, and you won’t have trouble remembering what foods are good to eat daily. Most people know that eating breakfast helps control hunger and prevents drowsiness while reducing calorie intake.
Here’s another reason why skipping breakfast may be bad: skipping breakfast can increase cholesterol levels, mainly if you aren’t eating fruits and veggies. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that consuming fruits and vegetables in addition to cereal increases good cholesterol by lowering triglycerides by as much as 70 percent. Saturated fat may be one of the worst things you can eat if you want to lower cholesterol levels.
Drink plenty of water
I started drinking at least 6 glasses a day.
The water might be the most underappreciated superpower just yet. Thanks to decades of scientific research and discovery, scientists have uncovered the effects that chronic dehydration can have on both your health and happiness. Water is so essential to a healthy body – a basic need for the formation and supporting of tissue and proper hydration in the body – that many people don’t even realize how thirsty they are.
Water is so essential to a healthy body. Try to drink at least 6-8 cups a day.
We wake up, eat breakfast and then go to sleep. We don’t drink much water. This is very abnormal as the human body needs around 25% of our body weight in water to function properly. This may sound like a lot, but the average American doesn’t drink nearly enough water. Only about 8 cups of water are consumed each day at a minimum. If you don’t drink enough water, you will suffer adverse effects such as headaches, dizziness, dehydration and will not get enough calcium into your body. You should start small and increase what you drink each day as high amounts of water can flood the system at any time.
Cut out trans fats
This is a huge one. This is the ingredient in food called: hydrogenated oil, partially hydrogenated… any ingredient like this should be avoided. Trans fat is in cookies, baked goods, ice cream, some cereals, etc.
Foods that contain trans fat should be cut out from your diet. There are two reasons for this:
- Trans fats raise your risk of heart disease, and
- They cause inflammation in your body that can lead to heart disease.
Trans fats are formed when partially hydrogenated oils are melted and then put into your food.
Trans fats are a type of fat that should be eliminated from your diet. Unfortunately, many foods are laced with trans fats, and they can cause dangerous inflammation in your body. Trans fats can be formed when partially hydrogenated oils are melted and put into food products, like crackers and cookies.
Eat six small meals a day
Eating six small meals a day is probably the easiest method for keeping your weight under control. While some people prescribe exercises or dietary changes for losing weight, there’s no denying the power of a varied and balanced diet. With six meals a day, it’s essential to eat healthy, protein-packed foods every day. And for those of us who don’t want to eat cereal any longer, there are some great excuses for skipping breakfast.
Eating 5-6 times a day not only speeds up your metabolism but levels out your blood sugar.
Eat protein, carbohydrate, and fat with each meal. Eat the right, healthy foods. The ones that are full of nutrition and nutrients. Not junk food which is full of empty calories. This is about eating balanced meals, not high protein, low carbohydrate. That type of diet only works for a few people. Most lose water weight for a while, then hit a plateau, feel tired and lousy. I know I sure did, then gain the weight back.
Exercise
You don’t have to be a bodybuilder. Just get some exercise, even if it’s walking. You know eating right and exercise go hand in hand. I work out in the gym. I have lost all the unwanted fat, yet I see the same people in the gym every day, never losing the weight, and they work out harder than I do. Why? Well, I can’t say for sure, but I would guess that they don’t eat right or often enough. I can’t tell you how many people have come up to me in the gym and ask me how I do it. I tell them it’s simple. If they can work out so hard in the gym, they can learn some easy-to-follow guidelines for eating healthy.
Bottom Line
These were just a few of the things I did to lose over thirty pounds of fat, not muscle, and I’ve kept it off for over seven years with little effort. You can too!
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Alex is a fitness aficionado, empowers others towards healthier, active lives through small, sustainable changes for lasting results. Visit Gearuptofit.com for insightful tips and resources to enrich a balanced lifestyle.