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Why Diets Don’t Work (7 Reasons To Ditch The Diets)

Hands up! Did you start a diet in January and lapse by February? Was it a success? Did you lose weight and more importantly did you keep it off? Or did you end up heavier than when you started? If so, you’re not alone. Find out why diets don’t work – it’s time to ditch the diet.

We all know instinctively that diets just don’t work and yet we all keep trying them. Dieting is a massive industry, feeding on people’s misery and distorting our relationship with real food.

While diets may be more important than exercise for weight loss, a restrictive diet is not the answer. Read on for 7 reasons to ditch the diets and opt for healthy eating for weight loss instead.

ditch the diets

Diets Don’t Deal With Emotions

Our relationship with food is complex. It’s one of the main reasons diets don’t work. It’s only by dealing with the emotional reasons behind why we eat the way we do, that we can start having a healthy relationship with food.

Keeping (an honest) food journal can help and food prep in advance so you always have something healthy to eat. Facing up to what we eat and why is the starting point to losing weight.

Dieting Doesn’t Lead To Long-Term Weight Loss (For Most People)

Diets don’t work because they can be so hard to stick to. Cheating a little here and there is often enough to make people think this isn’t working and there’s no point in continuing. To make things worse, your body will resist weight loss by slowing down your metabolism.

It’s better to lose weight gradually. Get out and enjoy life. Take up a sport or exercise class and enjoy eating healthily. Try walking for weight loss. You’ll burn calories and you may even boost your metabolism.

Binge Eating

Dieting feeds into the “food as reward” mindset. You try to diet and lose weight, then reward yourself by eating. So many diet forums are full of people talking about their reward (food) when they reach their goal weight.

It’s a big reason why diets don’t work. When you starve yourself to lose weight, your resistance to binge eating is really low.

Dieting Can Make You Feel Like A Failure

Most diets fail and when they fail it’s easy to be really negative about it. It adds to the baggage we have around food, the idea that you’re a failure. Often a normal weight for women is a lot higher than you think.

Knowing that if you diet you will fail, can make people think “I might as well just eat anything”. Yet another reason why diets don’t work!

Instead of dieting, try yoga. Yoga is a good way to learn to love your body, nurture it, and get in touch with your body’s needs. Become more mindful of the way you live and eat.

When you love your body, you’re less likely to abuse it by eating all the wrong unhealthy foods. Read about the habits of people who lose weight and keep it off

Dieting Risks Developing An Eating Disorder

When you’re on a diet you can become obsessed with food in a way that affects your mental health. Dieting is a risk factor for developing eating disorders and it can be difficult to return to normal eating habits.

It’s very easy for a strict dieter to focus only on food and forget to live their lives. When life stops evolving around food, it’s easier to lose weight.

Weight Stigma

Sadly we’re surrounded by false body images. Half-starved, stick-thin models or retouched images. These images do not represent real life and real women. We come in all different shapes and sizes.

Losing weight won’t give you a perfect body. These perfect bodies are rarely real. Instead, aim for a healthy body!

Diets reinforce the stigma of weight and add shed loads of emotional baggage to a person’s perception of how they should look.

Diets Don’t Help You Love Your Body Right Now

Self-love is the most important part of the weight loss journey. If you don’t love yourself and care about your body, you’ll keep filling it full of junk.

Diets can often be seen as a form of punishment, forcing yourself to conform to other people’s opinions of how you should look.

Start living instead. Don’t hide away. Get out with friends, take up new activities, (sporty ones are good but any activity can help), or rediscover pastimes you used to love.

Taking the focus off food will be a big step towards having a better relationship with eating. Find something non-food-related to fill your time and start enjoying life.

Hope you’re convinced by these reasons why diets don’t work. I find my weight controls itself whenever I am happy and occupied, getting outside as much as possible.

I’m not naturally skinny despite enjoying exercise. I find if I ditch the diets but cut out junk food and respect my body with healthy food it works for me… What about you?

Hands up who started a diet in January and lapsed by February? Did you lose any weight or did you end up with your weight even higher than when you started?
Read on for reasons to ditch the diet...#healthyeating #diets #healthyeatingtoloseweight #weightloss
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