Why Diets Fail
Did you know that over 80% of people who lose weight gain it back? Why in the world is that? I mean, we understand the science behind diet and exercise programs, eat up those before-and-after photos, and agree it’s totally doable! Sooooo…where are we going wrong? Ever wonder why diets fail?
Recent research has revealed why diets fail, and it’s a combination of several factors, including strict guidelines that aren’t sustainable or life-proof, and a failure to lock into healthy habits and routines. But the biggest culprit of all? Our mindset.
Because no matter how closely we follow a new program, unhealthy thought patterns will eventually sabotage all of our hard work. Pessimism and self-doubt will cause us to give up before we see results. Emotional attachments to food will leave us eating our feelings at the end of a hard day. Demotivation will steal our momentum.
So the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off? It’s to retrain your thought patterns! And – bonus! – this sets you up not only for weight loss success, but for success in every area of your life!
Why Diets Fail + How to Make Sure Yours Doesn’t
There are six qualities essential for lasting weight loss, and you are totally capable of developing each and every one of them!
- Optimism. If we begin a diet assuming we’ll give up within a few days, or won’t experience the results we’re hoping for, then our chances of successfully adhering to our diet decrease dramatically before we even begin. Why? Because our most persistent thoughts tend to be self-fulfilling. Luckily, we can learn how to cultivate optimism through the use of a thoughtful morning routine or daily positive affirmations.
- Self-responsibility. It’s easy to place the blame on our circumstances when we fall short of our health goals. “I’m too busy at work to exercise or eat well.” “My friend cancelled on our workout again.” “My family won’t follow my new diet with me.” While these might all be true statements, when it comes down to it, we are each responsible for our own actions. Dr. Robert Anthony once said, “When you blame others, you give up your power to change.” And we cannot afford to give up our power to change when it comes to pursuing better health! Want some practical tips to help you take responsibility for, and control of, your life as much as possible? Click here!
- Resilience. Resilience is essential, because it’s not if we slip, but when. Most diet and exercise programs require strict adherence, and life won’t always cooperate. Developing resilience will ensure that when we skip a workout or indulge in a late-night binge, it doesn’t derail us completely. Resilience plants that voice in our heads that says, “Okay, I messed that one up. But I can learn from my mistake, get back on track, and be stronger for it!” Learn how to survive a cheat meal and come back even better than before here.
- Emotional detachment from food. We cannot medicate our emotions with food and expect to stick with our diet. Because the first time we’re sad or depressed or lonely, our first (and very powerful) instinct will be to turn to food. And we don’t usually turn to vegetables, do we? We reach for salty chips, ice cream, or that half bag of chocolate chips we found in the pantry. Luckily, we can learn to identify emotional eating triggers and decide ahead of time on alternative solutions. Learn helpful tricks to conquer emotional eating here.
- Motivation. Sure, we all have boatloads of motivation when we start a new diet or exercise program. But a few days in, when we need that same motivation to prep another healthy meal or get our butt to the gym? It’s usually starting to fade. The key to lasting weight loss is learning how to find motivation, and even generate it ourselves! There are lots of tricks to get motivated, like breaking big goals into smaller goals, or imagining how we’ll feel when we accomplish a task. Learn how to get motivated here!
- Confidence. Confidence will fuel your belief in yourself and your abilities, with healthy actions sure to follow! Unfortunately, this is an area where lots of us struggle. But we can cultivate confidence in ourselves with a few mental, physical, and action-taking tricks. Click here to discover exactly how to have more confidence.
Wrap It Up
You now know why diets fail. And by developing optimism, self-responsibility, resilience, motivation, confidence, and emotional detachment from food, you are totally capable of losing weight and keeping it off! You can work on these qualities one at a time or dive into the 21 Day Healthy Thoughts, Healthy Weight Transformation, to develop them methodically alongside sustainable, life-proof dietary and exercise habits.
The body achieves what the mind believes. What will you start believing today?
P.S. Ready to retrain the thought patterns that have sabotaged your efforts to lose weight and keep it off? Be sure to check out the 21 Day Healthy Thoughts, Healthy Weight Transformation for methodical mindset training coupled with totally doable, totally sustainable diet and exercise guidelines!
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