What Are the Biggest Reasons Diets Fail?
The average American dieter makes 4-6 dieting attempts per year. Clearly that means the first… and second… and third attempts weren’t successful. It’s a vicious circle of demotivation that leaves many feeling like they cannot succeed without superhuman tenacity. Maybe you are ready to throw in the (oversized) towel on dieting for good.Don’t be. Take a minute to look at the four reasons why most diets fail, and then find a diet plan that bypasses these pitfalls. Soon you will find yourself on track to optimal success. Let’s look at the four key factors.
Unrealistic Calorie Intakes
The “starvation mode” method only sets you up to fail. By consuming so little food, your body literally starts shutting down to conserve fuel.When this happens, you are on a one-way path to a fat loss plateau. Yes, you should lower calorie intake to see fat loss results, but you need to do it in a way that maintains your “metabolic engine.”
Lack Of Satiety-Boosting Nutrients
Another big issue with most conventional diets is they fail to provide enough of the two most filling nutrients: protein and fiber. You need protein to function optimally. It also breaks down the slowest, providing the body with lasting satiety.Couple protein with dietary fiber, found in fresh fruits and vegetables, and digestion will slow even further. Many crash diet plans are very low in protein. While they recommend lots of vegetables, many discourage the consumption of fruit.By making these two nutrients a focus of your plan instead, you can see faster, lasting results while actually enjoying your diet meal plan.
Time Consuming Meal Prep
Who has an hour each and every day to meal prep? Not me — and definitely not you. Yet, many diet plans are complicated enough to require this. If that describes your diet, it’s no wonder if you’re failing.Alternatively, you want to find an approach that gives you basic and easy-to-implement guidelines that help you realize true success with your program.This plan should not require hours of extra effort each week. In that case, it’s stealing free time that you should use to reward yourself for good behavior. It should work with your lifestyle, not against it. When you find such a plan, it’ll be cakewalk to stick with it.
Long-Term Approach
Chances are you’ve heard that any diet plan you use should follow a long-term approach. That’s excellent advice. However, if your diet plan is designed to span months, this can be a motivation killer. Find a diet with a definite deadline. Two weeks is optimal because that’s how long it takes to form long-term habits. Two weeks is also long enough to see good results, but not short enough to stay motivated. Anyone willing to lose weight can diet for two weeks. This is foundational to The 2 Week Diet. In many, many cases, the initial transformation is so remarkable, it provides abundant motivation for continued fat burning. Success breeds success.
To harness the powerful psychology behind The 2 Week Diet, check it out here:
Feel like you’re doing everything right on your diet plan but still not seeing the results you desire? Many people find themselves in this position. They are working hard on their approach and taking care to follow their diet to the letter. But yet, something is amiss. The scale just isn’t going downward and they aren’t getting the results they were hoping for. What gives? Often, the big problem is not their effort or motivation. The problem is that they are letting certain foods into their diet plan that are sabotaging their results. Often these foods are designed to be fat loss foods but they really aren’t. Instead, they’re holding you back from success.
What are these foods? Let’s go over three foods that you need to cut out of your diet immediately.
Fruit Flavored Yogurts
Fruit flavored yogurts are a favorite among many dieters but little do they know they’re digging into pint-sized sugar bombs each time they eat a small container. Next time you’re picking out your favorite yogurt, double check the sugar content. You might just find yourself surprised to know there are 15 or more grams of sugar per serving. Of course you can purchase the sugar-free varieties, but then you’ll be taking in a number of unwanted artificial sweeteners, which can be just as bad for you.
Instead, opt for plain Greek yogurt. Flavor it yourself by adding a handful of fresh berries.
Fat-Free Products
Next up on the list of foods that you want to get out of your diet plan are any products that are built to be “fat free.” These often state that they are fat free on the label and are proud of it. But ask yourself, if the fat is removed, what is added? Something had to be added otherwise these just wouldn’t taste good. The answer to that is sugar. Sugar has often been added to these foods and is what is causing them to still taste appealing. And, if you are trying to lose body fat, sugar is just as bad — if not worse — than fat is.
Protein Bars
Finally, the last of the foods that you need to be careful about including in your diet plan are protein bars. These may seem like a great option since they do contain protein and you’re probably trying to get more protein into your day. But once again, you need to check that sugar content. Most protein bars are upwards of 15 grams of sugar or more per bar. Some measure in as high as 30 or even 40 grams of sugar depending on the calorie content. In actuality, these aren’t much more than a glorified chocolate bar. While you can buy a few bars that do keep the sugar content very low (five grams or less per bar), you need to search for those. Be careful about buying these bars.
So there are three foods that you may be currently eating that could be causing you some issues. Are any of these in your diet?
If you want to learn the two must-eat foods that will help catapult fat loss into high gear, make sure that you check out The 3 Week Diet which goes over the harmful and helpful foods for weight loss.
