Written by: Rita Trotter, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Did you know that the average woman will attempt 21 different diets in her lifetime? That’s insane, considering only 10% of dieters succeed and maintain their weight loss long-term. What’s even crazier? The weight-loss industry is worth $20 billion and continues to grow every year! Why is this so concerning? Because most of these fad diets are unsustainable, unhealthy, and completely unproven. There’s a reason why there are no shortcuts or magic bullets when it comes to weight loss. It takes time, effort, willpower, and dedication to reach your goals; however, the results are worth it because once you lose weight, you keep it off forever.
In the last couple of decades, there has been an explosion of diets designed to help people lose weight fast. While there have always been fad diets that promise rapid weight loss, the growth of social media and online communities has led to a proliferation of programmes that are often unproven and potentially dangerous.
There are also many different fad diet protocols that involve eating as little as possible in order to trigger some kind of metabolic response. These restrictive programmes might be effective for short-term weight loss but aren’t sustainable in the long term because they don’t address why you are overeating or what triggers your desire to eat more than you need. Instead, these types of diets focus on just one aspect – the food itself – which is not the real problem.
In this blog post, we’ll explore why so many diet programmes fail so miserably and why focusing solely on losing weight fast isn’t a good idea for most people who want to improve their health and well-being long-term.
Why Is Weight Loss So Difficult?
Weight loss is difficult. It's a lifelong battle for most people, and the only way to win is to never stop fighting.
Even the smallest of weight loss goals can be incredibly difficult to achieve. There are so many variables that can affect your weight, from what you eat to how much exercise you get and many more.
There are many reasons why losing weight is so hard. The first is that it can be a complicated process. There's no one diet that works for everyone — and there's certainly no one diet that will work for you if you're eating it without any will to change your lifestyle.
The second reason is that we don't often know what to eat. We may be overwhelmed with information about nutrition and feel like we're eating healthy, but when we look at the calorie count, we might be surprised to find that we're not getting enough nutrients in our diet.
Many people believe they're eating well because they're not eating processed foods or fast food every day, but this isn't necessarily true, especially if they aren't tracking their calories. They may think they're doing better than they actually are because they don't realise how much sugar and saturated fat they're consuming on a daily basis through things like cereal and milk.
What’s more, losing weight means more than just reaching your goal weight. It also means reaching a healthy weight for your age, gender, and body type. Diets fail because they don’t take into account the fact that everyone is different. That’s why there are no shortcuts or magic bullets when it comes to weight loss. It takes time, effort, willpower, and dedication to reach your goals.
What’s The Problem With Most Diets Out There?
Most diets don’t teach you how to maintain your weight loss; they only show you how to lose weight quickly. Diets that promise quick results are what we like to call fad diets.
Fad diets are diets that promise rapid weight loss, but they don’t teach you how to maintain it or even lose weight slowly. People who go on a fad diet will often lose a significant amount of weight at the beginning of the diet, but then they gain it all back after they finish the diet. This is because fad diets don’t teach you how to maintain your new lifestyle — they only show you how to lose weight quickly.
The truth is that most of these diets don’t work in the long term. In fact, the National Institutes of Health reports that 90 percent of people who lose weight on a diet regain all their lost weight within five years. And those who do manage to keep their weight off usually have no idea how they did it.
So what’s the solution? There isn’t one specific answer, but there are definitely some things you can do to help yourself succeed at losing weight and keeping it off for good!
Find your WHY: Identifying a Purpose and Staying motivated
The first thing to do when you want to lose weight is to find a purpose or goal. This is going to be your motivation, and without it, you will find it difficult to keep going.
For example, if your reason for wanting to lose weight is so that you can look better in a bathing suit this summer, that’s great! But what happens when it rains all summer long? You might be tempted to throw in the towel on your diet because “it didn’t work anyway.”
Instead of letting that happen, find another reason for wanting to lose weight: maybe it’s so that you can fit into your old jeans, or perhaps it’s because you’re hoping to get pregnant soon and want to shed some extra pounds beforehand so they don’t come back after baby arrives, or maybe it’s simply because being healthy makes you feel good about yourself — no matter what other people think about your body size.
Whatever your reasons are, it’s important to keep them in mind while you’re on your journey. It can be easy to get discouraged when you don’t see instant results, especially if you’re trying a new diet or exercise routine. However, it’s important to remember why you started in the first place. It might also help to commit to a friend or family member. This way, you’ll have someone to rely on when you’re feeling down and need a little pick-me-up!
Exercise – Move More, Sit Less!
In order to lose weight and keep it off in the long term, you need to exercise at least 30 minutes every day (or burn an extra 500 calories per day). Walking is a great exercise because it doesn’t require any special equipment or skills — just lace up your trainers and head outside! You don’t need to spend hours at the gym or running on a treadmill either. Just move more in general and get off your butt more often.
Try to find ways to incorporate more movement into your daily routine by taking the stairs instead of the lift and parking further away from where you need to go. You could even try wearing a pedometer and see if you can reach 10,000 steps each day (or whatever goal works best for you).
Exercise is the key to losing weight for life. It’s not a quick fix or a magic pill. It’s hard work that you have to make a priority in your life.
Eat the right food.
What you eat is just as important as how much you eat. When you’re trying to lose weight, it’s important to eat a healthy diet. While certain diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, have been shown to promote weight loss, not all diets are created equal.
For example, diets that are low in fibre, protein, and whole grains have been linked to weight gain. Moreover, studies suggest that fad diets are no more effective than maintaining a healthy, balanced diet. Diets that focus on one food group, such as low-carb, low-fat, or low-calorie diets, have been found to be less effective than a healthy diet. This is why it’s important to eat a balanced diet.
There are many ways in which the body responds differently to different types of food. A few of them are listed below.
Some foods cause more gas than others. Foods like beans, broccoli and onions are notorious for causing gas.
Some foods are easier to break down than others.
Raw foods are broken down much more quickly and easily than meat that has been cooked.
Some foods are more likely to cause allergic reactions than others. While peanuts and eggs are the most common allergies, they are not the only ones. Many foods have the potential to cause allergies.
Some foods are easier to digest than others. Some foods, like corn, are harder to digest than others because they have a harder outer covering.
Some foods cause more indigestion than others. Like gas, this can happen for several reasons.
You can also practice intuitive eating.
Intuitive eating is a thing, and not only is it the best way to feed yourself, but it’s also the healthiest—as in, it’s healthier than not feeding yourself at all. It is a diet method that encourages you to eat only when you’re physically hungry, stop when you’re satisfied, and not pressure or judge yourself for eating.
Intuitive eating is all about learning to trust your body’s signals and making eating an activity that’s enjoyable rather than feeling like a chore. Studies have found that people who follow an intuitive eating diet are more likely to stick to a diet because they’re less likely to make themselves miserable about it. Think about that!
Manage your stress. Get enough sleep!
If you've ever tried to lose weight, you've probably heard the advice to eat less and exercise more. But, as a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism shows, there's another key to success: manage your stress.
Researchers analysed data from a study that tracked 500 people who were overweight or obese but otherwise healthy for an average of 7 years. The participants kept diaries of their eating habits and submitted blood samples every 3 months. They also collected information about how stressed they felt at each point in time.
The researchers found that when people reported feeling more stressed out, their bodies produced higher levels of cortisol and insulin (which makes you hungrier) than when they felt less stressed. Higher levels of both hormones make it harder to burn fat — which is bad news for anyone trying to lose weight!
In other words, if you want to shed pounds for good, it's important to take steps to manage your stress levels so that your body doesn't sabotage your efforts by making you feel hungry all the time and encouraging you to eat more than you should.
Find ways to relax that work for you. Whether it's meditation, yoga, or listening to music, learn how to unwind at the end of the day so you can fall asleep faster and feel rested in the morning. Find something that works for you and use it consistently to help reduce stress levels and sleep better at night.
The best way to get enough sleep is by going to bed at least an hour earlier than usual each night and waking up at the same time every morning (including weekends). That way, your body will be conditioned to sleeping at the same time every night — even if it's not yet fully adjusted to doing so!
Build A Support Network – Family, Friends, Coaches, Etc.
It’s important to surround yourself with positive and supportive people. Whether you join an online community, join a gym, or find a therapist, it’s crucial that you have someone to lean on when you need it most. This way, you’ll have someone to rely on when you’re feeling down and need a little pick-me-up!
Moreover, having a support network will help keep you accountable. If you’ve joined a gym, for example, make sure you go regularly. This way, you’ll make the most out of your investment and stay on track with your journey.
Again, the diet industry is all about making money. They want you to believe that there's a secret diet out there that will make you lose weight without having to change your lifestyle. But the truth is, there is no magic pill or secret combination of foods that will help you shed fat and keep it off forever.
You have to do the hard work and make the lifestyle changes necessary to lose weight and keep it off. You need to adopt habits that support a healthy lifestyle in order to lose weight permanently.
Rita Trotter, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
My passion, work, and philosophies focus on the joy factor, self-acceptance, physical and emotional cohesion, and authentic wellness and I enjoy sharing my wisdom for all that is connected to a successful and healthy life. My foundation in women’s health comes from my own struggles with weight, sleep, energy, productivity, and health and my passion to share this with the whole female collective. I am a Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, Behaviour Change Specialist, Long Covid Rehabilitator, Women’s Hormone, and Pre and Post Natal Specialist, Health for Business Coach, published author of three globally selling books, and the creator and facilitator of The Self-Health System Programmes.
