Why Fad diets don’t work long term, plus 7 simple things to change for long term weight loss and healthy eating.

What is a fad diet

This is quick fix, short term, unrealistic eating plan.  It is something that you are not able to stick to long term.  It goes against your body natural nutrient requirements by depriving you of certain groups of food, as well as taking anything you regard as a treat and making it a sin to eat or drink.  All this can result in nutrient deficiency, dehydration, uncontrollable cravings and fatigue.

If this is not enough, fad diets usually result in you gaining all the weight back and more.  It can take your body a fair amount of time to recover and heal from the trauma.  It makes you wonder why even after us knowing this we still go ahead and put our bodies through it.

The reality of it is that we have been programmed to want to see results fast regardless of the affect it is having on our bodies.  We see the before and after results and how little time it has taken for an individual to reach their goals.  BUT what we are not seeing is where these people are 6 month and more, after they have reached this goal.

Why we gain weight post a fad diet stint and extreme exercise

When thinking about fad or extreme diet/exercise ‘The biggest loser’ comes to mind.  This was one of the biggest reality shows, which revolved around people losing astonishing amounts of weight over a short period of time.  They had a specific diet and workout plan to follow and were really pushed to their limit in both areas.  There is a brilliant study from PubMed which looks at the affects this had on the contestants called ‘Per Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition’ and it will surprise you.

The study  looks at the affect extreme dieting and exercise have on a person’s body.  The people on the biggest loser had what was deemed a normal metabolic rate for their body weight at the start.  They then lost a large amount of weight and at the same time their metabolism slowed down.  The result of this slower metabolism was that they could not burn enough calories for their lower body weight.  Although this is normal for the body to react in this way with weight loss it generally stabilizes and the body resets.  What was found with the people in the show was when they started to gain back weight the metabolism continued to slow down.  Making it harder for the individuals to maintain or lose the weight that they were gaining.

This gives a lot of insight into why we seem to struggle with weight maintenance post a fad diet,  often gaining the weight back and more.   It constantly feels like you are white knuckling it to keep the weight off, often reducing calories more and increasing exercise.  We then become exhausted with all of this and eventually give up the fight.

Fad diet versus healthy choices and changes

Fad diets only result in unrealistic changes to your nutrition and exercise regime which are not maintainable for the rest of your life.  Think about some of the diets you have followed through your life whether it be low carb, low fat, low calorie etc.  All of these had quick results to begin with and then you would plateau making a few adjustments and start to lose again.  Then if you managed to get to your target weight you would only manage to maintain if for short period of time and you would start to gain again.  Before you know it you are back where you started, looking for the next miracle diet.

Healthy choices however are different in that you are looking at what you eat daily and making tweaks to this.  The changes that you make will be specific to your own body requirements and what feels good for you.  A great starting point is to go back to basic foods, start cooking from scratch. This way you know what is going in your body and it is reducing significantly all the processed foods, sauces, condiments etc which you may have in your daily nutrition. 

In addition to this you can start listening to what your body actually needs.  What foods make you feel full, good, less bloated, energise, and on the flip side which foods don’t make you feel good.  The more you understand what is good for you specifically the better you will feel.  Focus less on how quickly you can get weight off and fit into a specific size, and focus on making changes that will show over time and stick.

7 simple things to change now for natural weight loss

• Mindset change – start thinking along the lines of healthy changes over time rather than a quick fix.  You have one body and you need to take care of it.

• Small steps – Make tweaks to your daily nutrition over time.  Maybe you want to drink more water, eat more green vegetables, have a few no meat days.  Make the change see how you feel and if it feels good you will want to implement that change permanently.

• Clean out the cupboards – Start thinking about what you have in your cupboards.  If you are wanting to clean up your diet and eat more pure foods this is the place to start.  See clean foods to eat.

• Shopping list – once you start cleaning up your cupboards you will not want to refill them with anything that you have identified as a bad for your body.  So start making a list of items that you will fill your cupboards and fridge with.  With clean eating you will get use to using a lot of the same ingredients but creating different meals from them.

• Meal prepping – If you are wanting to have a break from cooking every night then try cooking a couple of batches of your favourite meals or soups and freezing them.  You will then have a quick meal option on those nights when you are not in the mood for cooking.  But at the same time you are able to fill your body with a wholesome home cooked meal.

• Stop restricting yourself – Don’t restrict just refraining from eating certain things all the time.  We are here to live and enjoy ourselves.  You can still have your few drinks if you wish and starters, meals and desserts you love.  Try to stick to the wholesome eating plan 90% of the time.

• Listen to your body – Stop listening to what is good or bad for others,  and listen to your own body.  You will find foods that work for you and in some cases it may be a matter of reducing the amounts of certain things.  Everyone’s body is different and may have limitations in how much it can handle.  Your body will have its limits and you just need to identify what this is.

Healthy choices and small changes over time in my experience has been the best way to go.  Leaving behind the extreme dieting and exercise and focusing on making better choices for my own body.  I have lost weight naturally and easily over time and kept it off.    You can get more details on healthy choices and hints/tips that I have discovered on my journey to get a healthier body, from my website Clean Eating Simply.

Your body is the platform for everything in your life…

References

Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27136388/