Diets are ineffective. That is a fact.
Diet is defined as: a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
According to an article from the Harvard Health Publishing: Harvard Medical School, 'At any given time, more than a third of Americans are on a specific diet, with weight loss as a leading reason. Most are going to be disappointed, because even when successful, lost weight is frequently regained within a few months.'
Purple Elephant Challenge:
I want you to stop here for a minute and think about anything except for a purple elephant. You can think about your outfit, but not a purple elephant, or your kids, but do NOT think about a purple elephant. Try it for 30 seconds, but no purple elephant.
What did you end up thinking about?
A purple elephant?
Once someone tells you NOT to do something, like think about a purple elephant, it is all you can think about!
So when someone tells you to STOP eating X, Y or Z, it is all you want to eat, which is one reason that diets dont work. Motivation and willpower will wan over time and the restricted item will be so desirable, that you will come off the diet and say the big 'f it.'
Dieting can slow down your metabolism
While it's extremely hard to speed the metabolic rate up, researchers have found there are things people do can slow it down — like repeated weight loss programs, cleanses and fasts. Dieting is probably the biggest effect we have on resting metabolism.
For years, researchers have been documenting a phenomenon called "metabolic adaptation". As people lose weight, their basal metabolic rate — the energy used for basic functioning when the body is at rest — actually slows down to a greater degree than would be expected from the weight loss.
To be clear: It makes sense that losing weight will slow down the metabolism a bit, since slimming down generally involves muscle loss, and the body is then smaller and doesn't have to work as hard every minute to keep running. But the slowdown after weight loss, researchers have found, often appears to be substantially greater than makes sense for a person's new body size.
What CAN you do?
Diets may provide short-term results, but as soon as the it ends, or you fall off, you start eating junk again, and you gain the weight back. And then some. For this reason, the only thing that can give you actual long-term results is to adopt a lifestyle change.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the only way to ensure long-term weight loss and a lifetime of improved health.
My Establishing Healthy Foundations course just completed its first month and it was awesome! The people who participated it learned so much about themselves, about their sticking points and how they can actively make changes to their daily lives to create a healthy foundation that will stick forever. No more diets!! It was such a success, I have decided to launch in on a rolling basis so the best day to start is TODAY. Click here for more details.
There was so much content that I wanted to share that I extended it to a rounded out 30 day program! Each day has very specific recommendations on changes that you can make according to your life! PLUS, each week you get a full week's meal plan including recipes, pictures, grocery list and nutrient report. At the end of the 30 day program, we set up a call to talk about next steps, but remember, it is all about you!