How many times have we gone on diets? I know for me, at least every January! We start out strong, motivated and excited. The diets have us do meal plans; salads for lunch, nuts and cheese for snacks and then our dinners consist of chicken, broccoli, and quinoa. Whenever we go to parties, we politely say, “no thank you” to dessert and everyone around us says, “Wow, you are amazing and so healthy!”
But the reality is, inside, we are screaming, “Yes! give me the whole dang cake!” We stick to our diets maybe a whole week before our bodies are aching for some real food. Let me give you some advice…
DIETING DOESN’T WORK!!!!!!!
Here are 5 Reasons why dieting doesn’t work:
- Simply put, your body needs certain nutrients to survive. One of the big things your body needs is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates is what gives your body energy. If you take those away, guess what else you take away? Yep you guessed it…ENERGY!
2. If you tell yourself you can’t have something, guess what you want? That specific thing! Say you start a diet that says to eliminate sugar, it says you can’t have any refined sugar at all. I can tell you right now what you are going to crave throughout your whole diet… refined sugar! If you are limiting carbs, guess what you want the most? You guessed it! Carbs!
It’s not Good for Your Body
3. Your body can’t survive on much less than 2000 calories a day. Many diets have you limit your caloric intake. By the end of the week, how many of you are starving!? As my dad would put it, you’d eat the bum off of a skunk. hahahah. Why do you think so many food labels say that it is based off of a 2000 caloric intake a day? Your body has certain jobs to do everyday, and if you don’t give your body enough energy, your body can’t perform its best.
4. It’s too drastic of a change for your body. How many of you have gone on diets and you lose tons and tons of weight in the first little bit? You feel great! You love the compliments that you get! However, pretty soon, your weight plateaus. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to lose any more weight. Frustration starts to set in and so you lose motivation. You tell yourself, “Well, I can’t lose any more weight, so I might as well just eat what I want.” Pretty soon you have gained all of your weight back, plus a little bit extra.
5. There is no support at home. Typically, you are the only one in your house that is on a diet. Your family starts out supporting you, but pretty soon, they get sick of no desserts, tasteless food and small quantities. Pretty soon, their meals look a lot different than yours (typically they look a lot better too) and in the end, it’s just easier to make one meal instead of two.
The Answer is Simple
I know I have been stuck in these same pitfalls over and over again. The cycle starts all over again and I start a new diet and pretty soon, it doesn’t work. I find another diet that claims “This one is different!” But I always get the same results no matter how different they claim to be. I have asked myself so many times, “Why can’t I lose weight!?” The answer is simple, but hard to hear…
DIETING DOESN’T WORK!!!!
Do you need other ideas to help your body image improve?