Why Diets Fail

Since summer is rushing towards us, many of us become more self conscious about their body or weight. When researching weight loss you will find tons and tons of diets, promising you to lose 5 pounds in 10 days or whatsoever. Today you will learn why they fail and how to really slim your waistline forever.

Our bodies are awesome. They have abilities to recognize when the general food intake is too low. But your body wants you to keep staying alive, obviously. So, what it does is to store everything it gets into fat, to make sure that in case you will be unable to eat properly for a longer period, you won't die. Amazing, isn't it?

You may ask yourself, why is she telling me this. I don't care, I just want to get rid of those 10 pounds before I am leaving for my vacation in two weeks. But once you understood this easy principle, you will never take the same look at crash-diets again. Here's why:

Whenever you increase your food intake by let's say, eating only eggs for a week or only drinking smoothies, your body will hold on to your fat storage even harder. That's because it needs to—it wants you to survive. But, you might think to yourself now, I can see on the scale that I lost weight?!

Well... Let me crush that view too. What you are actually losing is muscles. Why is that? Your muscles need a lot of energy. They are high calorie-burners and burn up to three times more calories than fat does (per pound). In this case, your body who tries to burn as few calories as possible gets rid of your muscles at first. That's why you seem to weigh less.

But how do I lose my muffin top now?

Crucial but always works: Changing your lifestyle.

For one week, write down everything you eat and when. Take a look at how many processed foods you eat, when you go to grab a snack and how many fruits and vegetables you eat. Then you can start working on your new "diet":

1. Eat fruits/vegetables with every meal.

Make sure they take up the biggest part of your plate. They are fulfilling, high in fiber, and contain all the healthy vitamins. Need I say more?

How the plate should look like

2. Cut down processed foods.

They are unhealthy, full of sugar and preservatives. There is nothing good about them at all.

3. Prepare snacks that are healthy.

I, for example, found out that I am always going for a snack after dinner. Usually I would just grab chocolate, ice cream or a granola bar. Now, instead I make sure to have apples or berries at home. I just snack on those. Try apples with pb! So delicious.

4. Never cut out a whole group of nutrients!

Eat carbs, eat fats and protein. Find a healthy balance.

5. Eat complex carbs and unsaturated fats.

Those are the "healthier" carbs and fats. They will leave you satisfied for longer and in general are found in healthier foods. For example; complex carbs are found in whole-grain-bread/noodles, oatmeal etc. Unsaturated fats can be found in nuts, avocado, etc.

6. Switch former unhealthy foods for healthier options.

You love chocolate? Try dark chocolate. You love brownies? Try baking them yourself with whole-grain flour. You get my point.

7. Be realistic.

This is made to be a lifestyle change. Therefore, if you formerly loved chocolate or french fries you might not want to never eat them again. So do not expect yourself to. Your healthy new diet is mostly about having a good balance. Eating a burger every once in a while won't make you unhealthy. Eating a burger every other day will. Allow yourself those treats, and don't feel bad afterwards. There are no bad foods and just because you once cheated, doesn't mean that your whole progress is gone. Just continue what you are doing and don't punish yourself for eating that delicious cookie.

Life, after all, should be embraced.

8. Eating healthy becomes easier the more you do it.

At the beginning eating healthy can seem hard and feels like something you have to push yourself through. You might experience some heavy cravings in the first week(s). But then, once your mindset shifted, you experience something very surprising:

Eating those unhealthy foods you once craved a lot suddenly doesn't seem appealing anymore. You might see someone eating a burger and think to yourself: Wow, this looks horrible. It's just fat and carbs! Or, after eating a slice of cake, your body will feel weird because it is no longer used to such high amounts of sugar. All of a sudden you crave a salad with a lot of vegetables. All of a sudden eating just a plain toast with hummus leaves you unsatisfied because of the lack of vegetables. That's when you know you made it!