Why Dieting Isn't Working For You, Or Anyone

Photo: McKel Hill

Admit it, you've probably looked in the mirror once or twice and not been happy with what you saw, attempted crash dieting for 10 days or cut your calorie intake for a week in an admirable attempt to lose weight. Maybe you lost a few pounds, but you've gained a few if not most of them back now, right? And that could be why you're reading this post on why dieting isn't working for you, or anyone.

Trust me, this is no revelation and I'm sure that you've been told before (if you haven't then grab a cuppa and listen) that dieting does not work. There's a lot more science behind it than you think and than I can fully explain incase I get it terribly wrong but it goes something like this:

You cut your calories while your metabolism continues at it's usual rate, burning off the same amount but with you putting less in, you lose weight. Over time, with the less food you feed yourself, your metabolism becomes suppressed and your body begins to actually store fat as a way of keeping you going. A 'fat reserve' if you will. Finally, your body craves the things you've deprived it of and you offer it a cheat meal or a binge. This is where eventually, every diet will drop off. Every crash diet will end and you'll be eating normally again, with a slower metabolism and your body making up for the cravings you refused. 

Lemon water is so good for your digestive system and skin!

But your body is still in 'starvation mode' and is still storing a lot of what you eat as fat. Another thing I should mention is that you can't get rid of fat cells, you can only shrink them! They will regenerate as you age but once you're an adult the number of fat cells you have more or less stays the same.

Another fad diet trick is to drink lots and lots of water to lose weight. This only gets rid of excess water in your body, making water weight disappear on the scale, but in reality the percentage of fat your body has stayed the same.

So how can we lose weight and if these diets don't work? The key is to change your diet, not go on a diet! Make a change to your life, go on a jog in the mornings, kickstart your day with a biiiiig healthy breakfast! Eat less saturated fat but don't be fooled and think that all fat is bad for you. Eat nuts, oils rich in omega3 and treat yourself to slices of cake in moderate amounts, not just because you deserve it but because you're living a healthy life and your body can burn it off while you're sat down anyway after a day of being lightly active. Cut out excess red meats and drink water instead of sugary fizzy pop.

Change your lifestyle and your weight will change, I promise, along with it your mind. You'll feel more positive and upbeat, less tired and happier with yourself. Stop counting calories. If you have to look at the label, look at the nutrients! 500 calories of baked salmon isn't the same as 500 calories of pot noodle and when us adults start realising this, so will the teenage girls that we influence. If you take a minute to step off the scales and look at yourself instead, you'll start to see things that you love.

So that's a brief summary of why dieting doesn't work, from a young northern gal who's given up caring what the magazines and pyramid scheme diet brands are telling her. Listen to your body and work with your appetite, don't put your body through colon cleanse tea's and 2 days of fasting for the sake of a couple of pounds. 

Your body is a temple *prayer hands emoji* see how you can decorate it with this post.

What are your opinions on crash diets? Do you have a particular way of staying healthy?

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