Whole30, vegan, plant-based, paleo, South Beach, keto, carnivore, raw foods, juice-only.
The sheer amount of diets out there is insane and it’s constantly growing. That list is just a small fraction of them.
Plus, thanks to social media and other forms of media, we’re bombarded with the latest and greatest ones all day long.
You’re also more exposed to before and after photos thanks to targeted ads.
There’s even ads at the gym for other programs to try.
This makes us believe that diets are the way to go and the only way to lose weight, aside from exercising.
But is that really true?
Today’s guide will help answer that question and so much more — you may be surprised by what you discover.
To start though, you’ll see a real-world example of what happens when you go on a diet.
What the Biggest Loser Contestants Have Taught Us
If you’ve ever heard of the show The Biggest Losers, than you’ve seen firsthand some incredible transformations.
If you’re not familiar, contestants on the show would lose anywhere from 15 to 25 pounds per week by exercising twice a day and eating a controlled, “ healthy” diet.
They start out under the trainer’s watchful eye before moving back home to finish the journey on their own.
By the end of the show, many of the contestants had triple digit weight-loss numbers and were down an entire person.
But, as you may have heard before, that’s an insane amount of weight to lose each week.
So the question is, was that weight loss really sustainable?
Fortunately, one researcher, Kevin D. Hall, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, set out to answer that question and more.
To do that, he assembled a team of researchers who studied 14 previous contestants to see how they fared six years later.
And what they discovered was mind-blowing.
The contestants actually slowed down their metabolisms so much so that they had to eat far less calories — by as much as 800! — than someone of the same weight as them just to maintain their current weight.
So one day of overeating even just a little was enough to tip them over their calorie targets for the day.
And these splurges turned into fat for almost all of the contestants that were studied.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous guide, this is because your body is fighting to keep you at your set point, regardless of what you want your weight to be.
So despite months of hard work, they were still fighting an uphill stream of trying to get back to their starting weight.
Another problem comes in with the sheer amount of calories needed to shave off just to maintain — after all, 800 calories is no tiny amount, it’s actually a BigMac and a half in calories.
By trying to cut your calories by such a significant amount like that you’re going to find yourself hungry, tired, cranky, and in need of carbs.
This can lead to binges and feeling out of control around certain foods.
Combined, all of these factors can contribute to more weight gain.
And The Biggest Loser contestants proved this, some of which have gained back over a 100 pounds sadly.
There are two reasons that could be to blame here:
Diets Don’t Work and They’re Not Sustainable
For this section, I’m going to refer to Chapter 5 of Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole, and Elyse Resch (this is not an affiliate link and it’s the book in the center of the top row).
This chapter is all about rejecting the dieting mentality, and for good reasons.
First, according to the book, dieting often triggers overeating and what’s known as the Dieter’s Dilemma.
The Dieter’s Dilemma in Action
Two psychologists, John Foreyt and Ken Goodrick, created this idea of The Dieter’s Dilemma, and it’s incredibly accurate.
See if you can relate:
At some point, you get this burning desire to lose weight and somehow get slimmer.
This causes you to go on a diet and/or ramp up your exercise routine.
Through the “dieting” and restriction though, you find yourself craving the very foods you “should be avoiding”.
After a few days or weeks of this, the cravings snowball and get much worse.
Eventually, you give into “off-limit” foods.
But, since you’ve been so “good” and have restricted yourself for a period of time, you decide to reward yourself with a little extra.
The problem is that you can’t stop there and end up overeating all of it.
It’s extremely difficult, as Tribole and Resch point out, to stop yourself from eating when you’ve gone through a period of restriction and undereating.
This causes you to gain back the weight you may have lost and it often leads to a few extra pounds too.
Not only that, you usually feel worse and depleted like you’ve failed once again.
Can you relate to this?
The only way to break free from this negative cycle is to learn to master Intuitive Eating, an entirely different approach, according to Tribole and Resch.
I’ll dive into this topic specifically in a later guide, but, for now, we still have plenty more to go over.
The authors of Intuitive Eating also talk about something called:
The Diet Void
Tribole and Rescho point out that diets were created, and will continue to be created, as a way to make money.
Whether that’s through quick weight loss shakes or fat burning supplements there’s always money to be made.
This is why so many diets come and go yet none of them are truly sustainable.
Another component of the diet void is the hope that somehow this next diet will be the one, according to the authors.
Have you been there?
After researching another way of eating, you’re convinced that it’s going to finally shed the weight and be your magic bullet.
I hear this all the time.
Should I do keto?
I was thinking of going plant-based to lose some weight. What are your thoughts?
I’ve gone low-carb for 20 years and it’s the only thing that works for me.
But, as you’ve probably already seen for yourself, it never does.
Instead, you try a handful of diets and get the same disappointing results.
That’s why, as Intuitive Eating suggests, it’s time to ditch the diet mentality for good.
In doing so, you reject grabbing onto small slices of hope that another fad diet will come in to save the day.
Rather than doing that, you come to terms with the fact that diets just don’t work. And they can cause much more harm than good, as the authors suggest.
Each time you “fail” at a new diet, you experience low-self esteem and a general distrust that you can’t actually do this.
This repeated failure over time causes you to believe that’s true.
But it’s not just you or me for that matter.
The studies show, according to Intuitive Eating (IE), that diets increase your risk for gaining weight, the exact opposite of what you’re trying to do, and this is seen in children, teens, and adults.
One of the biggest reasons why this happens is due to the fact that diets are not sustainable.
There’s only so long you can keep saying no to your favorite things before you go in reverse and go overboard.
Tribole and Resch also add that this next issue should be eliminated too:
Break Free from Pseudo Dieting
This point is similar to the guide I wrote on what to do instead of tracking calories.
Essentially, the following actions, while the goal at heart may be good, are actually detrimental to making real, long-lasting progress.
Not only that, they can swing you in the opposite direction leading to binges, more self-doubt, and added weight gain.
That’s why this list should serve as the bad habits to start breaking today.
And those include, according to the authors of IE:
- Counting or limiting carb grams or calories
- Sticking to foods that are “safe” (low calorie, low sugar, low fat)
- Making up for eating “naughty” foods by exercising more or eating less
- Starving yourself the next day after a holiday or a night out because you overate
- Using coffee or diet drinks to combat hunger pangs
- Eating healthy in public while secretly eating “bad” foods at home, known as false food face according to Tribole and Resch
- Second guessing what you deserve or earned to eat
- Choosing specific diets, such as keto, gluten-free, or vegan just to lose weight
Now that you have a little bit more background under your belt, you’re ready for the exact game plan to help you:
Ditch the Diet Mentality in 4 Easy Steps
Before diving into the actual steps, Tribole and Resch share an important message from Stephen Covey, the author of the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
While his book isn’t geared towards nutritional advice, his theory holds true all the same.
Covey mentions that most people are attracted to quick fixes but they don’t ever stop to think about the long-term ramifications.
The problem is, as he says, that these shortcuts don’t ever solve the issue and, what’s worse, they can exacerbate it.
That’s exactly what happens with dieting.
You’ve probably seen this firsthand too.
Despite trying several diets and finding success with a small handful in the short term, nothing seems to stick once you stop following “the rules.”
And then you’re left rebounding, which can easily bump the scale up higher than your starting weight.
Instead of getting to that point, follow this protocol from Tribole and Resch:
Step 1: Recognize and Acknowledge the Damage that Dieting Causes
The first major step to take is to admit that diets don’t work.
Not just for you; for anyone.
If they did, we’d all be in better shape, which we’re not.
Not only that, diets create this starvation state where your body is unsure of when its next burst of calories will come from.
So, as a safety mechanism, your body stores some calories for later.
Do this enough times and you’ll also make it harder for your body to lose weight since this will start to slow your metabolism down too — just like with The Biggest Losers.
The authors also mention that diets lead to binging and cravings in the short term and serious conditions such as premature death and heart disease long-term.
Some other unwanted side effects include feeling like you’ve lost control and can’t stop overeating and stress because you’re back in the same ol’ cycle.
As mentioned earlier, this destroys your self-confidence and causes you to lose trust in yourself — “I can’t be trusted around cake.”
So step 1 is to see that diets cause more harm than good and it’s okay to finally ditch them once and for all.
Now, this doesn’t mean you have a free pass to eat whatever you want. I’ll share more on this in the next guide on Intuitive Eating so stay tuned.
Moving along to the next step…
Step 2: Be Aware of Diet Mentality Traits and Thinking
For most of us, we’ve picked up diet tricks over the course of one or two decades at least, maybe even more.
And now it’s time to finally ditch those and start shifting gears.
By telling yourself that a food is “off-limits”, you build a rebellion defense where all you want to do, similar to teens, is have what you’re being told you can’t have.
So if your new diet says you can’t have french fries or carbs, all you may start to think about are those very things.
As the authors mention, this also happens when someone makes a comment about your appearance or even your weight.
So if your partner mentions that you shouldn’t be eating ice cream if you want to lose weight, they’re overstepping your personal boundaries and making things worse.
In return, you may be inclined to say, screw you! I’ll eat what I want.
And so you do and end up spiraling into “a sea of self-doubt and shame that ends in disaster,” as Tribole and Resch mention.
With Intuitive Eating, no food is off-limits.
This gives you freedom to enjoy the foods and drinks you want without going overboard.
Another point here from the book that builds on this one is that this is not about willpower.
It’s not that you can’t follow a diet and you’re a failure.
It’s that they don’t work.
Intuitive Eating, on the other hand, makes it so that you can’t fail.
Even if you eat an “unhealthy food”, you can safely bounceback without spiraling out of control.
Because you always know that that food is available.
So each setback is a learning experience that helps you grow instead of a letdown for not being 100% perfect in your eating.
No one is perfect.
And we weren’t designed that way for a reason.
The next thing to ditch is one that may be a little harder; it even was/still is for me.
Step 3: Get Rid of the Scale
Be honest. Do you weigh yourself every morning or even every week?
Again, it may seem like this is a good way to keep track of your health, but it can have just the opposite effect.
Depending on the number you see, this could determine whether you have a good day or a bad one.
And no matter which one you fall under, it can still cause you to swing one way or another.
If your scale reading was “bad” or high, it may cause you to throw in the towel and keep going in that direction.
A good result can lead to more restriction or, on the flipside, even a treat yourself mentality that swings it back in the wrong direction.
You’ve probably already heard that the scale isn’t the best indicator of progress and it’s true.
Three to five pound weight losses, while they may seem like a victory, are nothing more than water weight, not fat loss.
You can’t lose fat like that overnight, according to Tribole and Resch.
Fluctuating hormones, water intake, hotter weather, more exercise, what you ate the previous day, if you’ve been traveling. These are just some of the factors that can cause you to lose water weight not true fat loss.
That’s why your scale weight fluctuates so much — it’s really changes in water weight.
The problem is, we rely so heavily on this gauge as an indicator of our hard work.
A “bad” reading “devalues your hard work,” according to the authors.
And that’s another reason why it’s time to ditch the scale and the constant weighing.
There’s better ways to track progress — such as how you feel, before and after photos, and how your clothes fit — that are much more sustainable.
The last point to remember here includes:
Step 4: Be Compassionate Towards Yourself
Intuitive Eating teaches you to rely on yourself and your own inner cues.
It also encourages you to show yourself compassion — if you wouldn’t say it to a friend, you shouldn’t say it to yourself.
So you’ll have to quit telling yourself that you’ve been bad and must pay for your actions because you enjoyed a holiday or a treat meal.
But, again, this doesn’t mean you should see this as a free pass to indulge on anything and everything in sight.
That’s where Intuitive Eating comes in.
You’ll need to start relying on your own inner cues.
Are you actually hungry? Or are you just bored? Or stressed?
Do you want to enjoy some treats during the holiday?
Go for it!
But, there are ways to do this without sabotaging your efforts.
The next guide will share how to practice Intuitive Eating, but, until then, I’ll leave off with this one last point from the book:
“Once your body discovers that you’re not starving anymore, you’ll reset inner signals to guide eating.”
And that’s exactly what we’ll dive into next time.
To wrap this guide up…
Ditch the Diet Mentality and Free Yourself Once and for All
If you’ve made it this far — thanks! — you may be feeling a little overwhelmed.
Don’t sweat it! This is to be expected.
After all, this mentality has been drilled into your head since you were a kid or a young teen.
So it’s not going away overnight and this will take some time.
Instead of going overboard by indulging in whatever you want, start paying attention to your inner cues, along with keeping the four steps mentioned in this guide in mind.
Notice when you’re really hungry or when you’re just bored and you’ll start on the road to Intuitive Eating.
Until the next guide, start working your way through the steps and don’t worry about much more yet.
Here’s a helpful chart that shows some of the mental shifts to make towards the right direction:
As always, I’m just an email away — devan@behappynothangry.com — if you have any questions. I’d love to hear from you!
To ditching diets for good,
Devan