Breaking up with fad diets
Why do so many people swear by them if they aren’t as good?
In some cases, fad or restrictive diets seem to work in the initial phase, they even provide the dieter with some exceptional blood work for the first time (possibly not for long), and other times, they help some people instill some good habits. But in most cases, these diets stop working or get people into unhealthy behaviors, illnesses, or malnutrition, if not lead them to regain the weight lost and then some.
Let’s explore why and what can be done about it or instead of. Because anything a fad or restrictive diet can do, balanced optimal nutrition can do better.
Over the years, one thing I’ve been observing in nutrition is that fad diets only become more extreme versions of themselves and are remarketed a few years later, exactly when the previous ones are being ditched because they either stopped working or they weren’t sustainable and sooner or later people run into one issue or another.
Low-Carb, Atkins, Paleo, ketogenic, carnivore, snake, fasting for longer than you should, and whatever other nonsense you can imagine in between. Same with the Mediterranean, plant-based, vegetarian, vegan, whole 30, etc. Diets tend to go from moderately restrictive to plain insane for no other reason than the previous one stopped working and people don’t know where to go other than a more extreme version of what seemed to work. But, more restrictive or extreme is not better or more effective, it is only more restrictive and more extreme; thus, less flexible and balanced is what it is. And they have an amazingly high failure rate in the long run.
Mind you, sometimes eliminating some food groups such as the “eating clean” crowd, leads the person to consume more whole foods that are more nutritious. And if they stop there, and they still allow some of the foods they love and don’t get obsessive over “clean eating” to the point of orthorexia or deal with any restrictive/binge episodes that can send them to eating disorder territory, it may actually improve their overall nutrition profile and they can happily say, “it worked for me”. The problem is that this is not always the case, and more often than not, the extreme approach does come back to haunt you in one way or another.
Most fad or restrictive diets give some initial result for weight loss, in some cases, the elimination of certain foods leads the person to eat less or fewer calories so weight loss happens. In other cases, the replacement of calorie-dense foods with nutrient-dense foods gives the person more energy, better nutrition, and a good feeling; in others, when they introduce more vegetables or more protein, they find that it leads to better overall health, all that is good in the initial phase until the extreme nonsense hits the fan. And nonsense comes when their version of the diet stops working and the person starts beating themselves up thinking they aren’t dieting hard enough so they need to go more extreme, or in the worst cases, believing that there’s something wrong with their metabolism.
You’ve listened to every guru and every opinionated individual who told you “It worked for me, you should try it” until, (what they didn’t get to tell you), it stopped working or gave them a disordered eating pattern or behavior, a serious eating disorder (that are often not willing to recognize), malnutrition, other medical complications, psychological issues, etc.
This is in no way people’s fault because when you are doing the most hardcore version of one diet and you stall, the only logical thing to do is go more extreme or try again but “better”; so that’s when you go from whichever diet gave some result to the next expecting it to work better, and then the next and then… then what? Now what?! HELP!!!!
This is the point where some people finally stop and either get serious about getting professional help, sign up for coaching (if they haven’t developed a condition needing medical/therapist treatment), or get frustrated and give up, or even worse, end up with some sort of “unknown” or unrecognized medical/metabolic/hormonal condition that some influencer is probably telling them that they can cure by guess what? Following some other miraculous or restrictive diet…
Others remain in this cycle of listening to those that had some initial result or buying into the next fad for years while yo-yo dieting and hopping from one diet to the next, I mean, there’s a reason why you have so many to choose from because if they’d work for good, there wouldn’t be that many more to keep choosing from.
I’ve worked with many people in these situations, and there was not even one time that they weren’t happy to finally switch to a more moderate and balanced approach that worked with their preferences. Even if they had to be patient about it and trust the process. It may take more work on their part because it seriously involves some re-learning and habit changes, but in the end, they don’t feel restricted or stuck in a vicious extreme cycle anymore and their hard work, pays off once and for all because now, they know what to do to maintain.
Some people need to hit rock bottom to stop and realize that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results won’t miraculously work this time.
And the more aggressive or restrictive we go, the less sustainable it will be. It is important to recognize, that this is not your fault, it’s human physiology.
Drastic measures work for competition or stage-ready situations but only when sustained for short periods of time. Attempting them for long periods or forever is not only not going to be healthy, nor sustainable, but also not a way of living because the restrictive/binge cycles aren’t a fun place to be in and they do lead to disordered eating behaviors that may end up in a serious condition.
That’s why fad diets, random and capricious elimination without reason, restrictions, and drastic measures that lead to more restrictions and drastic measures aren’t the way to accomplish any long-term goal.
There is a better way and if you think about how many years you’ve been spending looking for a way that didn’t help then being patient and doing it right with one step at a time, may be the way you’ve been looking for. One habit at a time, in a year you may be able to instill about 6 habits and end in a much better place. Stop the nonsense. There is a better way
For more:
Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310474556_Fad_Diets_Lifestyle_Promises_and_Health_Challenges
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