5 Reasons Why You Should Never Diet Again

It has been theorised that most diets will fail within the first week. Not only will most people fail at their diet, they actually have a higher chance of gaining weight after. I will be the first to admit, when I was younger I attempted to diet. Actually, let’s be 100% honest, I wouldn’t call it dieting in the slightest. Any time I’ve “dieted”, I’ve actually danced around an eating disorder. My version of dieting, extreme restriction with allocated binge days. Sounds totally healthy right?

After I got diagnosed with my autoimmune disorder, I went to the other extreme. I followed the list of what most people can eat. This did not work for me for one big reason: NOT EVERY PERSON IS THE SAME. For example, most people with Crohn’s tend to be able to eat soy. It’s often encouraged to remove dairy entirely from your diet and substitute it with soy. Yea...no….Soy is a huge NO for me. I’m pretty sure smelling it causes my body to hate me.

So how was I able to redirect my inherent American nature to cater to the extremes? It definitely took some time, but through a lot of experimentation I’ve found a few tips on why diets simply do not work for me and why I will never diet again:

The body tends to rebel. I may be alone in this stance, and that’s ok. Whenever I try to diet or restrict what I’m eating, I begin to obsess with all the foods I cannot eat. Usually, my body tends to crave pretty healthy foods. In a sense, your body starts to go through a type of withdrawal which can often leave you lacking energy and moody. This tends to occur when we decide to restrict too much at once. An easy way to fix this (if you are choosing to diet), slowly add changes and restrictions. Start the first week by cutting out fast food. The following week cut out soda. Continue to eliminate foods from your diet until you reach your goal.

Eating foods, you do not like for the sake of them being healthy. I feel like I constantly hear people complain about how much they hate what they're eating when dieting. This seems like an obvious solution, but maybe DON’T EAT FOOD YOU DON’T LIKE. If you’re not enjoying the foods you’re eating, the chances are that diet is going to crash and burn fast.

Social Pressure. In most cultures, social gatherings tend to revolve around food. Whether it be nightly family dinners, catching a meal with friends, or going out for coffee on a first date, we tend to reward ourselves with food. When you’re on a diet, this social aspect of your life can be severely hindered. You may have all the self-restraint in the world, but eventually, you’ll be tempted to eat a few chips or have that small bite of cake. From there, it’s very likely that the diet will be destroyed and self-deprecation will set in leaving you feeling like a failure.

The Mental Health Implications. You may be asking yourself, “How can diets cause mental health issues?”. When most people diet, they restrict various things in their diet. They tend to make goals such as no fast food, no added sugars, and no soft drinks. But what happens when you slip up and have a ginger ale? Or when you forgot to grab your lunch one morning and needed to quickly run through a drive-thru? Chances are, you’re going to get upset and beat yourself up because you slipped up. One can often become incredibly frustrated or depressed because of this. Instead of setting goals for what you’re going to remove, you should focus on what you’re going to add. This way, even if you eat a little amount of the food or only go on a short walk, you’re going to feel accomplished and better about yourself.

The final reason why I hate diets is definitely a personal one. I don’t diet because of my autoimmune disorder. I’m already extremely limited on the foods I’m able to eat, why push the envelope and make it worse? I can't cut carbs out of my diet as carbs tend to keep my disorder stable. I can't eat too many leafy greens, fibre, or acidic foods as it tends to exacerbate my symptoms

Unfortunately, western society has very much become influenced by instant gratification. We want access to everything immediately. This is where the appeal of certain diets come into play. We want to lose the weight now and fast. But the weight didn’t magically appear in one day did it? NO! It gradually accumulated. This is why it is important to make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes. It’s ok to eat healthy foods and occasionally have a burger. The world will not end because of it.

What are your thoughts on diets? Have any diets have worked for you? Let us know in the comments below!

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