5 Reasons Why Do Diets Fail?

Diet Makes Your Fat Cells Fatter.

Every woman has about 30 billion fat cells. Such cells can grow in size and number – up to 100 billion or so. Diets only speed this fattening process. “Trying to starve a fat cell only improves its ability to retain fat, Diet acts essentially as fitness programs for fat cells: They boost the ability of fat cells to store fat, to take in new fat, and in some cases to increase their numbers.” Why? Evolution. Fat cells evolved to keep us alive during times of famine, and they react to a low-calorie diet as just that – famine. Fat cells respond to famine, or calorie restriction, by holding on to the fat they already have and by becoming more aggressive at taking in new fat once the diet is over.

Diets Mess with Your Enzymes.

Our cells manufacture enzymes, tiny protein molecules that either encourage the body to burn fat or store fat, depending on the type. Dieting can double the number of fat storing enzymes and halve the amount of fat-burning enzymes.

Diets put the Brakes on your Metabolism.

When you diet, you risk starving your body of vital nutrients because nutrient intake is tied to calorie intake. Very low calorie diets can trigger a complex chain of reactions that will eventually tell your metabolism to stop burning so many calories. You may lose weight initially after cutting calories. Eventually,  however, the pounds become harder to drop. Then, when you start eating normally, it takes your metabolic rate a while to get back up to speed – and you gain weight.

Diets make you Rebellious.

The more you focus on what foods you are allowed to eat and what foods you are not allowed to eat, the more deprived you feel. Then you rebel. Instead of just eating a small amount of the “bad” food, you binge, eating well beyond fullness. Such binge eating can actually make you wolf down more food than you normally would without diet. Binge eating can also makes you store  more fat than you normally would had you spread the same number of calories throughout the day.

Diets don’t Last.

You need to change your eating and exercise habits for a lifetime to lose weight and keep it off. By definition, however, diets mean temporary deprivation. So while you may lose a few pounds, once you return to your normal eating habits, the weight returns. Diets do more than hamper your weight-loss efforts. They can hamper your health.  Restraining your appetite causes stress and anxiety. You end up so preoccupied with dieting that you some of your mental sharpness, needing time to balance your checkbook, forgetting to get milk when you’re at the store, and not hitting  the brakes as fast as usual when other cars stop suddenly. Even the most modest calorie restriction can lead to low vitamin levels, causing fatigue. Rapid weight loss can even make you moody.