Why Diets Fail

A lot of diets are tried. And a lot of diets fail. And when I say diet here, I am talking about set up, follow the rules, eat this-not that, kind of diets.

For the most part, I am not a big fan of "diets." I do like the idea of dieting, literally meaning controlling one's intake of food, but I do not like dieting with diets. Get it?

To me there are behavioral reasons why diets fail. The point of this article isn't to make you feel like a failure, or tear apart other diets. I want you to be able to take away from this some helpful hints of what to expect, what you could possibly fix, and what you think about dieting in general.

First of all, when people go on diets they usually start due to some fad diet, someone's success story, or sometimes a personal goal. This can be great! I want people to have a reason for dieting. Whether it's losing weight, cutting fat, getting more calories, eating more whole foods, or cutting down on sugar, there are plenty of good reasons. I want you to go in with an idea of what you want to accomplish. Yeah, a goal. Here's what's not a good idea. Using others' success stories as a goal for yourself. I'll say it again, but your body is different then everyone else's. It could work amazingly for someone and have the opposite effect on someone else. Keep that in mind.

When most people start diets, it's fun and exciting. This is mainly because you are eating new foods and hopefully trying new things. This is the point! Don't lose that part of your diet. All good dieting behaviors require some variety. Otherwise, BORING. This can happen with a lot of those "you can't eat that" diets. Try to keep things new and refreshing, or go back and rehash some old recipes that work. You can still follow most of your diets, but try to think outside the box. Get in the kitchen or go look online. Cheating is usually discouraged, but understand that there's cheating and then there's ruining your whole diet. Cheating is like eating that food you probably shouldn't once per week. Ruining the diet is giving yourself exceptions everyday or at every meal.

People love to look for loopholes. The best example I can think of is vegetarians going vegetarian to be healthier, but they max on french fries whenever they can. Don't do that. Don't look for cheap exceptions. You're just "fooling" yourself.

My last point is an important one, especially for you athletes. Make sure your diet can suit your lifestyle. I recently read into the Paleo diet (eating like a caveman pretty much) and came to the conclusion that it seems like a pretty cool diet to try, but could be disastrous to athletes. It cuts out grains. That's a main source of energy for athletes. Athletes who burn through grains so fast it's ok to eat them. Pretty much at all times. So for you athletes out there, read into ANY diet you are considering. Talk to those who know about it or maybe just ask friends and teammates to see what worked for them. You don't want to hurt your game by trying to make it better. Make sense? If you want the biggest tip from me about dieting and playing sports? Eat more whole grains, vegetables, and drink more water. Start there. That simple.

Just be careful everyone. Make your diet into dieting, not the other way around. I hope that made sense ;)