The “Fad Diet” Cycle
The “Fad Diet” cycle:
We have all seen the classic “get a six pack in six weeks with this magic pill and training program!”. The sad part is I believe we have all fallen for it, we purchased that “3 easy payments of $29.99”. The reality is these just don’t work. Even if they do, they cause long term damage and often leave us back to where we started or worse off. Until we find the newest greatest formula just to try it again and start this cycle all over again.
This is what we call the “Fad Diet Cycle”:
We are fed up with our current weight and how we feel so we see this oh so wonderful diet, weight loss pill or workout program and we dive right in. Typically, we will have good success with the first fad diet we try. We will drop some weight, clothes will feel a little looser and our confidence slowly starts to climb. Then what happens, we start to see less and less progress and we reach this point we call a “plateau”. We get frustrated, we are not where we want to be and the dramatic sacrifices we made to get to this point seem less and less worth it. So we go back to our normal lifestyle or we even binge.
This sends us into a spiral backwards and we land right where we started or a few steps behind. Months down the road, we reach for our favorite pair of pants and they fit tighter and tighter. We remember how the last “fad diet” seemed to work okay for a while so we hop on the internet and find the newest and greatest. The cycle begins again.
So how do we stop this? Why does this happen?
This happens because the creators behind these miracle diets play right into your emotions. They know how you are feeling and tend to grab you at your weakest or your lowest low. They make it seem so easy, they dump tons of money into celebrity endorsements, and they flash successful transformation right in front of you. The part they fail to mention is, if the results they are claiming are actually happening, they are causing some serious health issues in your future. It is not realistic and it is not sustainable. Living a life of solitude, avoiding social outings by sticking to your carb-less fish and veggie Tupperware will not last.
How do we stop this? Well this is the part I am here to help with. I want to provide 3 easy steps to get out of this cycle:
1. Change your mindset. Understand what is realistic and what is not. Thirty pounds in thirty days is NOT realistic. If you decide to make the changes to better your physical and mental health you must understand that it is a lifestyle. It is a gradual change over time. You will mess up along the way but it is not worth throwing away the overall goal. It is a day in and day out battle where each day you have the opportunity to better yourself. Over time you will see those 30 pounds come off in a maintainable way.
2. Don’t dive in the deep end. What do I mean by this? Well there is such a thing of a slow and steady start. Most of the time people dive right in, head first and hit it hard cutting down to 1,500 calories and spending 2 hours in the gym. This WILL burn your body out. Your motivation will slowly diminish. We don’t want that to happen.
I’m all about building health habits, one at a time. What does that look like? Start by cutting out that extra order of fries, that second can of coke you have mid-day. Start by going to the gym 2 times per week. Get yourself familiar with the equipment, get comfortable and know that you can take on this challenge and you can make that change you desire so much.
3. Be consistent. Hold yourself accountable or find that buddy to take this journey with. By being consistent and making small changes, they gradually will change into good habits that will last forever and make it easier for you to live with. Understand that this is a lifestyle. It is a commitment to yourself that you will take this opportunity to better yourself and add years and happiness to your life.
To learn more about how you can break up with the dieting mentality, CLICK HERE to download my complementary guide, 5 Tips to Ditch the Diet and Transform Your Body.
