„Have you ever thought about how many diets, detoxes, and plans you’ve tried in your life? When we have new students joining the Mindful Eating Method, on average they’ve tried at least three diets, plans, or trends before coming to us to seek sustainable solutions. The crucial point here is that they must not work, right? Otherwise, they wouldn’t come to us later. And you know what, our students are not alone! This is becoming increasingly common as so many new trends, quick fixes, and diets are introduced to the market every week. This inundation in the health and wellness space leads to more and more people feeling stressed about eating, overwhelmed, and just not wanting to diet anymore. Can you relate? Our mission here at Nutrition Stripped is to help you gain the confidence to eat with ease so you can leave diets behind and make peace with food. To achieve this, we need to step off the diet train and learn why these diets do more harm than good. Here, I’ll delve into the 5 reasons why diets don’t work for most of us and discuss what you can do instead to mindfully care for your body and yourself.
Why Diets Don’t Work
When we talk about diets, we mean the decision to adhere to food guidelines and restrictions due to personal choices (think reducing carbohydrates, counting macros, or following a strict meal plan). Here, we are not referring to medically necessary diets led by medical professionals (e.g., low FODMAP diet for irritable bowel syndrome or gluten-free diet for celiac disease). Nowadays, most diets involve some form of calorie restriction. This may mean restricting a certain food group or simply reducing intake. In my experience as a registered dietitian and Mindful Eating Method coach, working with hundreds of our students, I’ve seen the effects this can have. When your body experiences this energy loss, some things can happen both physically and mentally: Increased cravings for starchy carbohydrates, especially those with higher sugar content Decreased confidence and ease around eating A tendency to focus too much on food consumption and food choices Increased guilt, stress, and anxiety around eating Loss of control related to specific foods Loss of control in certain eating scenarios Increase in digestive complications These complications lead to a myriad of additional challenges that can prevent you from sustaining this eating pattern long term. Let’s take a closer look at what this is.
1. A diet can take the joy and pleasure out of the eating experience
If you know me, you’ve probably heard me say this before, and it’s worth repeating: eating is more than just nourishment. It’s about tradition, culture, pleasure, and joy, and it’s okay to celebrate the many roles food plays in our lives! Every day, I cook meals that not only nourish my body but also make me so happy and full of joy. I love standing alone in the kitchen or cooking with my husband Jesse. I really enjoy trying new recipes with new ingredients, and then sitting down to enjoy a delicious meal (not always „Instagram-worthy“). When we cook and eat together, we like to talk about our day and our plans for the future. It’s a great time to connect. Eating is a powerful way to bring nourishment and joy into our lives, but unfortunately, so many diets are really strict and rigid, completely ignoring this. They take the joy out of the eating experience and can make you feel that cooking is a chore or that your meals are unsatisfying. They can cause you to view food only as a means to an end and constantly look forward to the next time you can eat the food you really want but „can’t,“ which leads to a lot of stress because you’re focusing on what you should and shouldn’t eat. Instead, focus on creating a positive, joyful experience around your meals. This could involve finding recipes that excite you or simply sitting at the table without devices or distractions. It could mean turning on music while preparing a meal or inviting a friend for a mini potluck evening. Refreshing food in these ways can give you a whole new appreciation for nourishing your body with food, love, and joy.
2. Short-term thinking – start and stop mentality
The second reason why diets fail for most people so often is short-term thinking. The 21 days this, 30 days that. What should you do after that time span? You’re supposed to try to achieve a big result as quickly as possible. Often, they don’t teach you how to integrate it into your life in a balanced way. Shift from this short-term, uniform thinking to long-term, sustainable thinking. Make decisions for yourself that you can realistically stick to for years. Ask yourself: Can I do this every day? If not, don’t add it to your life. Think about it – sticking to a diet can be a lot of work. You have to learn the rules, buy the right ingredients, follow the meal plan, and possibly bypass or avoid your normal social outings. And then you follow it for say, 30 days. Imagine what would happen if instead, you focused all that time and energy on learning a new skill or developing a habit that would last much longer? Instead of following a trend or popular diet, focus your energy on perhaps just cooking more meals at home. It’s this kind of long-term thinking that can give you the skills to take care of your health 365 days a year.
3. They often require you to eat foods that are „numb“
Oh man, we’ve all been there, myself included. We’ve done so „well“ with our diet, but then we go out to eat or go to a social gathering and are offered things that we „can’t have.“ This leads to an increasing hyper awareness and hyper-reactivity and a focus on choosing your foods. Right? And that can lead to two unhealthy extremes: Either isolate yourself from others to avoid this temptation, or indulge too much, sometimes even to the point of feeling sick. So here’s my tip: Do not follow guidelines that require you to eliminate certain foods or food groups to lose weight or because you saw someone on social media do it. Eliminating foods for the purpose of a diet without medical necessity does much more harm than good. It contributes to the yo-yo diet cycle where you are constantly „on“ and „off track“ and constantly dieting again.
4. Diets are uniform diets – they do not consider your unique body and your life
Following the guidelines of a popular diet doesn’t always align with your individual desires and needs. Even though choosing a diet and following it may seem easy because you don’t have to think about anything, in the end, you’re adhering to rules that you think you „should“ follow without actually weighing what you need in your life and why. This can lead to a major discrepancy between your inherent desires and needs and what you actually do. As a result, you may feel guilty, stressed, and overwhelmed about eating, rather than peaceful and relaxed. Instead, focus on what you really want. What really works well for you and your life? Write down exactly what health looks like and feels like for you, and why you want these things in your life. Create your wellness vision. When you have this clarity, you will make decisions that align with your individual needs rather than others‘ statements.
5. They require you to do too much at once, making compliance difficult
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