Archive for 2012-10-21
Why Fad Diets are Destined to FAIL
Why do fad diets fail? Why do things fall when you drop them? These two phenomena are almost as common, and happen to be based on straightforward laws of physics that control the workings of the universe we live in. There's a hypothesis in science that says there are infinitely many universes, and anything you can imagine, and quite a lot that you can't, is happening in an infinite number of them. So we can surmise, if this is true, that somewhere out there there are places where things don't fall when you drop them and fad diets work beautifully. But we don't live in any of those places, so let's focus on this place.
Fad diets are popular, usually, because humans want to get quick results for very little effort. And because we are gullible. But here's the thing: Fad diets are, by definition, weird. They have in common this attribute: They promote eating in ways that are highly unusual and impossible to maintain over any reasonable length of time. Think about some of them: The Soup Diet. The Grapefruit Juice Diet. The Paleo Diet. The No Carb Diet. The Cookie Diet. The Desert for Breakfast Diet. Just to name a few.
So why don't they work? (And by "work" I mean result in weight loss that can be maintained permanently.) They don't work because they can't be maintained. Who can stick with cookies forever? Maybe the Cookie Monster, but no one else. Soup? You'd get so sick of it you'd be ready to do bodily harm to the next person who dares come between you and a solid food meal.
So what does work? What can be maintained for the rest of your life without feelings of deprivation? A nutrient dense, calorie sparse diet, with enough calories to maintain a healthy weight, can be maintained because it avoids addiction to high carb foods that cause the sugar high, sugar crash cycle. It works because it creates a healthier, more energetic body that is its own reward. And it works because it acknowledges the laws of physics that govern the universe we find ourselves in.
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Fad diets are popular, usually, because humans want to get quick results for very little effort. And because we are gullible. But here's the thing: Fad diets are, by definition, weird. They have in common this attribute: They promote eating in ways that are highly unusual and impossible to maintain over any reasonable length of time. Think about some of them: The Soup Diet. The Grapefruit Juice Diet. The Paleo Diet. The No Carb Diet. The Cookie Diet. The Desert for Breakfast Diet. Just to name a few.
So why don't they work? (And by "work" I mean result in weight loss that can be maintained permanently.) They don't work because they can't be maintained. Who can stick with cookies forever? Maybe the Cookie Monster, but no one else. Soup? You'd get so sick of it you'd be ready to do bodily harm to the next person who dares come between you and a solid food meal.
So what does work? What can be maintained for the rest of your life without feelings of deprivation? A nutrient dense, calorie sparse diet, with enough calories to maintain a healthy weight, can be maintained because it avoids addiction to high carb foods that cause the sugar high, sugar crash cycle. It works because it creates a healthier, more energetic body that is its own reward. And it works because it acknowledges the laws of physics that govern the universe we find ourselves in.
Follow me on Twitter. Please subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up for free email updates.
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