95% of diets fail

[Keith]

I was thinking about that statistic: 95% of people who go on diets end up fatter than before.

This is generally cited as an intrinsic flaw in dieting itself, and I was wondering if this is genuinely the case.

Diets are, essentially, plans - plans for eating. Looking at them, basically any diet should result in weight loss (though some go about it in healthier ways than others).

So are the plans themselves flawed? Or is the problem that most people don't have the associated skills to implement and follow through a plan?

Is the problem that diets are a physical plan that assume a certain mentality to pull them off? If so, what are the associated mental tools that should go along with a diet plan?

Thoughts?

[PianoManGidley]

I think many people just dive in without getting all the information and/or end up "cheating" too many times and whatnot. I personally don't believe in getting healthy on diet alone--exercise should always be incorporated. But that takes more work, more knowledge.

I think a large part of the problem is our "something for nothing" mentality that has become far too prominent in our culture. We want all our problems solved instantly--by someone else. We want a pill that makes us lose the fat, get fit, and feel young and vibrant again in a short time span. Technology and medicine have made great strides, but people's expectations get too unrealistically high, and too many companies prey on that flawed mentality. And with diets, real or fake, if there's a buck to be made by them, someone on the receiving end of that payment is going to eventually say, "It's not OUR fault--YOU didn't do it right!" ...Which is essentially true, but in many cases, both parties are in the wrong--the seller, for not providing the customer with enough information, and the customer, for not doing enough research/having enough dedication.

Everyone's bodies are different, and some people's results just will take longer than others. And as I stated in another thread, genetics of general body shape come into play, too--but the outward appearance can often belie the inner health.

[escapee]

I'm on a no junk food diet and it works fine, i guess that belongs to the remaining 5% ?

[Ali from The Office Diet]

I suspect that thinking about a healthy eating plan as a "diet" is part of the problem. "Dieting", for many people, is a short-term quick-fix to a problem which has built up over many years.

If someone goes on a crash diet, loses a few stone, then goes straight back to their old way of eating ... is it the diet that failed, or them?

Also, losing weight too rapidly tends to make the body panic and pile the pounds back on as soon as more food is available.

I think if more diets emphasised sustainable and sensible changes to eating habits, and slowly increasing the amount of exercise you do, more people would succeed! Also, don't ever be put off going on a diet (or doing anything, for that matter) on the grounds that "95% of people fail" -- just make sure that, like escapee, you're in the other 5% :-)

(And if you do want some sensible, practical advice on healthy living for busy people, try my blog -- www.theofficediet.com ;-))

Best,

Ali

[Michelle]

I was a yo-yo dieter for years. Now I am healthy, exercise often and make good nutritional choices for my body. There were several basic things in my approach that I had to change:

1. I had to start loving myself enough to believe that I deserve to feel good, be healthy, look good.
2. I had to wake up to the suffering my overeating caused not only to me and my body, but to the food which was consumed without appreciation and love.

That is all that had to change. With those internal changes the desire to exercise and eat well arose naturally and automatically. Now, it doesn't feel like a struggle and it doesn't feel like hard work. It is very enjoyable to take care of myself because I love my body, appreciate my body and deserve to feel good! If you have to struggle and it seems like an uphill battle - you are doing something wrong! If you see a diet as a temporary fix, you are doing something wrong!

[bart]

The fair statement would be: 95% of the people doing a diet fail.

I do not think any of the diets are to blame. Are the percentages higher in people trying to quit smoking, or quit alcohol? The current food we eat is very addictive, you could call sugar the nicotine in food. Aside that, many people diet for the wrong reasons which is not helpfull as a motivator either.

If you would do a diet truly for yourself (and not because you think you ought to or to match some image of who you should be from a magazine), I am quite confident most people would succeed with the diet, even the more restricted/harder diets.

However, I do think most diets are designed for weight loss and short term results, and not designed to become a healthier person.

Bart

[ken nubo]

Hmm just like how 95 percent of business fail?

I think it comes back to human nature

[Lucas]

Personally, I think the term "diet" conjures up an image of temporary. "Going on a diet" sort of makes you think you will eventually go off that diet. Kind of like "going on a bender"...eventually you wil stop drinkin! lol

People need to shift their perception of food before they will get anywhere with weight loss. Until you see crap food as crap instead of a "yummy twinkie" you will keep feeding yourself on them.

[VacMan]

I agree with Ali in the fact that lots of diets can really mess up your metabolism.

If you damage your metabolism then when you go back to your normal eating habits then you'll gain weight even faster than before.

Another reason why diets fail is because they try and reshape your entire lifestyle to something that you don't align with.

And unless you really change and accept the diet as part of your life, you'll almost always struggle and then eventually go back to your "old ways."

I think that your diet should be built around who you are currently, and your lifestyle.

That way you'll be much more likely to succeed, because your diet integrates to you, and works with you instead of creating so much resistance.

I'm a firm believer that you can make almost anyone's diet fit around who they are right now.

Even if they are a "junk-food-aholic"

And even if they hate exercise.

Because if you try and change someone against their will, it's just a ticking time bomb.

[Lucas]

Originally Posted by VacMan

I agree with Ali in the fact that lots of diets can really mess up your metabolism.

If you damage your metabolism then when you go back to your normal eating habits then you'll gain weight even faster than before.

Another reason why diets fail is because they try and reshape your entire lifestyle to something that you don't align with.

And unless you really change and accept the diet as part of your life, you'll almost always struggle and then eventually go back to your "old ways."

I think that your diet should be built around who you are currently, and your lifestyle.

That way you'll be much more likely to succeed, because your diet integrates to you, and works with you instead of creating so much resistance.

I'm a firm believer that you can make almost anyone's diet fit around who they are right now.

Even if they are a "junk-food-aholic"

And even if they hate exercise.

Because if you try and change someone against their will, it's just a ticking time bomb.

While I agree with you, Sean, the bottom line of loosing weight is a person has to change. There is just no getting around that. Even if they still eat their diet, something about that diet is going to have to change, whether it be foods, portions, or something. You cannot do the exact same things and expect to lose weight, build muscle, increase flexibility.

I completely agree with you that a lot of diets dont align with peoples beliefs. You have to find a diet and route to health that works for you and makes you feel good.

Regardless the way you go about it, a shift has to happen in the person.

[VacMan]

Lucas,

I also agree with what you're saying, and you DO have to change in order for your situation to change. That's true for almost any scenario.

What I'm really saying is that by trapping someone into a specific diet program, or "fad" diet. Or if someone gets roped into believing the hype on some infomercial, etc. Then they are molding their lives around the new "solution" and not finding a solution that tailors around themselves.

For example, if someone wants to go on a "sugar busters" diet, and LOVES sweets. They'll probably break down sooner or later.

In that case it's probably best to find an effective weight loss program that allows sweets. That way you'll be more likely to stick with it and see long lasting and real results.

If you want to make this into an "analogy," we could equate this to making money. There's infinite ways to make money, but not all work for everyone.

If I went around saying that the only way for you to make money is to become an engineer and build bridges, and if people believed me, you'd have a lot of people try, get discouraged, and then fail.

Probably about 95% of them would fail.

If however, those people who decided to listen to my "advice" and become an engineer, instead went out and really found out what they wanted. And then found a job, or built a business that aligned better to who they are as a person... Then the success rate would probably be much higher.

I think the diet situation is the same.

Most people are just trying to become an "engineer" when they need to find out what they really want, and find something that works around their needs/wants.

Sure you'll have to change paths, but it's all about finding the path of least resistance.