Why Dieting Can't Work Tucson AZ

Why Dieting Can't Work

By Joel Marion, CISSN, NSCA-CPT
Author of "Cheat Your Way Thin"

“Arghhhhhhh!” Ever feel this way? Or maybe a better question is: Ever been on a diet? Why is dieting so psychologically draining? Well, for one, it requires change in a major area of our lives—the way we eat—and for most of us, change is a very uncomfortable thing. Fact is, changing old habits and forming new ones is never an easy task; however, with dieting, it becomes exceedingly difficult given all of the physical adaptations that occur (which we will soon discuss). Consider what happens in your mind when you go on a diet. Almost immediately you are faced with an array of cravings. Just the sight or smell of food mentally adds to your already present hunger pangs. You find yourself craving foods that normally you have no desire to eat.

Every time you come in contact with an “off-limits” food item—whether it be on a television commercial, in a magazine, or physically right in front of you—the battle begins.

Do you give into the temptation to experience immediate pleasure, only to be swarmed by overwhelming guilt shortly soon after? Or do you stick it out and allow the anxiety to increase with every day?

It seems like a lose-lose situation—and it is.

And what if you’re not making as much progress as you had hoped? What if you’re seemingly doing everything right and the scale just isn’t moving?

Feelings of frustration, discouragement, and even depression emerge, making you even more inclined to break your diet.

I mean, who wants to sacrifice without being rewarded? At least when you bite into a chocolate chip cookie, the taste is satisfying. But working hard to reap no return on investment? Well that, that just flat out sucks.

There has to be a better way—and fortunately, there is.

The simple truth is this: “diets” can’t work.

If you tried ‘em and failed, you’re just like 99% of the rest of the world, myself included: normal.

You see, any time you restrict calories, you literally “program” your body to fight against your every effort to lose weight.

Not quite making sense? Time for a little history lesson.

Think back for just a minute to the time in which our ancestors roamed the earth. You know, the hunter and gather, feast and famine type days. For those individuals, survival was king, and in order to survive, they had to do the whole “eating” thing just like us.

Unfortunately, things weren’t quite as easy for this group as they are today. No supermarkets. No drive-through meal deals. Instead, when our primitive ancestors wanted a nice steak, they had to go find it.

This inevitably meant that there were plenty of instances in which our yester-year counterparts went without food for days at a time. And at other times, namely d...