Since turning 35, I have been on every diet known to
mankind. A few seemed to work better than others, but they all failed in
helping me make permanent and lasting changes. Inevitably, the few pounds I may
have lost one one diet or the other, came back with a few extra
"friends", within a very short time of stopping the diet.
I have discovered many reasons why diets fail, but here's my list of the top 5 reasons diets fail:
1.Irregular Sleeping Habits - If you do not regularly get 6-8 hours of sleep each night, your weigh will creep up on you. I realized this when my sleep patterns changed while in graduate school. My sleep habits have never returned to normal, and its been 20 years. The fewer hours of sleep you get, the more pounds you can expect to put on. I have put off seeing a sleep specialist, mainly due to procrastination, but have finally made the appointment. I'll post on the outcome. In the meantime, here's an article from WebMD about the correlation between sleep and weight gain.
3. Not enough protein - Dieter's tend to cut too far back on protein and this is definitely a mistake. I found this out on the Adkins diet (I'm not advocating for is use. It's basically like any other diet - witout permanent change, any weight you lose will find its way back to you). Protein is the most important factor which helps in increasing the processing of fat reduction. Eat leafy greens, milk, pulses, white meat and soy to improve this intake.
4. Drinking Water - Failing to drink enough water is probably the most important reason diets don't work. The 8 eight oz glasses of water a day is a suggestion for maintenance. If you are wanting to permanently shed pounds, then increase your water intake to somewhere in the neighborhood of one gallon per day. Sounds like a lot, but it can be done, and is done by thousands of women every day.
5. Exercise - Failing to exercise is also right up there with drinking water. I battle the never-ending excuse mill on why I can't exercise today. I am by habit or nature, not sure which, a procrastinator. My failure to exercise consistently stems from this one flaw. I know from personal experience what a simple daily 1/2 hour walk can do for your overall health, not just for weight loss, so you'd think I would stick to this. You'd think. It's all in creating a habit. If diets are coupled with less than 25 minutes of daily physical activity, it will have almost no effect on your weight loss. The body burns only glucose in the first 25 minutes, and fat burn starts only after the 26th minute.
Once I get 21 days or so, in a row, under my belt, I'll find that I'm actually looking forward to the exercise. In addition to helping with permanent weight loss, exercise is wonderful for lifting your mood, enhancing the image you have of yourself.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/lack-of-sleep-weight-gain
2, Calorie Intake - I avoid counting calories. Do you? Do you "guess" at the number of calories you consume? Me, too. How's that working out for you? Me, not so good. I have to get it through my thick brain, that counting calories is really important. A study I read found that people who estimate calorie consumption consume 40-60% more calories than their estimated calorie consumption! That's a huge difference, and a likely culprit for not being able to lose weight. Counting calories counts!
2, Calorie Intake - I avoid counting calories. Do you? Do you "guess" at the number of calories you consume? Me, too. How's that working out for you? Me, not so good. I have to get it through my thick brain, that counting calories is really important. A study I read found that people who estimate calorie consumption consume 40-60% more calories than their estimated calorie consumption! That's a huge difference, and a likely culprit for not being able to lose weight. Counting calories counts!
http://www.coachcalorie.com/drinking-enough-water-is-the-secret-to-fat-loss/
