Top Signs Your New Diet Won’t Work

Sharon Moore January 20, 2015

Weight loss goals can be fuelled by different things – a fast approaching beach trip, a wedding, or simply the desire to look and feel good. Whatever your motivation for weight loss is, a very important aspect that you should focus on, apart from exercising, is your diet. Because even if you are spending hours in the gym, if you’re not going to pay attention to the food you eat, you may not get the results you want as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, you should not immediately jump into a diet programme without first examining its effectiveness and weighing the pros and cons. There are a lot of diet fads these days, and it’s really hard to choose which one best suits you. What’s more – not all of them offer a long-term solution to your health goals.

So before spending your time, money and effort on a diet plan, there are some things you should consider. Here are the top signs that your new diet may not work.

It lacks essential nutrients.

If the programme is all about sipping juices and shakes, or restricting yourself to a certain food every single day, then it is not going to work. Not only because your taste buds are designed to experience ‘variety’, but most importantly because your body needs different sorts of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. The right diet includes a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, seeds, fish and meat.

You’re always hungry.

Dieting is not about starving. It is about eating less and still feeling satisfied. If your diet plan requires you to extremely cut calories, which leaves you feeling hungry all the time, it’s not going to last long. Very soon, you will just give it up. The right diet must satisfy your hunger, and make you look forward to your next meal.

It makes you give up your favourite food.

An ideal diet programme is something that lets you enjoy your favourite treats in moderation. It should not be something that completely bands your favourite meals. Such diet isn’t going to work because it will just make you crave more. The right programme focuses on whole, nutritious foods, but also allows for occasional indulgences.

It makes you eat the food you don’t like.

If your diet plan includes foods that really don’t satisfy your palate, you’re not going to commit to it for a long time. It’s just going to increase your craving for your favourite foods that are not so healthy, and push you to go back to your old eating habits. A great diet plan doesn’t have to taste weird. Real healthy foods taste delicious and filling.

It involves extreme measures.

There are a lot of diet fads that promise results fast. Whilst you may start to notice drastic weight loss in a few weeks, it isn’t sustainable. You wouldn’t want sipping juice, taking pills, chewing gums, or eating soup all your life, right? Extreme diet fads sound too good to be true, and they really are. A great diet programme is something that you can easily commit to with less efforts – without having to feel that you are actually dieting at all.

So – is your current diet plan going to work?