7 Reasons Why Diets Fail

By Susan Burke at eDiets.

Do you wonder why every time you go on a diet, you end up regaining the weight and sometimes even more? Then you're in bad company, because a major problem with losing weight successfully is managing to keep the weight off.

A big part of dieting is to do with what goes on between your ears, as in what you know and how you use that knowledge to your advantage. Read on to see how many of these dieting dilemmas apply to you. Change that plus to a minus - on the scale, that is.

You give food power. Food can't make you eat it. The way some people talk, you'd think a chocolate bar holds them down, forcing them to chew and swallow, too. You have the power to say no.

You think there are good and bad foods? Wrong. Food does not possess human characteristics. Food is food: fatty food, salty food, low in saturated fat, or high in fibre. You choose, and get the balance right.

You think a diet is something you go on. And then you go off when you lose the weight. For instance, "I lost 12 pounds, so now I can go off my diet." This recipe for failure means you'll most likely regain the weight, just like the 95 percent of people who lose weight and regain it.

You think you can lose weight without exercise. It's possible to lose weight without exercise, but most likely the weight is going to come right back on once you stop dieting. Increasing activity, even just by walking briskly, is associated with permanent weight loss.

You eat the same fruits and vegetables every day. That's like playing only four numbers in the lottery. You can't win unless you fill in the whole ticket. Increasing variety provides better nutrition and more phytochemicals to defeat disease.

You think that all fats are bad. In fact, some fats are health-enhancing, like omega-3 fatty acids in fish and those found in nuts and seeds. But beware of trans fat in fast food and packaged foods, and limit saturated fat in full fat dairy products and fatty meats.

You're drinking too many calories. If you think a glass of fizzy pop is bad but juice or sports drinks are good, think again. Juice has the same calories as fizzy drinks and no fibre. Eat your fruit; don't drink it. Sports drinks are usually full of sugar. Drink water and eat an orange instead.