At the start of every year the sheer volume of people embarking on fad diet journeys in a bid to burn the excess weight they accumulated over the holidays will be astonishing. The diet industry is one of the most lucrative industries in existence. Now, before we go any further, yes, diets do work when it comes to losing weight. Does that mean that diets and fad diets are advisable? No, absolutely not! Starvation will promote weight loss, but that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy, because it isn’t. When trying to lose weight, fad diets are not the answer. Here’s a look at 5 reasons why diets don’t work.

Diets promote an unhealthy relationship with the scales

When people say they want to lose weight, unless they’re a professional athlete that needs to weigh a certain amount, what they actually mean is that they want to lose fat. Diets encourage people to weigh themselves to gauge their progress, and as a way of getting a rough idea of whether or not they’re on the right track, this can be useful. The problem is that people on diets that are looking to lose weight (fat) often weigh themselves far too frequently and this can often result in an unhealthy relationship with the scales.

Fad diets are not sustainable

Nowadays, there are many different diets out there, which make all kinds of radical claims with regards to weight loss. Now, we’re not disputing the fact that they work. We know that they work because they promote caloric deficits. Any caloric deficit is going to result in weight loss, regardless of what you eat. The problem is that many diets promote bland, low-calorie, tasteless foods that are simply not enjoyable. As a quick fix, they work, but as a long-term solution? Absolutely not. Rather than eating foods that you dislike, just because they’re low-calorie, why not eat healthy foods that you enjoy and keep an eye on your caloric consumptions?

Fad diets often have hidden agendas

Without naming names, many diet plans out there encourage followers to consume certain foods, snack bars, meal replacement shakes, and supplements etc, along with healthy and low-fat produce. The creators of these fad diets do not have your best interests at heart, they’re simply there to get your money and convince you that you need their own specific brands of foods and supplements.

They promote binge-eating

One of the unhealthiest eating habits that a person can adopt, is binge-eating. Despite this, many fad diets out there promote binge-eating. You see, when people follow these diets, they’re tired due to a lack of energy, they’re hungry, they don’t enjoy the food, they feel unhappy, and all they can think about is the unhealthy foods they’re craving. As soon as they have a day off of the diet, or they simply fall off the wagon, they often binge on all of the foods they denied themselves for so long. The occasional treat is fine, but going through spells of binge-eating and dieting is not. This actively encourages binging and people spend the majority of their time yo-yo dieting. If you actually enjoy the foods you’re eating, and don’t starve yourself, you’ll be far less-likely to binge.