“Why Diets Fail” is the introduction to my book The Weight Loss Habit: The No BS, No Gimmick, (Sort of) Easy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off Forever, which is being released in less than a week. (Tuesday, June 9.)
The book tells the story of how after growing up obese and many failed diets, I figured out strategies to make weight loss easier.
I built these strategies into habits, lost the weight, and have kept the weight off for two decades, without relying on willpower.
I’m posting the introduction here so you can see what the book is about.
Why Diets Fail – The Best Health Advice Isn’t The Best Health Advice For You
This book isn’t going to give you the best health advice.
If your goal is to appear on the cover of fitness magazines or win bodybuilding competitions, stop reading right now. This book isn’t for you.
There are probably some books that can help you with that, but I have no idea what they are, because I’ve never had any interest in appearing on fitness magazines.
On the other hand, if you are someone who is overweight, and your goal is to stop being overweight, this is the right book for you.
Because unlike other diet books, I’m not trying to give you the best advice. I’m giving you advice you’ll actually be able to follow.
So, you won’t be Ms. or Mr. Universe anytime soon.
On the other hand, you’ll have to buy a whole new wardrobe to replace the clothes that will soon be too big for you. If that’s what you want, keep reading.
Why Diets Fail: Three Kinds of Diets That Don’t Work
Most weight loss books are useless. In fact, they’re worse than useless.
There are three kinds of weight loss books/plans/diets that don’t work.
Gimmick Diets
First, there are the gimmick diets. Like Keto, Atkins, South Beach, Shangri-La, cleanses, boot camps, etc.
These can work in the short term.
If you want to fit into a wedding dress or show up your old classmates at a high school reunion by pretending to be skinnier than you actually are, these can help you achieve that.
But if your goal is to be healthy, these are terrible ideas.
The problem is that these only work for as long as you stay on them.
Are you going to give up carbs or have an obnoxious dude dressed up as a drill-instructor scream at you every morning for the rest of your life?
Probably not.
As soon as you go off these diets, you’ll go right back to your old weight. Probably even a higher weight, because you’ve picked up bad habits from being able to eat as much as you want while on the gimmick diet.
Then you’re going through the dreaded weight yo-yo, where you keep losing weight and gaining it back again.
This is even less healthy than staying consistently overweight.
Diets Designed By Those Who Don’t Get It
The second type are the diets designed by people who Just Don’t Get It.
These are people who love to exercise, and love to eat healthy.
Who live, breathe, and sleep nutrition.
Who seem to have infinite time to prepare healthy meals, infinite willpower to resist temptations, and a much faster metabolism than those of us who struggle with our weight.
Who think it’s fun to hit the gym every day, and that kale tastes better than ice cream.
The kinds of people who say obnoxious stuff like “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”
They put out books saying that to lose weight, all we have to do is eat healthy and exercise more, like we’re complete idiots who’ve never thought of that before.
They don’t understand the Struggle, because it all comes easy to them.
If you’re reading this book, you know the Struggle.
How we desperately want to be thinner.
The sacrifices we make, forcing ourselves to give up the food we love, and to do exercises we hate, only to fail over and over again.
The health nuts have zero clue what that’s like.
If you want to learn how to do something that’s hard for you, don’t ask an expert to whom it comes naturally.
Ask someone who faced the same challenges you did, and figured out how to overcome them.
Revelation-Based Diets
Finally, there are books from people who do know the Struggle, then had some sort of revelation that changed their entire life.
Maybe they suffered a heart attack. Or they decided they wanted to be around to walk their daughter down the aisle.
Or the clouds parted, and Jesus, Buddha, and Richard Simmons came down from the mountain to tell them they needed to change.
And suddenly they went from sitting on the couch, eating deep-fried nachos dipped in lard, to running fifteen miles a day and eating nothing but steamed broccoli.
Then they write a book about how you can do the same.
But realistically, you’re not going to change everything about yourself.
You’re not going to limit your diet to nothing but celery.
Because you’re a normal person living your life, not someone who had some sort of divine revelation.
If a Diet Fails, it’s the Diet’s Fault, Not Yours
At worst, these books put you on the weight yo-yo.
At best, they leave you feeling bad about yourself, convincing you that you’re a loser and it’s your own fault you’re fat because you couldn’t follow their advice.
But it’s not your fault.
It’s the diet’s fault.
They were setting you up to fail.
The dirty little secret of the weight loss industry is:
Weight loss books, plans, and diets are written by and for people who don’t need them.
This is the reason why some estimates say that up to 95% of people who lose weight through a diet end up gaining it back again.
And that’s only counting the people who were able to lose weight in the first place.
But There’s Hope
I beat those odds.
I grew up fat.
I made many failed attempts to lose weight.
And there were several times where I’d lose a little bit of weight, only to gain it back with interest.
I know the Struggle.
And then I hit upon the right way to lose weight.
Over eight months in 2001 and 2002, I lost 60 pounds. And I’ve kept the weight off since then.
It’s not like I’m an underwear model, but I’m at a reasonable and healthy weight.
When I tell people I used to be fat, they often don’t believe me, because I don’t look like it.
This didn’t require any sort of divine revelation, or radical change to my life. I didn’t have to suffer or go through deprivations.
It didn’t happen with a snap of my fingers, but it also wasn’t terribly difficult.
It’s probably less challenging than some of the diets you’ve already tried and failed at.
In fact, that lack of challenge is a big part of why it works.
I’m not claiming to be a genius.
Honestly, it was mostly blind luck that the tactics I stumbled onto were the ones that worked. It was only years later, when I started reading about psychology and the science of habit-formation, that I really understood why they worked.
But the important thing is that they do work.
What exactly are these tactics? Find out from the book.
Interested in more excerpts from The Weight Loss Habit? See:
- The Fundamental Rule of Weight Loss
- The Miracle of Frozen Food
- Eating Fast Food For Fun and Weight Loss
- 28 Ways to Exercise That Aren’t Going to the Gym (In the book this is expanded to 45 Ways)
- Reward Yourself During Or After Exercise (But Not With Food)
The book has 52 chapters of specific strategies on ways to build lifelong habits and make weight loss easier. It’s a great deal at only $6.99.
Though I warn you. While the book itself is cheap, I’m not responsible for the cost of replacing your entire wardrobe once you’re too skinny to wear any of the clothes you currently own.
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