You've tried all the diets
Atkins, Keto, Southbeach, Mediterranean, IFYM, Weightwatchers, CodeRED, Paleo, Vegan, calorie counting, low carb, low fat, Raw Food, juicing, Slimfast, Bloodtype... and so on. The number of diets to choose from is endless and there are more being developed all the time because it's a $65 billion+ industry.
Maybe you've tried all of the diets listed above and a few more for good measure but you haven't seen lasting results. Maybe you saw some early success with one but after a few months, it stopped working, and then you tried something different. Sometimes it feels like a craps shoot and most of the time the diets don't work for you as they seem to for other people.
What's a person to do?
Avoid Radicalism
That's pretty good advice about all things but for dieting, if you're doing something extreme it probably doesn't have a lot of actual science to back it up. High anything, low anything, completely cutting out certain macronutrients, or only eating certain kinds of foods like fruit or fish. If you don't find yourself more toward the center of the popular extreme diets then you're probably not following sound reasoned advice.
Stop buying expensive meal supplements
I can understand the allure of supplements. Here take this pill and you'll get the results you want. There is no requirement to learn better habits or eat real food. Everything found in a supplement that would be beneficial for your body can be found in actual food that our bodies are better equipped to absorb and use. I'm not saying that supplements won't make you feel better. They may do that but that's because they are introducing vitamins and minerals into your body that you're not getting from the foods you eat because you're not eating what you should be.
Stop Drinking Your Calories
Whether it's supplement shakes, blended juices, smoothies, soda, or alcohol the drinks aren't helping you. Ingesting food in liquid form is super easy. It makes getting your daily allotment of fruits and veggies quick and easy but that ease of ingestion could be slowing down your weight loss.
When food is in a liquid form our body doesn't have to expend any time or energy to digest it. All of the nutrients get distributed really quickly, including the sugars. That sets off a chain reaction that leads to elevated blood sugar, secretion of insulin, and your body holding on to more body fat due to that elevated level of insulin. (That's a very oversimplified version of what happens.)
Find some guidance
I don't mean the internet. I mean find a real-life person that will get to know you, your dieting history, and your goals. Someone that cares more about you than they do selling supplements. Look for someone with some knowledge of health and fitness. You probably do not just want to lose weight, but you want to learn to eat better on the regular and use food to fuel your physical fitness.
Navigating the endless diets out there can be a daunting task. I'm not sure how anyone makes sense of it without some help. We don't have any secrets to share. We post our basic nutrition guidance on our website for free.
If you want to ask questions, get customized advice and accountabilty the our 90 Day Nutrition Kickstart program is for you.
We're here to help and if you're feeling lost about what to do let us know. We'll show you what to do next.
