Why your Diet Failed You!

Summary:

The more we restrict, the more likely we are to fail. We found that conventional commercial diets bear no relationship to long-term health and weight management. In fact, there have been studies that actually show dieting is a predictor of weight gain, not loss. So why is that, exactly? So many factors play a role in what you’re eating, why you’re eating, and where you physically are when you’re eating.

​Yet, the more we focus on restricting what we eat as a means to achieve a goal, the less we wind up actually prioritizing our physical and mental health. Since one diet or another has told us that we need to rely on trusty willpower, we’re primed to blame ourselves even though we’ve been set up to fail. This is what leads to a spiral into fear, isolation, and shame — feelings that prime us for depression, anxiety, and weight-cycling.​ 

Success Principle: Appetite 

• Eat enough to satisfy your appetite (but only real whole fresh food). 
• Drink lots of water, this is a natural appetite suppressant.  
• Eat protein for breakfast  
• Compose your meals to balance blood sugar and lower insulin. Combine protein, fat and low-glycemic, non-starchy carbs (vegetables, fruit, small amounts (less than half a cup of grains and beans) at each meal. Fat and protein and fiber slow insulin spikes. 

• Avoid eating 3 hours before bed. 

Don’t worry about how much you eat. Rather, focus on what you eat, the quality of the food you eat. Eat whole natural foods high in fiber, good quality protein and fat, low in starch and sugar. Then, you won’t be hungry and will shift from fat storage to fat burning.​ 

​ 

Success Principles: Calories 

• Focus on very low-glycemic foods as the staples of your diet. Nuts, seeds, chicken, fish, grass-fed meats, low-glycemic veggies (greens, salad fixings, etc.) 
• Use whole grains and beans intentionally 
• Don’t use artificial sweeteners – they trigger sweet receptors, hunger, and slow metabolism leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes. 
• Avoid "Diet" Drinks. 

Success Principles: Fat 

• Don’t fear fat. It actually makes you feel full, speeds up your metabolism, and helps you lose weight. 
• Eat good fats at every meal. 
• Eat vegetable fats, such as avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut butter, or olive oil. 
• Eat clean animal fats (organic eggs with the yolk, chicken, grass-fed meats) and fish with omega 3 fats (sardines, herring, wild salmon, black cod). 

[ The following is the full transcript from this week's post. This is a health blog with a focus on weight loss. Please consider that all episodes are unscripted, direct to the camera, with focused talking points. ]

Today, I want to talk to you about your diet and what I really want to talk about is that, why you did not fail your diet, but your diet probably failed you, so, that's the topic today.

Let us dive right in.

When I am talking about diet, I am talking about kind of temporary eating pattern where people say, I want to lose weight, or I want to accomplish certain things. And so, I am going to go on this kind of regimen for a while. And I am going to get there.

But the problem is, is when they get to wherever they are going, often they then change their behavior too back where they were, and then they wonder why they did not get the sustainable results they want it.

So, the first thing I want to talk about is traditional diets are just too restrictive.

And that is a real challenge for us because you need to really focus on kind of the things you are doing, and what you can do that is sustainable.

And what I mean by that is if you go on a restrictive diet and basically remove all the things you enjoy in life, you are not successful long term.

And that is going to be a real challenge for you.

What is important is you think about what you are eating and why you are eating. But you understand that there are certain reasons that you are eating. Now, one of those reasons is your appetite, we will talk a little bit more about that.

But really, diets just do not work.

What you are looking for is something that's kind of a behavioral change, or a lifestyle change, that you are going to do for the rest of your life.

If you are unwilling to do something for the rest of your lives, then I would not do it.

If you pick a diet and you say, “Okay, I am going to do this for six months, and then quit.”

Do not start. Because you are not going to be successful in the long term.

In fact, there are studies out there that show that people would go on diets. Not only does the diet not work, for people that go on diets. It is a predictor of weight gain. And that is because of that yo-yo effect.

So do not approach your, your health and wellness center in a fashion that is temporary, do not restrict what you are eating, learn to eat the better things.

It is not necessarily really about the restriction.

Now, obviously, people will tell you, it is just the law of thermodynamics, to lose weight, you have to have a calorie deficit, and yes, there is truth to that, but how extensive that calorie deficit is, it can really be dependent on what you are eating.

I want to talk about some of those things.

The first thing is, your appetite so when you are your appetite flares up and you want to eat, I mean, it is really driving you to eat, our body is designed to do that.

It is through thousands of years, the body has struggled to gain weight, and stay nourished.

And so, whenever the opportunity comes, the body really wants to eat.

Your appetite is one thing, but there is a difference between cravings and appetite, and it is important that you kind of learn to distinguish that, because you may be full, but you are still craving something.

And so, craving is more of an emotional response, and they're probably is some physiological addiction to whatever it is you are craving.

But the reality is you have got to learn to control your appetite.

One of the best ways to do that is by eating real food. And what I mean by that is, Whole Foods meaning the farmers market to table, so things that are not processed, so anything that is heavily processed really is probably not going to be the best thing for you.

So whole fresh foods are going to help with your appetite, it is going to satisfy it.

The next thing is, is drink lots of water.

Typically, in the United States, most people are probably a little bit dehydrated chronically. It is important to really drink a good amount of water, and this is also a natural appetite suppressant.

The other thing, depending on what type of eating pattern you have, protein in the morning or protein for breakfast, is good because it is going to fill you up longer, get you ready for the day.

So, if you are going to eat more protein, then it is probably best to do it in the morning.

Now, obviously, you want to have your meals composed to where that is going to balance your blood sugar, and insulin. The way you do that is by a combination of your proteins, fats. And then obviously low glycemic carbs.

Again, fresh things, fresh vegetables, fruits, that you can eat a small number of grains and beans. But again, really, really control those and thinking moderation.

Now, fat and proteins, and fiber really help to stabilize your insulin, so you really want to avoid carbs specifically. There are the simple carbs, or the highly processed carbs then related to your appetite.

You want to not eat at least three hours before bed, you want to give your body time to digest whatever your last day is before you go to bed.

Another thing related to dieting is willpower.

Now, those of you that have been on a diet, you have probably tried multiple times, Things just do not go where you want them to start to beat yourself up and say, you know what, I just do not have the willpower. It is really no harm to yourself, and it is really kind of a mental game.

The important thing to understand is, willpower is like a muscle. And you do not realize how much you are using them. Actually, just like a muscle, if you use it a lot, it is going to get fatigued and lose its ability to function.

And that is what willpower is.

And if you think about it, we have bombarded thousands of times a day with an advertisement that is designed to get us to eat.

And really, if you are relying on willpower, you are going to quickly realize that willpower is not enough.

Also, in alignment with that is remember, I told you that our body is designed. It has mechanisms in place to make us want to eat because that is a protection for us, in times of famine and starvation the body wants to eat. Whenever there's food available, your body is naturally programmed to want to eat.

The problem we have now is we have an abundance of food.

We are eating all the time, there are no eating breaks.

We are not hunting for animals, or gathering fruits and berries, trying to find a meal.

You just got to go to the corner, gas station. And again, the food you are getting there is poor quality.

If you are saying you do not have the willpower, you are probably right but you are not alone because willpower is not the thing that is going to help you be successful in moving forward in your health and wellness journey.

One of the things that I encourage people to do is it is not about willpower; it is about habits. You have got to create the right habits and remove the wrong habits and how you do that is really kind of personal reflection and understanding what it is you are doing and why you are doing it.

You pause and analyzing yourself.

Creating the right habits, and removing the bad habits, is really what is going to create success for you.

Another reason diet often fails is a focus on calories.

I already said, eat less, and exercise more to lose weight. While in the purest sense, that is probably true. It is not applicable across the board.

We all do not respond the same way, a thousand calories from candy, the body is not going to process the same one thousand calories from broccoli.

When you are eating, if you are focused on calorie reduction, if your mental state is always that you have got to give up things versus add things, you are really going to fatigue yourself and not be successful.

The important thing is to focus more on the whole food’s, healthy foods.

Things like I have already talked about, whole plants, lean meats, those types of things, to really kind of try to focus on what you can eat.

Now another thing you need to do is not necessarily focus on calories but focus on fiber.

Fiber is a great thing for you, specifically in weight loss. It has a lot of other benefits, but, we as Americans do not get enough fiber so either work on eating more fiber, I am not talking about fiber supplements.

They are not necessarily bad, but they are not necessarily good either. How they are made, they really are not able to really do anything for us.

The first thing is, is to try to get natural supplements. That is your plant-based type thing, so really important to get fiber.

Then the next thing that I want to talk about is related to the calories. If you focus on the healthy things that green, grass-fed meats, low glycemic foods, you are going to be better off. Because what is going to happen is you are going to stabilize your insulin.

We often blame sugar as the reason for obesity, and, and it is a major impact. But really, what is driving us is our insulin levels.

And insulin is designed to help us put on weight.

So as long as we have some around our bodies trying to put on weight.

Now, another thing do not use artificial sweeteners because the bacteria in our gut can digest some of it, but it also still causes a physiological response to those things, so you still can trigger hunger things like that.

The best source of fluid is just simple, good, old-fashioned water.

Another thing that we often hear is that while I am on a low-fat diet, why am I not losing weight? And we've kind of been sold a bill of goods on a low-fat diet, because, 30 years ago, that is when we kind of started preaching a low-fat diet.

If you look at the weight of the Americans, or even across the world, our weight is getting worse.

The low-fat diet is not working, and part of the problem is, people still eat a ton of stuff, there is just labeled low fat, so a lot of those things are also highly processed things, it is these food items that are not, are not good for you.

It is not about a low-fat diet. It is eating fresh, whole foods, quality meats, things like that.

So do not be afraid of fat, but important thing is to make sure that you are actually eating the good fat, like the vegetable fats, like those found in avocados or nuts or seeds, coconut olive oil.

Those types of things are our good fats, there are also good fats in meat. But you got to make sure you are eating clean meats that are not highly processed meats, like lunch meats, things like that.

Then, obviously, you want to make sure you are getting your Omega three fats from the fish, sardines.

You should not fear fat. There is a reason you need fat, and just make sure you are picking the fat that it is going to benefit do not harm.

Another struggle we have in our health and wellness is you may already have underlying health conditions and a lot of underlying health conditions contribute to our obesity or weight gain.

One of the big factors here is related to inflammation. As I said before, inflammation is a common denominator in a multitude of illnesses and weight gain is one of those things we put on more weight.

It is basically creating a pro-inflammatory environment, which only aggravates other potential illnesses: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, things like that.

Your weights really, a vicious cycle. Inflammation causes us to put on weight, and then put on weight causes inflammation.

It is important to understand, do everything you can to reduce inflammation. And a lot of that can be impacted by your diet.

One of the most common things that people hear about is gluten or have a gluten allergy or lactose or dairy allergy. And if you do understand, that does not mean you can just eat everything you want, but it is gluten-free. Gluten-free cookies and cakes are still cookies and cakes.

It is important to kind of learn how your body is, and how it responds. Inflammation is a key factor here that you need to work on.

One of the ways you can work on that is, basically, your gut is, meaning your, your microbiome in your bowels.

Now, we have learned that there are trillions of bacteria within our gut. Bacteria are designed to help us, so it is a symbiotic relationship.

We provide stuff for them, they have the right stuff for us, but it is important to nurture that call on that community and make sure the right bacteria growing and that is really impacted by what you are eating.

So, if you are on a diet of low-quality food or highly processed foods, you are creating an environment those bacteria will burrow in and those bacteria are not helpful.

Again, you need to focus on your gut health.

There are lots of things we can do to support that, but there is something to be avoided. A lot of the over-the-counter medications, things like that are not very helpful for your gut bacteria.

And then obviously, fiber. Again, it is very important for your gut bacteria, so make sure you are eating enough fiber.

Another thing related to your gut is you got to let your bowels have periodic periods of rest.

We are learning that about every 90 minutes. Your small bowel does what some call the weight waist bolts, where it is basically more aggressive rhythmic contractions to push waste product through it.

But the problem is, if you are eating all the time, your body never does that. You have got to let your body take some breaks and let it cleanse itself, give a time, to move waste products through the digestive system.

Now, you may say to yourself, Well, I do not have any underlying medical conditions.

Well, you may actually have something you have not diagnosed yet, so if you are feeling like there is something you are missing, you may want to talk to your doctor, to really find out if there is more that they can do to investigate it.

Now, specifically, related to health and wellness. These are called functional medicine doctors, their training is in the concept of prevention versus once you have the illness, here is a pill.

So, I would encourage you to talk to your physician. If you feel like there is something kind of hindering you on your health and wellness journey.

Next thing I want to talk about is, it is not your diet but it is your support network.

You got to have a good support network.

You hear all the time, show me your five friends, and I will show you your future.

If you are in a health and wellness journey, you have got to surround yourself with people that support that. So maybe it is joining the club or a jam or something like that. You can interact with people that are kind of on the same course issue.

But the important thing is, you got to have a supportive environment because no matter what you are doing, you are going to have downtimes that is important to have that support there, to help you navigate those downtimes.

Now, you may want to get a coach, if you are really struggling, whether it is a nutritional coach or a personal trainer, it is really something you have to decide on, but you really need to make sure that you have a good support network.

The thing about coaching is, is that they may make it easier for you, because they may have maybe we will see things you do not see that we can improve on.

But they may also have techniques that you can use or apply.

That is going to make you more efficient.

So coaching is something you may want to consider on your health and wellness journey.

That is some of them up if you are on a temporary diet. And your plan is to be on it to get to a certain point off of it. You are probably not going to be successful long-term.

I am not saying you are not going to lose weight initially, but you are probably going to gain it back. And the literature actually supports, they gain more weight back.

It is really about lifestyle change. So, it is kind of what I would say, mindfulness.

You are eating, being aware to why you are eating, and what is impacting you are eating, and then what it is you are eating.

And then obviously, you know, increase your activity level, I did not say exercise, I said activity level. You got to find things you enjoy. If you hate doing the treadmill than going to the gym every day, get on the treadmill. It is not going to be something you are going to do forever, but if you love walking out in nature, do a walk every day, find the things you enjoy.

Remember, you control all there, so it is really about decisions.

Now, the challenge you have is making sure those decisions are on a conscious level, and then you have good information to make the best decision.

And that is something that you need to do is strive to learn about yourself and learn how you are going to interact with the environment and food and other people, things like that.

We want to be here to help you if you need help.

Feel free to reach out to us.

We have both nutritional and training coaches, and we are more than excited to help you on this journey.

But remember, this is your health and wellness.

You have got it.

Thanks.

Kelly Cox MD, FACEP

Member, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine