Why It’s Hard to Stick to a Diet & What to Do About It

The prevalence of obesity keeps climbing annually and many people are on the lookout for methods that will help them stay on track with their diet and ultimately reach their ideal weight. The trouble is that there is no easy solution to weight problems. Many people have trouble losing weight and maintaining their weight loss efforts for various reasons. In this article, we are going to discuss why that is and what to do about it.

So why is it so difficult to maintain a healthy diet? It’s common for people to be hard on themselves about their weight and their inability to maintain a diet, especially women. And there’s a common misconception that being overweight is the result of poor willpower. Obviously, when individuals fail at dieting and feel bad about themselves, this notion can cause a downward spiral in self-esteem.

People who follow conventional diets are forced to pick between starvation and their weight loss goals since they must reduce their caloric intake. However, poor dietary habits and excessive eating are not the only causes of obesity.

There is no physiological basis for overeating. Hunger is a signal that the body needs sustenance, while fullness is an indication that it no longer does. This is the situation when there are no problems. But occasionally there are problems with this cycle.

What exactly is the issue? Leptin resistance is often the cause of problems with the hunger/satiation cycle. The hormone leptin controls appetite in response to changes in energy intake and expenditure. In contrast, leptin resistance in the body might prevent this process from occurring normally. Because the body doesn’t recognize leptin, it doesn’t know when we’ve had enough to eat. Leptin resistance is common among those who have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight.

The typical Australian diet is associated with increased leptin resistance (SAD). The typical Australian diet is high in calories but low in nutrients. This eating plan provides a lot of quick energy (sugar) but is deficient in essential elements like vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, and more. In other words, you may be getting the right number of calories, yet you may be nutritionally deficient. This sets off the body’s fat storage systems rather than its fat-burning mechanisms, leading to weight gain.

Obesity, as Dr. David Ludwig describes it in his book “Always Hungry,” is not a problem of excess but rather of cellular famine. Thus, calorie restriction over the long term, upon which most conventional diets are based, exacerbates the issue.

If you find it difficult to maintain your diet, it’s not your fault; many people have the same problem. The aforementioned problems are often ignored in weight loss programs and diets.

Sustaining a healthy diet: what works? Understand that your weight is a reflection of a deeper issue. As was already said, having too much weight is often a sign of a more serious health problem. Therefore, the weight problem can often be resolved by addressing the underlying cause. Several health problems, such as leptin resistance, insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction, etc., can cause people to gain or lose weight. Efforts to reduce body fat cannot succeed unless these underlying reasons are also addressed. I think you should talk to a specialist in functional medicine to figure out what’s causing your weight problems and what you should do about them.

Although a diagnosis of leptin resistance is not required before beginning treatment, it can speed up recovery. Helping the body maintain healthy levels of leptin by whatever means possible is beneficial. Examples of such items are:

• Eliminating simple sugars and replacing them with starchy vegetables as a primary source of carbohydrates
• The body can be reset to make weight loss easier by doing things like getting enough sleep, spending time in nature to relieve stress, and engaging in anaerobic activity.

Adopt a healthy way of life

You should view your new, healthy eating habits as a permanent shift in your routine. No longer will the diets of the 1970s and 1980s suffice. You “get on” one of these conventional diets to shed pounds, and then “come off” of it when you’ve had enough of the restrictions.

Given that nutritional deficiencies are often at the root of weight problems, these diets do more harm than good if they are the only option you are relying on. What we really need are long-term healthy eating habits. When done correctly, eating healthily should never result in hunger. Here are a few suggestions:

– Discover new go-to dishes that just call for nutritious ingredients (and don’t forget that healthy fats are crucial and shouldn’t be shunned!).

– Use nutritious materials to bake sweets at home (think ice cream, cheesecake, and cookies). Meals made with fresh ingredients are better than those made with processed ingredients or even takeout.

– Set up a schedule that allows you time to spend cooking and eating healthy meals, as well as time to relax and unwind in nature, exercise regularly, and limit stress.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle will help you live a longer, fuller life (without limitations).

Nosh on Some Real Food

Prioritizing healthy meals is one approach to incorporating health into one’s daily routine. What you eat is a major factor in your success or failure at sticking to a diet. Foods that are low in nutrients, such as processed fast food, will make it harder to lose weight by increasing your body’s resistance to the hormones leptin and insulin.

However, eating whole meals can aid the body and correct any imbalances that may be contributing to weight gain or loss. We must remember:

• We’re on the lookout for grass-fed beef, lamb, and poultry as well as wild-caught fish as a source of healthy nutrition.
• Avocados, extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, butter, and other animal fats from grass-fed sources, and fatty fish are all examples of foods that are high in healthy fats.
• Vegetables, preferably organic and pesticide-free, but nonetheless, a large quantity of vegetables every day is essential.
• Make use of fruit, maple syrup, raw honey, or other natural sweeteners in place of sugar. Not eating too many sugary foods is also recommended. Instead of sugary snacks, we prefer fruit and artificial sweeteners.
• Fruit and other sugar substitutes contain carbs, but it’s crucial to eat a wide variety of carbs, not just fruit and sugar. Both winter squash and sweet potatoes are among my favourites. Some people find success with weight loss by limiting their carbohydrate intake, although this is a secondary benefit of eating whole foods rather than processed alternatives.
• It may be as simple as returning your diet to its natural state by switching to whole foods. It’s a good beginning and may have far-reaching benefits for the body.

Don’t settle for gloomy resolutions; strive instead for brighter outcomes.

The most common approach to eating healthy is to simply refrain from engaging in harmful behaviors. However, if this were the case, nobody would ever have to worry about their weight. The issue is that it requires a strong effort to give up a bad habit.

Optimal conditions produce an abundance of willpower. When we’re relaxed and well cared for, we can take a step back, assess the situation objectively, and make wise choices. The instinct to either fight, flee, or freeze emerges, however, when faced with a stressful situation. An essay on Stanford.edu says that when we act on instinct, we choose short-term pleasure over long-term success.

Indeed, this makes logical sense as well. If you lived in a civilization of hunters and gatherers, you would probably react to danger in the near term rather than plan for the future. Short-term thinking would tell you to run out of the cave if a wolf showed up, rather than stay and risk your life by sleeping in the open (long-term thinking).

This explains why many of us turn to junk food when we’re sleep-deprived, famished, or under other types of stress.

“You can’t merely abandon a bad habit: you have to replace it with a good one,” advises Anne Bogle of Modern Mrs. Darcy. You need a strategy if you want to achieve your goals.

So rather than relying on willpower to “quit” consuming junk food, it is preferable to set constructive objectives like:

• Vegetables at breakfast
• Using only healthy fats in cooking
• Making all of your sweets at home from scratch using only healthy components (but not setting a limit on them yet)

In this approach, rather than focusing on what you want to avoid, you can instead focus on what you want to achieve.

Achieve Your Goals by Preparing Properly

Setting goals that will help you succeed is just as important as setting goals that will hurt you. It’s not easy to keep a healthy eating plan if you don’t also make other changes. You’ll need to rely on your willpower once more if there are sweets and other unhealthy items lying around the house. And if you’re working late and haven’t thought about what you’ll eat, it’ll be much more tempting to just order in.

Instead, get ready to embrace a healthier diet. Having the plan to prepare nutritious meals every night (Real Plans is a huge help with this) and keeping a supply of healthy snacks on hand is essential. I’ve eliminated much of the temptation by just stocking my kitchen with nutritious options.

Diet Persistence: The Nutshell

Overeating and a lack of self-control can no longer be seen as the exclusive causes of obesity. The problem is more likely to stem from underlying health difficulties or a lack of a proper diet. The greatest method to eventually diet and reach a healthy weight is to improve the quality of the food we eat and make room for healthy eating in our lives.