The Number One Reason Why Dieters Fail

[Music]

[Applause]

let me tell you a story

about 12 years ago i’d just given birth

to my daughter

eight months prior and i went to my

doctor for my annual visit

i was feeling really good i had lost all

my baby weight

i was eating healthy exercising more

i expected a clean bill of health so i

was shocked when my doctor told me my

cholesterol was over 300

and she wanted to put me on a statin i

was like

wait a minute i’m a registered dietitian

i’m eating a low-fat heart-healthy diet

how could this be

so i asked her to give me a couple of

months to see if i could fix the

situation on my own

and luckily she agreed i remember

leaving there thinking

how could i be doing all the right

things and my cholesterol be so bad

so i started to do some research and i

came across a book called the great

cholesterol myth

and what i learned is that cholesterol

is actually an inflammatory response

if i could reduce the inflammation in my

body

i could potentially improve my overall

numbers

and so i took the advice of the book and

instead of eliminating

all the fat in my diet like i had been

doing

i worked to find better balance between

healthy fats and carbohydrates

you see when i was so focused on eating

no fat

it led to the over consumption of carbs

and sugars

and it was really this imbalance in my

diet that led to my poor numbers

six months later i went back to my

doctor and my cholesterol was under 200.

she was thrilled she even asked what did

you do

and i told her i kind of did the exact

opposite

of what i thought i should be doing and

it was really from that point forward

that i never looked at nutrition in the

same way you see what i learned during

my research

is that since the development of the

first nutritional guidelines

you know the food guide pyramid the

overall health of americans has not

improved

in reality the overall health of

americans has dramatically declined

let’s take a look at the numbers in 1960

just prior to the first set of

nutritional guidelines

our obesity rate was 14

fast forward to today and our obesity

rate is closer to 40.

being overweight is defined by having a

bmi

of greater than 25 and the cdc notes

that nearly 72 percent of the population

fits that criteria yet half of us are on

a diet at any given time

and research shows that you’re going to

try anywhere from 50

to 130 different diets in your life

think about it how many diets have you

already tried

20 30 40

and then there’s this last stat the one

i know you’ve all heard before

and that’s the one that says 95 percent

of dieters fail and you know what’s

interesting about this stat that’s been

used in congressional hearings

written widely in diet books and quoted

often in research

is that it’s actually a myth there is no

scientific data to back its truth

but because so many of us have

experienced such failure with diets in

the past

we believe it to be true despite how

ridiculous it sounds to say

95 percent of dieters fail we don’t

second guess it

because we’ve seen those same patterns

in our own life

so i ask you why are we so bad at

creating sustainable

health and wellness in the united states

what i’ve learned over the last 20 years

as a weight loss dietitian

is that when you create nutritional

guidelines based on the restriction

and exclusion of certain macronutrients

and foods

which is what most diets do you feed

into the number one reason why dieters

fail

the all or nothing mindset

you know what i’m talking about it’s the

you’re 100 on

or you’re 100 off to put it in dieters

terms you’re either eating no

junk food or you’re eating all the junk

food it’s all or nothing

for the past four decades we’ve been

using fear to establish nutritional

guidelines

it started with the fear of fat in the

80s and 90s

fast forward to today and it’s the fear

of carbohydrates and sugars

we’ve decided that teaching in absolutes

is the only way to make americans

healthy

yet we’re more obese and ill than ever

before

think about it the last time you were a

family member went to

your doctor you were diagnosed with a

chronic condition

and you’re told to cut something out of

your diet

you have high blood pressure cut out the

fat and salt you have diabetes cut out

the carbs and sugars

and you leave there motivated and

determined to do so

because your health depends on it only

to find yourself struggling to be

consistent a couple of weeks or a couple

of months later

and in your mind if you can’t do it a

hundred percent

it’s not worth doing it at all you don’t

believe that the 50

60 70 effort that you are able to put

forth

is good enough so instead of seeing the

value of doing

something you choose to do nothing

and there you have it it’s the all or

nothing mindset that’s holding most

people back from reaching their

long-term health and wellness goals

and our ability to break this mindset is

truly the missing link to long-term

success

and what i’ve learned over the last five

minutes the last five years

is that when you focus more on making a

mindset shift teaching people they don’t

have to be perfect to be successful

and showing them balance around their

food choices

the real change begins let’s take

becky’s story

she was diagnosed with pcos and told to

cut out the carbs in order to manage her

symptoms and lose weight

and for the next eight years she tried

to do just that

at the same time she ended up losing and

gaining the same

20 pounds over and over and over

two years ago she reached out to me and

said amanda teach me how to live a low

carb lifestyle consistently

and i told her the idea that you think

you have to take

all the carbs out of your diet for the

rest of your life is exactly

what’s setting you up to fail my goal is

to teach your balance around our food

choices

but more importantly i wanted to take

the fear out of carbohydrates

i knew that if i was able to remove the

fear from this one macronutrient

it would allow her to have the aphasia

the occasional flex meal

and slip up here and there without

feeling like a failure

when she’s not busy beating herself up

over one meal

or one off day she’s able to stay more

consistent

and it’s her ability to be consistent

that allowed her to finally transform

her health

and becky’s just one of thousands of

people that i’ve seen

and maybe you relate to becky’s story

maybe you’re on diet attempt number 30

and you now realize it is your own

all or nothing mindset that’s been

holding you back

well if that’s the case i leave you with

these three

simple strategies to help you break this

mindset

and finally exit the diet roller coaster

number one you don’t have to be perfect

to make an impact on your health but

you do have to be consistently good i

like to call this the 80 20 approach

80 of the time you’re fueling your body

based on the way you wish to feel

and the results you aim to achieve 20

of the time you’re a little bit more

flexible

you’re not perfect and you’re not

completely off the rails

this allows you to celebrate a holiday

or have a meal out without feeling like

you failed

let me show you a really easy way to

implement this strategy

most people eat three meals a day that’s

21 meals a week

80 of 21 is 17.

your goal is to make 17 meals a week

count

make them dialed in make them with foods

that elevate your health

twenty percent three to four meals a

week you’re a little bit more flexible

all right you’re not perfect but you’re

not completely off track

this allows you to celebrate a holiday

um or have the occasional

night out without feeling like a failure

this simple approach allows you to

create the right amount of consistency

that you need in order

to see results but still live your life

number two you have to learn the power

of resetting

immediately and dropping the might as

well thinking

let me give you an example you walk into

work friday morning

and there’s a box of hot fresh donuts

and you try

really hard to resist because donuts do

not

align with your current health goals but

you end up having a few

we’ve all been there right afterwards

we feel like crap we regret our decision

for so many

an event like this triggers the might as

well thinking

well might as well have nachos for lunch

and pizza and beer for dinner because

i’ve already blown it

and for others because it’s friday it

turns into

might as well just be like an

all weekend and start fresh monday

this is the cycle that we must break we

have to stop

using the might as well thinking as an

excuse

to give up because one morning of donuts

does not make or break your progress

it’s what you do

after a morning of donuts that

potentially will

so the next time you find yourself at

the end of a meal that doesn’t align

with your current goals

instead of saying might as well make

every

effort to reset as soon as possible

your ability to learn to reset the

quickest

allows you to create that consistency

that you need

to see long-term progress and results

number three you gotta always do

something

i see this over and over with my clients

who feel overwhelmed

and off track they just give up

and what you have to realize is that you

don’t always

have to do it all but you always

have to do something you can never

completely give up

on your health and wellness journey so

the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed

and off track

instead of giving up i ask you to create

one or two

non-negotiables for the week to come

make them simple

drinking more water taking more steps

packing your lunch make them something

that you can commit to on a daily basis

and then as those become second nature

build on it

habit by habit the ability to create

these good habits over and over

gives you the momentum you need to see

progress towards your health and

wellness

and there you have it it’s as simple as

that one two three

breaking the mindset the um all or

nothing mindset

is as simple as trying to stay

consistent

achieving long-term health and wellness

is about your ability

to be flexible and find balance but most

importantly it is about your ability to

create

consistency and when you’re struggling

with the all or nothing mindset

this is impossible to do so as i leave

you today

i hope you remember you don’t have to be

perfect to impact your health

aim to be consistently good and when

you’re not good

don’t say might as well learn to reset

immediately

and when all else fails and you’re

feeling completely off track and

overwhelm

just do something thank you