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