The Diet Cycle

Don’t get lost in the noise! What happens when you diet or follow the latest exercise fad without any guidance or knowledge?

True story- I once didn’t have a clue how to exercise, how to eat and how to look after myself. 

I’ve been through every fad diet or exercise craze you can think of. I’ve dropped my calories to ridiculous lows, I’ve exercised to burn off calories, I’ve felt guilty as hell when I didn’t. 

And now when people come to me and ask what I think of this diet or that new craze, my answer is always the same – is it sustainable? 

The diet cycle usually goes something like this: try new diet > lose weight > get bored > weight increases > try new diet

So why do we do it? Because in those first few days you are motivated, you feel ok and you can slowly see the weight dropping off which confirms you are doing the right thing, right? But then we slip up, we get bored, life gets in the way and slowly those gains are eradicated and we end up feeling like we’ve failed. But we haven’t failed, the diet simply wasn’t sustainable in the first place.

Whether it’s keto, paleo, 5:2, intermittent fasting, low carb etc etc (the list is never ending!) the majority of the time we follow the same pattern.

In order to make changes that stick we need to introduce new habits, sustainable that don’t feel like they have a materially negative impact on your lifestyle. If you can’t go out for a nice dinner without freaking out about the calories then perhaps you have not found the sustainable balance needed for long term gains.

To understand where and how you can make these improvements, changes that last and changes that don’t feel like a constant punishment, please feel free to drop me a line!