#12 Diets don't work. Do this instead [Focus edition]

Diets don’t work. If you go on a diet, you will most likely regain what you have lost once you go off your diet. In fact, chances are that you will regain more than you lost. And it doesn’t matter which diet you pick – low fat or low carb diet – they all have the same outcome. This is well documented. But why? Why do diets not work? 

In this episode, I will look at why diets don’t work and what you can do to make them get you the results you hope for. Hint: I am not making it easier to be on a diet – there are unfortunately no shortcuts. But I will give you five evidence-based recommendations. 

Episode Transcript

Morten Andersen (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to What Monkeys Do. My
name is Morten Kamp Andersen andthis is a podcast about what it
takes to make a change and makeit stick.
Happy New Year, maybe you'vedecided to make a new year's

(00:25):
resolution. And if you haveyou're not the only one. In
fact, in most western countriesmore than 50% make a new year's
resolution. Maybe you've decidedto go on a diet? And if you have
just hold on for a second,because in this episode of What
Monkeys Do, I'll tell you whydiets don't work. Because for

(00:45):
most people, they don't. Maybeyou've heard this already, but
only a few people know why. Andit is in that why doesn't work
that we find the answer to whatto do instead. And at the end of
this episode, I'll tell you howto make a diet work.
But let's start. What's theproblem with diets? Well, there

(01:08):
are many problem with diets.
Actually, I could start off bysaying that it's not much fun to
be on a diet. I bet many of youlistening have been on a diet at
some point. You start with highdesire, hope, motivation about
this new regime. But not manydays go by before you sense that
this is not much fun. Somethings that you like to eat,
you're no longer allowed to eat,or what are some things that you

(01:31):
don't like to eat, you now haveto eat. That's not much fun.
Another problem is that it'ssuch a jungle out there. There's
so many diets, and it's hard toknow which one to pick. But
there are essentially two typesof diets there the low carb
diets and low fat diets. So thelow carb diets, they are the the

(01:51):
Atkins diet, the South Beachdiet, the Mediterranean diet,
the keto diet, and so on. Thereare many diets. Both types of
diets claim to work, but theysay the exact opposite of each
other. So one say you should noteat any carbs, or you should
restrict them as much aspossible. Whereas the other one

(02:12):
is saying that's exactly whatyou should eat. So which one to
believe which tire to pick.
But that's actually not theproblem with diets. The problem
is that they don't work. Thenumber one success criteria for
a diet is that you lose weight,and that that weight stays off.

(02:33):
But on that most importantcriteria, most diets fail. And
that's actually all types ofdiets that fail on this. Most
people would, according to theAmerican scientist treaty, man,
be better off not going on adiet to begin with.
Let's get a little bitscientific about this. A large

(02:54):
study was recently published inthe BMJ the BMJ is a very
respected medical journal, andactually is one of the world's
oldest general medical journals.
Anyway, it was a largesystematic review, which
included over 120 trials withalmost 22,000 people who were
overweight or obese. And those22,000 people had been on

(03:17):
following one off of 14 diets.
So a number of different diets,including the Atkins diet, or
the Weight Watchers and theMediterranean diet, and so on,
you get the picture. And theyhad been on that diet for an
average of six month. Now theresearchers had has grouped
those diets into threecategories, the low carb, the

(03:41):
low fat, and then a third group,which included diets that was
similar to the low fat butincluded a little bit more fat,
and a little bit less carbs. Theconclusions for all of these
different people and trials werethat people on both the low
carbs and the low fat diets lostabout 10 pounds, or four and a

(04:03):
half kilos, on average duringthat six month. However, most of
that was put back on within oneyear of finishing the diet. Also
blood pressure and cholesterolresults. They improved a little
bit during those six months. Butalso here, results returned to
where they started off after oneyear. And finally there were no

(04:28):
major differences between thedifferent diets. So of all of
those 14 diets, not one of themwere better than the others.
According to Tracy Mann whoteaches Psychology at the
University of Minnesota and hasbeen studying eating habits,
self control and dieting formore than 20 years. She says

(04:50):
that after four to five yearsafter a diet, two out of three
people had not only gained theweight back, but they've
actually now way more than theyDid before starting on a diet.
Think about that. So, if youstart on a diet, then there is a
66% chance that you will weighmore four to five years after

(05:13):
you finish the diet that you didbefore starting the diet. So
diets do work in the short termwhile you're on the diet. But
the bad news is that afterwards,you gain it all back, and then
some. And that's a hard thing.
Going on a diet, putting in allof that work, getting a result
only to regain the weight.

(05:37):
trying and failing perhaps evenmany times is not only
depressing, it actually alsoincreases the likelihood of
developing an eating disorder.
So the problem with diets isthat they don't work, you lose
the weight, but then you regainit all again.
So why do diets not work? Well,let's just get one thing out of

(06:00):
the way. It has nothing to dowith willpower, or grid
discipline, those things aregenerally good to have. But with
diets, that's not the issue. Sowhat is the issue? Well, there
are three reasons why diets donot work. Well, actually,
there's more reasons than that.
But these three reasons willgive us an insight into what to

(06:21):
do about them. The first reasonis that you're fighting many
fights at the same time when youare on a diet. So you're also
fighting biological changes madeto you while you're on a diet.
So for example, in neurologicalchanges, which means that when
you are dieting, you actuallybecome more likely to notice

(06:43):
food, or other hormonal changes.
So as you lose body fat, theamount of different hormones in
your body change. So thehormones that makes you feel
full, they actually decrease andthe hormones that make you feel
hungry increase, so you becomemore likely to feel hungry when

(07:07):
you are on a diet. And finally,also fighting metabolic changes,
so your metabolism slows down.
So when you are on a diet, yourbody finds a way to run on fewer
calories. And that makes itharder to lose weight as you are
burning fewer calories. So thefirst reason is that you're
fighting many fights whileyou're on a diet. The second

(07:30):
reason why diets don't work isthat there is too much focus on
losing the weight, and toolittle on maintaining weight
loss diets, by their very naturefocus on losing the weight. But
that's actually only half thechallenge. The real challenge
comes after you've lost theweight. Now you must maintain

(07:51):
your new weight. And that's awhole different approach.
Another type of diet if youwould like so you must
restructure how you eat and howyou think of food. So you really
should have two plans ready. Thefirst plan is to lose weight.
That's the traditional diet. Butthen you also need to have a
second plan, which is the weightmaintenance plan. And this plan

(08:14):
will go on for a long time afteryou finish the first plan. So
the second reason that dietsdon't work is their lack of
focus on maintaining weightloss. The final reason why diets
don't work is that there formany people is an underlying
reason why you gain the weightin the first place. Or in other

(08:36):
words, overweight is for manypeople the symptom, but not the
issue. And by going on a diet,you're not addressing the
underlying issue. So the issuescan be many things they can be,
for example, loneliness, stressat work, depression, low self
esteem, just to name a couple ofthem. And if you're suffering,

(08:58):
let's take an example. If you'resuffering from stress at work,
and you're using food toregulate your emotions, when you
come home, then your diet willnot work simply because the
underlying cause the stress atwork is still there. And you
will continue to use food as away to escape from certain
emotions after you have stoppedyour diet. So diets don't work

(09:21):
because evidence show thatpeople regain the weight when
they stop with the diet. And thereasons why they do that is that
diets make biological changes,which makes diet hard because
diets don't focus on maintainingthe weight loss. And finally,
because for many people diets donot tackle the underlying

(09:43):
reasons for the weight gain.
Okay, so the question is now Isthere nothing you can do to lose
weight? And yes, there is.
You've probably figured out butI doubt that I I like my list.
If you're thinking to yourself,how can I lose weight? Well,
then here are five things youmust do to lose weight. But

(10:05):
before we go into those fivethings, let me just be
absolutely clear here, I'm notoffering any medical advice, you
should always consult with yourdoctor before you go on a weight
loss program. But the followingother things that we know work.
And when I say work, I'm nottalking about a program that

(10:26):
will help you lose weight, thatmany diets that do that and do
that, well. I'm talking aboutevidence based recommendations
that will make you lose weight,and then keep it off. So let's
look at them. The five thingsare first, number one, pick a
diet, if you do want to loseweight, you do need some kind of

(10:47):
diet, you do need to consumefewer calories for a period. But
it doesn't matter which one youpick. If you pick the keto diet,
or Mediterranean or Atkins, orlow fat, high carb diet or
intermittent fasting, pick oneof them and stick with it. And
pick one where you like thefood, some of the diets, you

(11:08):
would have to spend quite a bitof time finding new ingredients
and cooking new types of food.
Maybe you will like that. Maybeyou will not others diet is
almost like eating what younormally eat just a lot less of
it. But again, it doesn't matterwhich one you pick, pick one,

(11:30):
and stick to it.
Advice number two, haverealistic goals and lose your
weight slowly. Evidence suggeststhat it is realistic to expect a
weight loss of between seven to10% of your initial weight. So
if your initial weight is let'ssay 80 kilos or 175 pounds, then

(11:50):
you can expect to lose six toeight kilos or 12 to 17 pounds.
But don't expect that resultover a few weeks. Instead, set
your goals to lose that overthree to six month instead, that
will make it more likely thatyou will not regain your weight
after you stop your diet.
Advice. Number three, addphysical activity. Physical

(12:12):
activity is important as a partof a comprehensive weight loss
plan or a weight control programbecause it contributes slightly
to the weight loss. But asimportantly, it helps with
maintaining the weight loss. AndI'm not talking about breaking
the world record in a triathlonor anything like that I'm

(12:35):
talking about moderate level ofphysical activity three to four
times a week, we know that ifyou if you add that to your
diet, it is more likely that youwill keep the weight off after
you stop. Advice. Number four,fight your demons. If you're
using food as a way to escapefrom unwanted emotions, such as

(12:57):
stress, depression, anxiety, orsomething like that, then you
must address these issues. Andthat's probably a good thing to
do anyway. And I know that'seasy to say, I know that's easy
in theory, and really hard inpractice, I know that. But just
understand that if you do nottackle those issues, it will be

(13:20):
really hard to keep the goodresults from your diet once you
stop with your diet. So maybeyou need some help with this,
maybe you need to include aprofessional with this. Issues
like these can be hard to tacklealone. But regardless, fight
your demons. And the fifthadvice, have a weight

(13:42):
maintenance plan ready. Afteryou've been on a diet, you lost
your weight, congratulations,the likelihood of maintaining
the weight loss is much higherif you have a weight maintenance
plan. Now those programs areoften more specifically tailored
to the individual to you. Atleast that's my recommendation.

(14:04):
And such a program could consistof of diet therapy, which is
just a fancy word for selectingthe right food for you. And you
know, creating a food plan. Itwould consist of physical
activity, as I said, but alsomaybe behavioral therapy, which
is also just another fancy word,which means getting some help to

(14:27):
keep you on your plan. Butmaking a weight maintenance plan
is such a good idea. And itshould continue to be in place
for a very long time after youstop with the diet. So losing
weight is hard, really, reallyhard. But if you do want to
increase your odds of losingweight and keeping it off, then

(14:49):
follow those five advice. Andfinally, have a happy new year.
Make a new year's resolution. Iknow I will. But please don't
just go on a diet because theydon't work.
Before you go, can I ask you onefavor if you enjoyed this
content, and I hope I've givenyou some value today, I hope you

(15:12):
enjoyed this. And I hope it hasbeen worth your time. If you
think it has, please do go outthere and find just one or two
other people and tell them aboutthe show. Find one or two other
people that you think will enjoythis episode. Could be a friend,
it could be somebody at work,take that time and just

(15:32):
mentioned the show to them. Iwould really appreciate that it
helps us grow our audience.
Until next time, take care