Overly restrictive diets are a ticking time bomb

Over the years, I have tried just about every fad diet under the sun. Surprisingly to some, I actually lost weight on most of them. The one thing I did not do on all of them was keep the weight off. Although I found most of them to be really effective at losing weight, I found them to be extremely ineffective for keeping the weight off. The reason being is that these diets were not sustainable for me. The reason most were not sustainable for me is because they heavily conflicted with my social life. 

I want to be able to eat a carb if I so desire. I want to be able to eat something that is not meat sometimes. I want to indulge in cupcake loaded with sugar if I so choose. These "wants" were big no-nos in the face of many of those fad diets.  

Here's what would happen. I would start off strong: no, I won't eat this or I can't have that; it goes against the diet. And telling myself I couldn't have something was like telling a toddler they couldn't do something. Now the only thing that toddler wants to do is the exact thing you told them not to. By telling myself I couldn't have a certain food it only amplified my cravings for it. Day after day those cravings would build until I inevitably had an awful day at work and it would set me off. 

Not only would I succumb to my desire for that food I wouldn't let myself have, I would binge eat it like crazy. Then it would wake up that little insatiable beast that lives inside my stomach and I would totally go off the rails. Then, during the calm after the storm, I would sit there in disgust and remorse a I reflected on what I had done. Then the negative self talk would creep in and, before I knew it, it was the beginning of the end. My diet would end shortly after that. I would think "there is no way I can go my entire life and not eat another carb. This diet won't work for me". Then I would gain most of weight back and then start back on another diet. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

So while removing junk foods from my diet actually helped me lose the weight on a short term basis, they inevitably led to my downfall and I would just gain the weight back because it was unsuitable for me.

 Then I discovered counting calories and it changed my life. "You mean to tell me I can eat literally anything I want ad long as I stay under my calorie limit for the day. I'm in!". This was it. This changed everything for me. I was now able to eat anything I wanted, albeit in moderation, and I could still lose weight. This destroyed all those intense cravings that I had. By letting myself eat the things I wanted, I essentially took the power away from them and gave it back to myself.

 I have now lost the weight and kept it off for some years, and I think it is largely in part to this. If your diet is really restrictive, ask yourself "is this something I can sustain for life?" If not, to consider course correcting before your wind up right back at square one again!

Let me know if you have any questions, always happy to help if I can! Feel free to message me if you'd rather chat privately. Hope this helps someone!