Why Diets Don't Work

Listen to find out why diets don't work for losing weight and for an overall happy relationship with food, while learning tips of what does!

Mom and kids baking in the kitchen with overlay text on diets not working

It seems like everywhere you turn, there's a new diet being sold promising results with little effort and in record time. But the truth is, it's all in the name of making money.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

My guest today, Randa Derkson from Randa Nutrition, is a mother of two littles and loves all things food. She's a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and Certified Sports Nutrition Consultant and it's her mission to teach nutrition without a deprivation mindset.

She teaches that you can have all the tasty things, you may just have to tweak a few things (bring on the pizza, chocolate, and wine). She doesn't believe in fad diets (been there, failed at that) or calorie deprivation.

Instead, she teaches you REALISTIC nutrition that you can apply to your family. Because no one wants to eat a salad while their family enjoys pizza.

You can find Randa at her website, Randa Nutrition, on her Instagram account and on her podcast The Healthy Mama's Podcast.

Check out her Real Food Real Life Nutrition Guide.

The Failure of Weight Loss Diets

While it seems like most of humanity is either on or has been on a diet of some sort, they still continue to fail when it comes to long lasting results.

Randa shares her reasons why this is:

There is an end date, you are only doing it for a certain time to lose a certain number.
It's restrictive, you must cut out something so it leads a failure theme where you get into a cycle of binging and feeling bad and being obsessive to get back.
You feel like you are under a microscope and guided by strict rules.

How long do you keep the weight off after following a diet?

The hard truth is until you stop following the diet and go back to your normal way of eating.

Because you are restricting yourself with a diet and not learning how to eat within your normal eating habits, once you return to those habits, the weight comes back.

Why people say it's impossible to lose weight

Losing weight is hard for many reasons, but most of all, it's because it's hard to change our habits. Habits are formed over many years, and changing something engrained in our life is not easy.

People tend to want quick fix, we don't want to give up our normal way of doing things. So we go extreme with a diet, then get overwhelmed and stop.

How to Lose Weight the Healthy Way

While it is important to have a positive body image, sometimes we do get to a point where we want to lose some weight.

Whether we have fallen into some bad habits or stopped our regular routines, it's okay to feel like you want to shed a few pounds if it's for a good reason.

So what do we do? Randa says the theme is balance. When you balance what you eat, you will be better satiated.

You don't feel like you're missing out, you can not only eat your favorites, like pizza, but if you have a slice you won't feel guilty.

This teaches you control instead of the all or nothing mentality. It's a mental game of learning to allow yourself to enjoy food again.

Tips to lose weight for long term success

Her are some of Randa's key suggestions:

Start with water, drink more!
Take small steps towards your goal.
Change habits slowly, it took a long time to form them.
Make small switches in your choices.
Make overall behavior changes, sometimes it's the big behaviors that are our underlying issues.

Losing weight is a mental shift, you may need some deep work. For example things like emotional eating can be based in our upbringing and things we experienced in childhood.

How many pounds is safe to lose a week?

Randa says it is safest to lose no more than 2 a week, but even better to stick to 1 to 1 ½ pounds

When you lose more it is not fat, it is simple water weight that will come back.

Overall Tips for a Healthy Weight Loss Plan

Randa specializes in helping women lose the weight they need in a healthy way for long term success. Here are a few things she focuses on when she works with clients:

Drink more water.
Move your body- however you can, get 10,000 steps in for example as a goal.
Figure out how much you should be eating (check out Randa's calorie calculator).
Track what you eat to help show you visually how much you should be eating because most of us don't know what it looks like.
Eat all the macros- fat, protein, carbs, and loads of veggies.
Stick to balance it for a long term goal of success.
Eat the rainbow, varying foods are the key.
Plan for different easy meals along with new meals.

And don't forget to grab Randa's free 3 Days to Get Your Healthy Back on Track Challenge and check out her Real Food Real Life Nutrition Guide.