Why Diets Lead to Failure

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Why Diets Lead to Failure
2005 Nathan Latvaitis

Ever thought of, known someone, or gone on a diet? You probably have. The word diet seems like a common word for someone who is unsatisfied with their current physical condition. The problem is that most diets usually end up failing in the long run. Going on a “diet” usually refers to eating alot less food, in the hope that it will make us lose those unwanted pounds of fat. Although there are different types of diets, 90% of them stress a strong reduction in calories one way or another.

Everyone has a certain amount of calories that they require per day to keep themselves alive, to perform their activities of daily living, and to exercise. This requirement of calories is known as Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE for short. For the purpose of this article, we will use my body as an example. My TDEE is about 3500 calories/day. I will eat about 3500 calories keep myself alive, to do stuff during the day (work, school, etc.), and to exercise. Note: You can calculate your TDEE at: http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/calculators/dailycalories.html

On another note, our bodies adapt to the stimuli that they are exposed to. For instance, when one lifts weights their body adapts by growing muscle, when one runs long distances their bodies adapt by building more capillaries to enhance blood flow, when one is exposed to cold temperatures their body begins to shiver in an attempt to create heat through muscle contractions, etc. The point is our bodies adapt to essentially everything that they are exposed to, including how many calories we eat per day.

So, when our bodies are exposed to a calorie deficit (a lower number of calories than our RMR) they must adapt. Let’s say that I want to go on a diet and I begin to eat 2000 calories a day instead of the normal 3500. One of the first ways my body is going to adapt is by using up my fat stores to make up for the lack of calories. This is why most diets seem to work in the beginning (this and also because you are losing water weight because of the calorie deficit). The thing is, the body does not want to keep using its precious fat stores for energy. The human body does not see fat as a bad thing; it is a backup mechanism for when a calorie deficit is introduced.

Now here’s the kicker. Since my body is not going to want to keep using up its fat stores, it is going to adapt by lowering how many calories my body needs per day to keep itself running (TDEE). One of the main ways it accomplishes this is by eating away at it’s own muscle, also it may lower your energy levels, and there are other adaptions. Instead of requiring 3500 calories a day to keep my body running, my body will eventually adapt over a period of time and only require 2000 calories to keep running. Back when our ancestors lived they needed this calorie adaptation to survive when food was short for long periods of time and they were starving. The trouble is, the body cannot tell the difference between starvation and dieting.

Now that my body’s TDEE has adjusted to the new number of calories that I’m are eating, it no longer needs to use its emergency fat stores to keep itself alive. This is when your fat loss stops from a diet. In addition to this, if I decide that I want to go off of my 2000 calories a day diet and begin to eat 3500 calories a day again then there is a calorie surplus. The body does not need these extra calories so it will store them as fat. The exception to storing them as fat is when the body needs to build muscle because it has been exposed to some type of exercise or weight lifting, and even then all of the calories are not used for muscle growth.

Now that I have changed my TDEE to 2000 calories per day, I have really wrecked my metabolism and it’s going to be harder to get to my goal of actually losing fat. That is, unless of course If I want to stay on my diet forever, but then I would have to continually keep introducing a calorie deficit.

So what is the best way to lose fat without messing up my metabolism?

A calorie deficit is required to lose weight, but eating less is not the only way to create a calorie deficit. A safer and more efficient way is to exercise. More detail can be found on this in Tom Venuto’s book “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle”, which is located at: http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/burnthefat.html

You can also calculate your TDEE at: http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/calculators/rmr.html

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace medical advice from a physician or health care provider.

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