10 Major Reasons Why Your Diet Is Failing Miserably (And How To Avoid Them)

Regardless of whether your goal is to put on muscle mass or trim off excess body fat, launching a new fitness journey can be intimidating to undertake. One of the biggest forces behind that intimidation factor is the notoriously high failure rate of traditional “dieting” — a practice that often spirals into an overwhelming, ineffective, overly complicated process.

Because of that, new diets typically fall apart altogether; generally fluctuating as progress waxes and wanes.

Flip the norm and make healthy eating habits work for you over the long term; not against. We’re rolling through 10 major reasons why your diet is failing miserably — aka the things NOT to do — and how to avoid falling into common traps that often trip people up and lead to drop off.

Each little adjustment can help streamline the process and make it a little bit less painful to get started, sustain progress, and ultimately hit your fitness goals.

10 Major Reasons Why Your Diet Is Failing Miserably

1. You’re approaching it as a “diet.”

“Diet” is technically defined as the food one habitually eats. More recently, it’s frequently taken on the connotation of any short-term pattern of eating. You’ve probably seen articles plastering the internet with outrageous titles like “lose 10 pounds in one week” or “three weeks to six-pack abs” — this kind of dramatic change is not only unrealistic, but also potentially dangerous. That mentality preys on our natural desire for instant gratification.

Going in with the approach that muscle gain/fat loss is a quick fix is unsustainable and leads directly to “yo-yo” dieting;” essentially going on a “diet” for a period, and then once you reach your goal you revert back to how you used to eat. Eventually, any progress made gets reversed, and often ends up at a point worse than where you started.

Don’t fall into that trap — shift your mindset. Physical transformations must be considered a lifestyle change as opposed to a temporary diet change (i.e. a fad diet). Sure it’s a BIG undertaking, but if you’re not in it for the long-haul, you’re setting yourself up for failure. We’re not about that.

2. You jumped in too quickly.

For whatever reason, when people decide that they’re going to change the way they eat, they often flip a switch and try to completely change EVERYTHING at once. That’s not the best approach.

Recall the first time you learned how to swim: did you do a backflip off of the diving board into the deep-end before you learned how to tread water? Probably not. When changing your eating habits, approach it in the same way — slowly walk into the pool, get comfortable in the water, and THEN gradually move to deeper water.

An approach that’s proven successful time and time again is to make 1-2 small goals per week and stick with them. For instance, one week your goal could be to have at least two servings of vegetables every day. The week after, aim to only have 2 sodas that week (ideally it would be 0, but it’s important to set realistic goals). The psychological burden of completely changing ALL of your eating habits at once is often overwhelming and can result in a less-than-positive relationship with food. This commonly leads to binge eating junk food and a relapse back to old habits.

3. You’re sweating the small stuff.

“Roughly 20% of one’s effort will be reflected in 80% of the results.”

Too often I see people splitting hairs over minor dietary changes, which ultimately yield negligible changes. This kind of behavior results in unnecessary stress, and quite frankly, the goal is always to make lifestyle change as low-stress as possible.

Unless your goal is to step on stage in a physique or bodybuilding competition, your focus should be on the smallest changes that wield the biggest impact. You may have heard of the famous 80/20 rule: roughly 20% of one’s effort will be reflected in 80% of the results. The majority of your initial focus, energy, and attention should be on the “high-yield” changes.

For example, switching from juices and soda to water and tea is a simple change that can often significantly reduce caloric intake (and sugar consumption). Drinking less alcohol, shifting from cereal to oatmeal for breakfast, eating more protein, or adding more veggies to dinner are also easy upgrades. Another simple change is to use smaller plates, bowls, and glasses to easily control portion sizes.

Once your nutritional know-how grows, it’s okay to pay more attention to detail and get more granular over time.

4. You’re focusing on the “can’t have” — not the “should have.”

Again the goal here is to maintain a healthy psyche. When embracing dietary change, too often the focus falls on the negative — that is, the foods we shouldn’t be eating.

While there is no way to completely avoid this, I prefer to focus on the good food choices. By focusing on the positive, it helps promote an environment that is setup for success and creates a notion of accomplishment whenever you meet a given goal.

Conversely, when you focus solely on the foods you shouldn’t eat it results in a sense that we’re depriving ourselves. That creates a negative response, and often a feeling of extreme guilt, whenever we eat even the slightest amount of food on the “can’t have” list.

5. You’re restricting yourself ONLY to “healthy.”

While there is no definition for what actually constitutes “healthy,” it’s easier for most of us to list off what is “unhealthy” — things like soda, desserts, candies, ice cream, etc. A common mistake that people make is completely cutting out everything that falls under the unhealthy umbrella. Quite frankly, that idea sounds “unhealthy” for your sanity.

If you’re at party and you have a piece of cake, it’s not going to kill you, make you fat, or magically erase all of your progress. What will make you fat? Eating exclusively “health” food until you snap and end up routinely binging on junk food. Not only is this significantly more likely to impede your progress, but it’s the perfect storm for the development of eating disorders.

Can some people live and eat only “healthy” foods? Of course, but these people are saints — and certainly the exception, not the rule.

6. You’re rushing change.

As mentioned in #1, we’re hungry for rapid change and instant gratification. Beyond the fact that an overly restricted diet can be bad for your mental sanity, there is a physiological component that makes it ineffective.

Our bodies have evolved over time to store fat for use as an energy reserve during times of famine. As a result, our body undergoes complex hormonal regulation that gets reflected in our metabolism. If you attempt to lose weight very quickly by slashing calories, it often leads to a dramatic reduction in your metabolic rate to conserve energy. That means that you would be forced to reduce calories even further in order to see continuous progress.¹

How fast is too fast? This depends on your starting point. If you are morbidly obese, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to lose five or more pounds per week in the first few weeks. On the other hand, if you are only 10-15 pounds overweight, than it would be more ideal to plan for a weight loss of about 1 pound per week.

Likewise, if your goal is to gain muscle naturally, the same slow and steady approach applies. If you dump too much food into your body (in an attempt to “bulk up” quickly) it will lead to rapid weight gains with minimal change in muscle mass — effectively you end up getting fat. Proceed slowly for optimal results.

7. You’re comparing yourself to others.

Although it’s tempting to compare ourselves with others and compete, it is important not to forget that everyone’s body is slightly different. Everyone has different goals, different genetics, and different physiological factors at work.

Don’t be discouraged if your progress isn’t happening as quickly as one of your friends. Focus on your former self, challenge your body, and constantly shoot to improve every day.

8. You go at it with a lack of support.

Changing something as fundamental as your eating habits is a LARGE feat. Going at it alone is not the smart way to do it. It’s imperative to enlist the help of your friends and family.

Make them aware of your goals, and ensure they know what they can do to be supportive. Friends and family can be there to help you in a difficult time when you want to give up, or simply provide a little bit of extra encouragement along the way. If they’re knowledgable of your goals, they can also actively avoid pressuring you into anything that might impede your progress.

9. You’re failing to prepare.

This is an extremely common reason why many people fail to achieve their goals. It seems simple right? That’s because it is. Preparation is quite simple, but it requires foresight.

If you know that you’re going to have a busy week at work or school and won’t have access to foods that suit your diet, spend some time on Sunday preparing meals for the week. Additionally, it’s a great idea to be prepared for the unexpected — have some go-to snacks that you can keep in your desk drawer, backpack, purse…. wherever. Some easy ones are nuts, fruit, and protein bars (I’m partial to Quest Bars).

If you have a permanent office, a jug of protein powder and rolled oats are quick-and-easy options.

10. You’re not tracking your progress.

By now, hopefully you’ve learned that patience is essential and that slow-and-steady prevails when it comes to diet. Because change occurs slowly over time, sometimes it’s tough to tangibly see your progress over the short term.

That’s why it’s SO important to keep track of your progress. Tracking hard numbers — including body fat % and muscle circumference — can be extremely helpful, especially when it comes to gauging what’s working and what’s not.

For a detailed look at what to track and how to do it, check out our full article here.

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Joshua Nackenson

Contributing Author at Lean It UP

Joshua Nackenson, CSCS, is a medical student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine with a passion for all things related to fitness and nutrition.

His primary athletic focus is powerlifting, where he competes in the 165lb and 181lb weight classes. In between powerlifting training and competitions, he stays fit by competing in local 5ks and Tough Mudder events.

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References, Notes, Links

1. Prentice AM, Goldberg GR, Jebb SA, Black AE, Murgatroyd PR, Diaz E. Physiological responses to slimming. Proc Nutr Soc. 1991;50(02):441-458. [↩]