
Fat Loss Nutrition Part I: Fad Diets, The Ugly Truth
They’re not all they’re cracked up to be.
There you are, staring at yet another magazine article listing the latest fad diet, which they “guarantee” will work for you. As if you haven’t already tried all the nutrition fads out there…
You promise yourself this time you will stick to it. For good. You will do whatever it takes to reach your goal, no matter how little you have to eat or how much you have to exercise. You.will.do.it.
Fast-forward a month from now, you’re done with the “(fad) diet” and maybe even saw significant results. As you sit there thinking of all the hard work you put in you’re simultaneously creating a mental tally of all the food you can finally eat again.
Fast-forward another month, or even a couple of weeks, and you have put on all the weight you had previously lost. Not just that, you gained weight too.
Wait, say what?!

Does this scenario sound familiar? Because trust me, you’re not alone in this.
It’s estimated that Americans pay about $58.6 billion a year for diet industry quick fixes (aka fad diets)(1).
Let me repeat, it’s estimated that Americans pay about $58.6 billion a year for diet industry quick fixes (aka fad diets)(1).
This.is.insane. Mostly in light of the fact that these results (if any were achieved to begin with) do.not.last.
Fad diets (might) work if your goal is to lose a lot of weight in the short term, and then gain all of it back. Fad diets do not work if your goal is to lose weight and then maintain the new and lesser weight.
The only purpose of fad diets is to make money off of you and they do that by promising fast, easy, and stellar results.

They tempt you with sparkly testimonials and promise you a “happily ever-after”. Except, at the end, all you’re left with is less money, being further away from your goal, and even more frustrated with yourself and the process.
The main problem behind fad diets is the “diet” itself. Not you.
Because they require you to be in a severe caloric deficit (emphasis on the “severe”), they are unsustainable. Being in a caloric deficit for an extended period of time lowers your metabolic rate. What does this mean? Simple: once you go back to eating like you did before the “diet” you will be in a large caloric surplus, which is what will promote weight gain. Even worse, the greater caloric deficit you were in through the “diet”, the more likely you are to gain all the weight back, and more.
To put it simply: the bigger the deficit, the bigger the rebound.
Many studies have witnessed a strong correlation between dieting and being overweight (2). Note that I said “correlation”, not causation. This means that either people who are overweight tend to diet more OR that people who diet more tend to be overweight. Either way, there’s a significant connection between the two.
But, this does not need be the case. Losing weight/fat doesn’t have to feel like when you’re struggling with a Chinese finger-trap.
There are better and healthier ways.
The main purpose of this article is to shed some light on “fad diets” and explain how they might work in the short-term and don’t work in the long-term. Also, please keep in mind individuality when reading this article; of course there will be someone who successfully lost and maintained their weight on a fad diet, but that is not the case for the majority of people. And that is who I am speaking for.
I am going to write two follow-up articles, one will explain how one can lose weight/fat in a sustainable and healthy manner, the other will focus on assessing where you want to go after achieving your goal and developing a maintenance plan.
Terms:
- Overweight: in the context of this article “overweight” is meant to describe individuals with a BMI of 25–29.9 kg/m2. Note: I do not like using BMI as an indicator of health; the only reason why I am mentioning it in this article is because the study I cited used it as criteria for their methods and results.
- Fad diet: a fad diet can be generally described as a diet that is meant for quick, short-term results (therefore making it unsustainable) and that isn’t usually endorsed by professionals (e.g. Registered Dietitians; sorry Dr. Oz does not count!).
- Diet: the type of food that a person eats. Note: Diet DOES NOT mean “dieting” as people use it nowadays (caloric restriction).
References:
The U.S weight loss and diet control market. Retrieved April 4, 2015, from http://marketresearch.com/Marketdata-Enterprises-Inc-v416/Weight-Loss-Diet-Control-7468694/
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 106(4), 523–525. Retrieved MArch 29, 2015, from http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S0002-8223(06)00013-7/abstract
Disclaimer: I am not a Registered Dietitian (RD) or a medical doctor (MD). This blog and website serves as a way to share information regarding my experiences with athletics, aesthetics, and nutrition. Products discussed on this blog are based on my own opinion and use. No information on this blog and website should be used to independently diagnose or treat medical conditions. My views are based on my education, evidence-based research, and experiences.
