The “Exclusive” vs “Inclusive” Mindset While Dieting: Here’s Why You Need to Choose The Latter

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Why are there so many people failing to lose and maintain weight loss? Simple: Because they focus on excluding foods that aren’t high in micronutrients aka “bad” foods instead of including foods high in micronutrients.

When people decide to lose weight they do what any sane person would do:

Google → the most popular diets + the best before and after pictures = start eliminating “bad/dirty/unhealthy” foods left and right from their diets.

Think of any popular diet and it will be based on the exclusion of particular “bad” foods or “fattening” macronutrients:

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The problem is that this “exclusive” mindset leads to a rigid diet of only “good/clean/healthy” foods which can then lead to developing an unhealthy relationship with food. In research, rigid dieting is highly associated with eating disorder symptoms. The 2002 study found that:

“Individuals who engage in rigid dieting strategies reported symptoms of an eating disorder, mood disturbances, and excessive concern with body size/shape.”