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by Charles Weller

Going on a fad diet, like casual dating, is something you do for a little while and then go back to the way you were. You may see a positive change for a time, but pretty soon you realize this just isn’t for you and you settle back into your former habits. Making a change for life to a healthy diet is like entering a serious relationship; you commit because you found the right one. Here are ten reasons why fad dieting and dating follow the same cycle:

1.You obsess.

In the beginning you name drop your diet into every conversation. You proselytize about how amazing you feel and insist that everyone give it a try.

2. You feel deprived.

There’s no one left to talk to about your new diet. Without all the hype, you kind of miss the tasty stuff. It makes you a little sad to think about how happy you were when you sat on the couch with ___________[insert favorite food/ex-girlfriend or boyfriend here].

3. Temptation sets in.

Now it’s just getting too hard. You ran into your ex at the grocery store and he/she looked amazing. On the flip side, whatever you just smelled coming out of your neighborhood bistro is making you drool on yourself.

4. You may cheat a little…or a lot.

Just one bite won’t hurt. Neither will going out for coffee with your ex mean anything. It’s about closure, right? Afterwards, you feel guilty. You turn to negative speak, assigning words like “bad” to yourself if you eat forbidden food. Eating is now emotional, instead of enjoyable.

5. One mistake and you have to start all over.

Back to square one. You have to re-earn your body’s trust, just like you have to redeem yourself with your new partner.

6. You plateau.

You’ve actually been sticking to it, but now you don’t see any results. When “comfortable” sets into a relationship, things get pretty dull.

7. You try to spice it up.

Maybe, you think, I need to ramp up my commitment. Maybe even do this thing for life. So you become even stricter, slashing calories and eliminating more foods, thinking that will spur your body back into weight loss. You see some small results and you’re happy again, until it dawns on you that you’ve completely lost your freedom.

8. You seek advice.

This just isn’t working. It’s not fun and you are not getting your basic needs met. You feel cranky, trapped, nagged, and guilty all the time. Maybe one of your friends can give you some advice? All you really want is for someone to validate your desire to get out of this.

9. You start seriously considering your life before.

Remember the good old days, when you could do whatever you wanted and wouldn’t have to feel down on yourself all of the time? When every move you made wasn’t loaded with judgment? It was free then, and you want to go back.

10. You end it.

You return to your old ways and soon all the pounds also return with a vengeance. I don’t care, you tell yourself. I’m happy looking this way. I’m just not the healthy type.

You’re wrong. Everyone is the healthy type, just like everyone deserves happiness with the right person. The problem is that you haven’t found a healthy diet that you can realistically commit to. If you crave junk food, then learn how to break bad eating habits by trying different healthy foods until you find something you like just as much. Until you develop healthy eating habits, for life, you’ll never be set free from the crushing fad dieting cycle.



Charles Weller
Charles Weller

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