For as long as society has desired to be slender, fad diets have been there to save the day... and by "save the day" I mean to profit off of your desire to reach your goals faster. The problem with all fad diets is they either provide only short-term results and/or they are so strict that they're unsustainable long-term.
Why They Will Never Go Away
The ketogenic diet is at the peak of its popularity at the time of writing this article, so I will use it as my primary example. Keep in mind, this applies to all fad diets and also applies to supplements promising miraculous results.
There are two factors in a fad diet gaining mass acceptance:
It must provide immediate results.
It must be simple enough that anyone and everyone can understand it.
The ketogenic diet fits both of these criteria perfectly. It's not uncommon for people to lose 10 pounds in the first 1-2 weeks using keto. It's also incredibly simple to understand. Consuming carbs causes a spike in insulin. One of insulin's primary functions is to create body fat and prevent the breakdown of body fat. Therefore, the theory is, if you eat fewer carbs, you lose weight. (This isn't actually the case. Click here if you want to find out why.)
Why This Is a Problem
People pushing fad diets don't teach the reality of weight loss. They mislead people into thinking fat loss should be rapid and effortless. While you may lose weight rapidly on keto, in the beginning, approximately 40% of that weight is water weight, not body fat. [1]
Because you weren't taught that almost half of the initial weight loss that would occur would be water, you just think the diet has quit working and you jump ship. Even if you were aware of this and knew the weight loss would slow down after the first week or two, in my experience, keto is unsustainable for the vast majority of people. Many of my clients and readers have tried keto but ultimately couldn't stick to it long term.
The final problem with fad diets is that typically, the whole theory the diet is built upon is simply wrong. For example, the paleo diet claims processed foods are the problem, which isn't true. The vegan diet claims animal products are the problem, which isn't true. Keto claims carbs are the problem, which also isn't true.
How to NOT Fall for Them
The only way to protect yourself from being tricked by fad diets is to simply educate yourself. The first and most important piece of dieting information for you to learn is that, while there are many factors in weight loss, the amount of Calories you consume vs the Calories you burn, is by far the most important.
As a final note, I know I spent a lot of time pointing out the flaws with keto in this article. I want to make it clear that I'm not picking on keto. Keto will result in fat loss (assuming you're eating fewer Calories than you burn).
Takeaway
Fad dieting companies are profiting off your desire to get fit quick.
Fad diets are designed to get you short-term results and are not sustainable for most people.
Fad diets aren't designed to teach you about how fat loss works or how to achieve long-term success.
Thank you so much for reading! If you found this information helpful, share it with a friend. I would appreciate it and I know they will too. If you like what I have to say, sign up below to become a Treadaway Training insider and never miss a post or video. I will be back here Thursday with another fat loss topic. As always, God bless you AND your family and I'll see you Thursday.
