okay, i've gotten mixed answers about this and i would kind of like to get a solid one.

what's the main reason "diets" fail? as in severe restriction?

is it...

the rebound: depriving yourself makes you binge when you can't take the heat anymore, so when you reach your goal weight you'll gain it back by eating like you used to again

or

the metabolism: the more weight you lose the less calories you burn.

i realize that it's got to be a combination of the two, but MAINLY--what is it? can a person diet, have their metabolism slow down and not go back to old habits and keep the weight off? i can't give a vice versa scenario because obviously, there's no way to say that when you lose weight, you don't burn less calories.

There is almost nothing that's black/white in this industry and especially this!

It's a combination of these and other factors.

Can't answer.... it's different in all cases.

Of course... if you lose a lot of weight, and never eat in a surplus again (old habits) you aren't going to gain weight. As long as energy balances are always maintained.

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I know when I've dieted in the past when I fail its because I'm depriving myself completely of the things I love, and then when I fall off the wagon I do it to extremes.

For example, I'll have no chocolate (my biggest weakness) while I'm dieting, and then when I have a craving I binge out on it, rather than just have a little piece. Having done that, I get miserable that I've just ruined my hard work, and go and eat more inappropriate stuff to console myself.

There is also the fact that most people don't think of a diet as a lifestyle change, and when they reach their goal weight they go back to eating all the rubbish that made them put the weight on in the first place.

Just my thoughts,

Melanie.

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From what I've seen - from my own experiences - from watching people on this site and others -that's the reason...

How many times do yo hear people say - WHen I'm off my diet I will have..... WRONG - that dooms a person to failure... make what they want to have work within their current eating plan.. nd they don't have to worry about whehen they are off their diets.

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Doesn't this also have to do with the 'diet' mentality?
If you look at it as temporary or depriving your self of something then you have a proclivity to go back to it or pine for it in some way.
If you view it as a change in lifestyle and accept the fact that you can eat/do what ever you want- just in moderate quantities- then there is no desperate wanting/going back to old habits.

I may not keep all the weight off that I am losing now but I will never eat the way I did.

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the way I see it if you are really struggling through your dieting and really not enjoying your self even if you are loosing fat then you should change it up or something. Also if you are looking for a short term fix there is no such thing when it comes to dieting, you will loose and gain it all back if you don't adapt your new eating habits, it has happened to me before when I went on a diet for a first time. The bottom line is that it is all up to you and how much you are going to weight 5, 10 or what ever years from now.

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ah, i see--so the term "diet" implies a temporary change.

to me, i have never really seen dieting as something you'll completely abandon when you're done with it. obviously you can't continue eating in a deficit forever, but you'll keep making healthy choices even when you start to want to maintain.

and it's weird because "diet" actually just means the food you eat right? haha.

so basically, like bigguy said, it's the mentality that a diet is a "short-term fix".
i don't know who would want to NOT keep the weight off anyway :T

There are a lot of people focused on just reaching a goal - and will do whatever it takes to get to a specific number on a scale ( Read around the forum -you'll find several people like that here) Once they get to that number -- if they get that number -they have no idea what to do because habits haven't changed - and they haven't learned how to stay at their new weight -

Losing weight - as has been said often - is a journey of re-educating yourself... and learning what does nad doesn't work and it should stick with a person for the rest of their life - it's a lot more than jsut what their eating - a lot of it is mindset as well...

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imho, diets fail because people are too focused on losing weight. For me personally, this has become more than just getting the weight off. It's about being healthy.

I think one of the things that really changed my thinking was a commentator talking about how it's alright to criticize smokers for damaging their healthy by smoking and it's only a matter of time before it will become socially acceptable to treat obese people the same way. Pay attention to it and you can see the tides shifting in that direction already.

Anyway, I feel it's more important to focus on becoming healthy and living healthy to the best of your ability for the rest of your life. If I have the information to live this way and I choose not to use it, then I feel I'm being horribly careless and irresponsible.

Just my 2 cents.

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I think, that the more you stick to your diet, the more unhealthy it is to your body.
I think, that the best way to lose weight is excercise.

The more you stick to your diet, the more you'll want to eat something, that's more meat-like or, perhaps, an ice-cream or no matter what, that contains a lot of calories.

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yeah OK sir Spam's a lot.

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well, what if you have enough self-control to not eat it, even if you do want it?

if that were the only case then it would be more about a person's will..

Firecrackers - have you been diagnosed with an eating disorder?

it really sounds like you're trying to justify to either yourself or others why a low calorie restrictive diet is in your best interest long term...

The above comment, plus other things you've said - make it sound like you do have one... but don't seem to want to fix it... and aren't overly concerned with your l ong term well being...

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oh, yeah, i've been diagnosed but i'm not trying to justify anything.

what i'm trying to do is start eating more again--aka fix it--without gaining back the weight that i lost. i'm trying to figure out if my iron will will prevent me from doing so.

nobody seems to understand that fixing my disorder also means maintaining the weight i'm at (healthy) and eating healthily, too. :|

but what's wrong with not taking something you want? if we did that all the time then we'd be VERY obese. the key is self-control, imo.

Self control is fine... some days I wish I had more of it...

however, there are a lot of anorexics that will use that self control as a badge of honor and deprive themselves of what their body needs... it's a really fine line you have to walk.. and one you really need to be careful of...

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