Why Did Your Last Diet Fail?

There's a controversial statistic that's been floating around the health and fitness community for around a decade now-- you've likely heard of it. The statistic is that 95% of diets fail (Freedhoff, 2014). Right off the bat, there's a lot to unpack with that statement. Does it mean that 95% of the diet plans on the market are doomed to fail their adherents? Does it mean 95% of dieters will fail, and that basically dieting is a hopeless endeavor?

For this particular study, the daunting statistic came from self-reported data from a large number of dieters who admitted that either: 1) they failed to lose any weight on a recent diet, or 2) they did lose some weight but they regained all of the lost pounds within a year, or 3) they wound up heavier within a year than they were when they started the diet. Researchers put forth a number of theories as to why the failure rate was so high, and most of their theories line up with what professionals in the health and fitness community observe from clients and patients on a regular basis.

The most prominent theories revolve around one word: adherence. Think of adherence to the diet or nutrition plan as the most obvious answer to the "what", but it requires more understanding to dissect the "why" of the matter. So, why is adherence such a struggle? One potential reason why is deprivation. Many of the most popular diets of the past half century involve the removal of entire food groups, labeling all foods as being either bad or good with no room for nuance. Whether real or imagined, depriving our bodies of entire food groups, or foods with which we've been familiar, can make our brains and our bodies respond negatively, whether that's through increased stress levels or our bodies choosing to slow down our metabolism in an effort to conserve energy. Sometimes, those food-group restrictive diets leave the adherent with too few options that they genuinely enjoy, making it even more painful to stick to a diet over the long run. Banning sweets altogether from a diet has been shown to lead to a dieter eating closer to 133% more of that sweet snack, compared to how much they would have eaten if sweets weren't forbidden for them in the first place (Soetens, 2008).

What can we learn from this? One, we can see the importance of starting with a sustainable nutrition plan or diet plan? Being too restrictive on things you enjoy ultimately has a negative effect on reaching your goals. Two, the importance of habit forming to aid with adherence is bigger than you might expect. Having a standardized grocery list, having a handful of 5 or 6 dishes that you regularly eat and still allow you to lose body fat, and saving time via weekly meal-prepping can all help to make the process easier to stick to in the long run. Let the next time you try to lose bodyfat be the most successful and long-lasting endeavor you've ever had!

Drinking Alcohol while Losing Fat and Gaining Lean Muscle? Tell Me How!

You've probably heard stories of people getting shredded while drinking alcohol, just as often as you've heard stories of someone cutting alcohol out of their diet and immediately losing a significant amount of excess bodyfat. So, which one is it? Can we truly have our cake (iced cake vodka, whipped cream vodka and half and half-- you're welcome) and eat it too when it comes to meeting our goals without compromising on what we really enjoy?

The short answer: No. Some of you might be thinking, hey John/Everyday J.O.E., you've said not to remove entire groups of foods from your diet, or not to entirely give up on things you enjoy. You'd be absolutely correct! And I don't want you to give up alcohol entirely if you don't want to! But keep in mind that alcohol is not an essential macronutrient like fat, carbohydrates and protein are. It's also not an essential micronutrient or mineral. It does, however, pack about 7 calories per gram. The only macronutrient that's more calorically-dense than alcohol is fat. What makes it worse than fat, significantly, is that your body has to prioritize metabolizing alcohol first, but it has no immediate benefits to your metabolic system and instead gets into your bloodstream, impacting the function of your brain, kidneys, lungs and liver, relatively quickly. These are organs that we need for our successful fat loss journey!

At the same time, happiness is a food group. If you can cut alcohol out of your life entirely during your journey and not miss it, that would be ideal. If you'd like to indulge, do so reasonably, where you assign yourself a 1 or 2 drink limit before the fun begins, and you stick to it! Check out the website getdrunknotfat.com for a great list of somewhat low-calorie drinks for the individual who wants to feel a buzz and minimize the caloric impact on their diet. Another cheat code: day drinking. Yes, the majority of the negative effects are still there EXCEPT for a big one: there will be no negative impact on your sleep quality. Under normal circumstances, when we drink in the evening, it impacts our sleep architecture, the amount of REM sleep we get, and can increase our odds of having sleep apnea by around 25%. All of that equals poor sleep quality, and sleep is the second most important element of fat loss (second only to diet). Conversely, enjoying 1 or 2 drinks earlier in your day gives enough time for your body to recover from the deleterious effects and go to bed without alcohol in your system. You should still consider that day of drinking to essentially be a "wash" or a mulligan with regards to reaching your goals, but you can jump right back on your train to success the following day!

The Best Workouts for Beginners

If you are brand new to exercise, or just embarked on a fat-loss journey for the first time, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of exercise options that exist for you. Running clubs, biking clubs, CrossFit boxes(gyms), HIIT classes, you name it-- everyone is competing for our attention and our money, and everyone claims that their method is the best method for beginners to get fit and lose fat.

But what does the science say? Well, the science says that for optimal cardiovascular health and skeletomuscular wellness, most of us need a weekly balance of resistance training and cardio training. Specifically, most of us see the best impact on our health markers by doing 3 to four days of resistance training + two to three days of cardio training in a given week, with at least one day of true rest or minimal exertion. This means that an optimal training split would allow the trainee to do multiple forms of exercise.

So, which ones are truly best for beginners? A great way to determine what's best for you is to look at any exercise modality through three lenses. One, is it accessible to you based on physical location? Two, are you drawn to the exercise as something you think you would want to consistently do a few times per week? And three, do you have the skillset or the general health to safely do the required movements right now? An individual recovering from back surgery might not be best equipped to jump into a powerlifting-based resistance program, but very well could benefit from doing bodyweight exercises while they continue their recovery.

At-home, bodyweight/low weight programs make a lot of sense for beginners to get acclimated with building muscle on resistance days, and a dedicated 40 minutes to an hour of brisk walking is more than enough to reap significant cardiovascular benefits. A good blend of both in a given week will not only help you safely transition into an active lifestyle, but will also help you lose fat from Day 1 alongside a healthy, balanced diet!