Why "Tricks" and "Diets" Set You Up to Fail

Summer is looming, and the annual pressure is on to get bathing suit ready. Like clockwork, with the spring thaw comes the wave of constant "diet" and "tricks" articles to "help you lose weight fast!" But these articles don't offer up much more than quick fixes, followed by quick failures.

The word "trick" itself implies deception. Magicians do "tricks" to fool your senses. The definition of the word includes underhanded, cheat, and roguish. This is the very reason why we find ourselves, year after year, spring after spring, in a maddening hustle to do it all again. We're tricking ourselves into a short-term solution. Ultimately, we're going to revert to the beginning. Again.


The ultimate goal, the truest, most critical challenge is to change our mindset and habits long-term. We've discussed this in various posts here, but it is the absolute most important part of your success. Drinking a large glass of water before every meal to "feel fuller" and "eat less" is not a sustainable habit. Eating clean and often enough will truly satisfy your body. You will not need to trick your body into feeling fuller if you feed it healthy, clean foods often and in a balanced way.

Summer "diets", beach body "diets"... these are not long-term habits. The word "diet" conjures up feelings of restriction, sacrifice, hunger pangs, and choking down foods we hate. But in reality, the word diet simply means the foods on which we subsist. Diet isn't a trick. It's what we eat every day, no matter what that's made of. Good or bad, your food habits are your diet.

Ultimately, the goal is to be healthy and fit year-round. If you take care of your body, feed it well, and exercise it regularly, you'll be able to put that bathing suit on in February or July. Everyone fluctuates a few pounds, and sometimes it's challenging to eat seasonal foods off-season, but if you make realistic, long-term, healthy changes now, you will have less work to do going forward.

"Tricks" and "diets" set you up for annual failure. Healthy mindsets and habits set you up for a lifetime of success.

Social Media and Your Fitness Goals

Friends and clients often ask me about various tricks, supplements, and weight-loss systems to help kickstart their weight loss or to break through plateaus. My answer is always the same: eat clean and exercise regularly. But what I often leave out (mostly because it’s a difficult, delicate pill to swallow), is that you have to be honest with yourself about your own habits: The truth shall set your goals free.

Social media is a great way to keep in touch, but it’s also an excellent catalog of your own habits. Scroll through your Facebook or Instagram account. How often are you posting pics of you and your friends having drinks? How many awesome desserts and fabulous meals have you concocted? How often are you checking in at restaurants and eateries?

Your efforts don’t begin in the gym. They don’t begin in your kitchen. They begin in your heart and mind, at the point where you are ready to admit that your habits are not the best, forgive yourself for it, and resolve to make the change. If you are not willing to do those three things, no smoothie maker, pill, powder, exercise DVD, or app is going to work. Especially not long-term.

We love to throw around phrases such as “lifestyle change” and “healthy living.” But we rarely talk or think about the volume of effort that goes into truly making those changes. It can be overwhelming, especially when we are struggling with want vs. need. You have to truly want to make changes—of any kind. “I need to stop eating poorly.” “I need to go to the gym more.” Until need becomes want this will not work.  But when you do make the decision, it’ll feel better than any sundae or appletini you’ve ever had.

Use your social media outlets to support your efforts. Post healthy meal photos. Share fitness milestones, even if you think it’s small or lame. If you walked a mile for the first time today, share it! New sneakers? Post them! Working out with friends? Instagram and tag it. Be proud of yourself. You’ll be amazed at the volume of feedback. The people who love you want you to succeed and be healthy. Share it.