It is estimated that the success rate of dieting is between 2%-5%.  I know that may seem like a morale crushing statistic but all is not lost!  It makes sense that if you know WHY most diets fail then you know HOW to avoid the pitfalls and can increase your chances of success, right?  If you’re walking through a minefield your chances of making it through unscathed are slim but if you have a map of where the mines are located your chances of successfully crossing are greatly improved.

The health and nutrition industry is a multi-billion dollar per year industry and it is largely unregulated.  When you add those two things together you can count on the circling of the vultures.  It seems like you hear of a new, whacky diet everyday and people fork over their hard earned money in hopes that it “can be the one.”  There are some really bizarre diets out there and I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be bizarre to be effective.  You don’t have to eat cotton balls or sedate yourself so you won’t eat.  Yes, those were actual diets.

So why do most diets fail?  Is it the diet or the person?  In my opinion it is both.  Here are few reasons why most diets fail and it is my hope that with knowing these few reasons you may increase your chances of success.

Ok, so…yeah…the title is a bit deceptive but for those of you that are looking for a quick fix, you really need a reality check and hopefully this it.  If you really read the title then you may have realized I didn’t say anything about losing weight being fast!  Can you lose a lot of weight quickly?  Most certainly but the likelihood of you keeping that weight off is inversely proportional to your chances of keeping that weight off in the long run. 

What I mean is the faster you lose the weight, the less likely you are to keep it off.  This statement comes from personal experience and not from a scientific study.  Take a look at my completely made up graph that I dreamed up:

Completely Made Up Graph

There are anomalies.  There are some people that have dropped massive amounts of weight, quickly, and kept it off.  However, for the sake of this article we aren’t going to delve into how they accomplished it. 

If you are wanting, or needing, to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, here are a few pointers that may help you in that journey.

I’ve now been following the TNT Diet which I outlined in this article.  It is a very low carb diet (about 40 grams or less per day) with an emphasis on quality protein and fats.  Here is my update after the first week.

As with most low carb diets, you can expect a period of  adjustment to the low carb lifestyle and this has been no different.  Even though you try to prepare yourself, it can still be difficult.  If you can make it through it, you’re ready to start burning the fat.  Me?  I made it through it.  I was extremely exhausted for the first few days which led to some grumpiness that my wife certainly didn’t enjoy.  However, this was all gone by this past weekend!

I’m starting to get into the groove with my food preparation…boiled eggs, green veggies, salmon, chicken, steak, cheeses, real mayonnaise, almonds, avocados…it really is a good choice of foods for me.  I will be honest and admit that I do miss the occasional splurge on lower GI carbs like brown rice or potatoes but I have been able to mix up the allowed foods to keep it interesting.

Getting started is the hardest thing to do.  Wasn’t there a song by that title?  Anyway, maybe it could be a little easier if you know a few of the common beginner mistakes and how to avoid them.  Who better to learn from than someone that’s made most of these mistakes himself!

When you are beginning, you will most likely see progress quickly.  Because of this, it may be hard to know if you are creating any bad habits that will hamper further development after the beginner gains have subsided.    This is a serious hurdle for a lot of people.  When you see such great progress when you start and then you level off a bit, it gets difficult.  It is easy to feel as though your efforts are in vain.  Hopefully some of these common pitfalls will make it a little easier to power through it.

1. Trying to do too much

You may be like me when I started.  I hadn’t worked out in ten years.  If that is the case, the best advice I can possibly give you is to start slow.  I had a couple of friends of mine try to do a “bootcamp” the week after they started working out.  I do believe that if they had access to a wheelchair the next day, they would’ve used it.  They hurt so much from the bootcamp, they missed the next three days in the gym.  You didn’t get in the shape you’re in overnight, you won’t look like a Men’s Health cover model overnight either.   

Every now and then you hit a plateau and you just have to bust through it.  In fact, I just wrote about this very thing here.  I feel like I’ve hit that plateau and thought I’d try something a bit different to get past it.

Starting today, I’m doing the Men’s Health TNT Diet written by Ph.D. Jeff Volek and Adam Campbell MS CSCS. TNT stands for Targeted Nutrion Tactics and it includes the TNT diet and a complete workout routine designed by Alwyn Cosgrove. 

As I sit here eating my salad with tuna, onions, and cheese (anybody wanna kiss me?), I thought I’d share my thoughts on the book and the plan so far…even if this is only my first day on the plan!

The TNT Diet Premise

The TNT Diet is a low carb diet.  There really are no calories to count…just a list of acceptable foods depending on the program you choose.  There are four programs you can choose from based on your goals.  I really want to cut down so I’m following Plan A (for losing 20 lbs or more and reducing waist size by 4 inches or more).  The other plans have similar goals.

There are three eating time zones in the plan: 1.) The Fat Burning Time Zone   2.) The Reloading Time Zone  3.) The Muscle Building Time Zone.  The plan you choose dictates what time zones you use.  Since I’m following Plan A, I only use the Fat Burning Time Zone and the Muscle Building Time Zone.