#168: One of The Biggest Reasons Most Diets Fail & My Solution For it - Calorie Cycling!
In this episode, I dive deep into a key issue that most conventional diets overlook, which often leads to failure in achieving long-term weight loss success. It's not just about losing weight—it's about keeping it off for good, and that's where most diets fall short, with 85-90% of dieters regaining their lost weight! Today, I explore why this happens and what you can do to avoid it.
If you’ve ever struggled with losing weight and keeping it off, this episode will help you understand the science behind why that happens and how you can beat the odds. I’ve developed my approach to cover all of these factors, and it’s worked for thousands of women worldwide. Tune in or read below to learn how to make sustainable, long-term weight loss a reality for you too!
What You'll Learn:
The Alarming Statistics of Diet Failure
How Calorie Restriction Affects Your Metabolism
The Role of Hormones in Weight Loss
The Importance of Calorie Cycling
Why Strength Training and Protein Are Essential
Welcome back to Body Bites with Bec! Today, I’m diving into something that often holds women back from achieving long-term weight loss success: a mistake most conventional diets make. This is something I’m passionate about because I’ve seen so many women either struggle to lose weight or lose it, only to gain it back soon after.
In this podcast, we’ll explore the reasons behind why so many diets fail and what you can do to break the cycle of temporary weight loss and achieve sustainable results.
The Alarming Statistics of Diet Failure
When I first started my business over eight years ago, I was shocked by how many people failed at diets. Studies show that most people who lose weight on a diet regain more than half of the weight within two years. Even more concerning, by the five-year mark, 80% of people gain back nearly all of the weight they worked so hard to lose. Some experts even estimate that 80-95% of dieters regain the weight entirely.
Does this sound familiar? Have you ever lost weight on a diet, only to find yourself quickly gaining it back? Or maybe you're currently dieting but feel like you've hit a plateau? If so, you’re not alone. There are many reasons for this, but today we’ll focus on one major factor: how calorie restriction impacts your metabolism.
Why Calorie Restriction Slows Your Metabolism
One of the main reasons people struggle with long-term weight loss is because of the way their metabolism responds to calorie restriction. Specifically, when you drastically reduce your calorie intake, your metabolism slows down. This is especially true for your resting metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy your body burns at rest.
But why does this happen? It all comes down to survival.
In the days of hunter-gatherers, food was scarce, and people would go through periods of eating a lot (after a hunt) followed by periods of eating very little (when food was scarce). To survive, the body adapted to these conditions by slowing down the rate at which it burned calories during times of food scarcity. This was an evolutionary advantage, but today, it’s one of the reasons why prolonged calorie restriction can backfire.
The Science Behind a Slower Metabolism
When you reduce your calorie intake too much, your body senses this as a potential threat—it assumes food is scarce. In response, it lowers your metabolic rate to conserve energy. This means your body burns fewer calories throughout the day.
Let’s say your body needs 2,000 calories per day to maintain your weight. If you suddenly drop your intake to 1,200 calories per day, your body adapts by lowering your resting metabolic rate. This can make it harder to lose weight, and when you return to your normal calorie intake, the weight can quickly pile back on.
Metabolic Adaptations to Calorie Restriction
Calorie restriction doesn’t just slow your metabolism. It triggers other biological responses that can make weight loss even more challenging:
Thyroid Hormone Decline: Your thyroid hormone plays a crucial role in regulating metabolism. When you diet, your thyroid hormone levels often drop, slowing your metabolism further.
Decreased Physical Activity: Calorie restriction can also decrease your energy levels, making you feel less inclined to exercise. This reduced activity can contribute to weight regain.
Increased Cortisol: Prolonged calorie restriction can raise your cortisol levels (the stress hormone), which is linked to weight gain, particularly around your midsection.
Changes in Hunger Hormones: Dieting can increase ghrelin (the hormone that makes you feel hungry) and decrease leptin (the hormone that tells you you’re full). This leaves you feeling hungrier and less satisfied after meals, making it harder to stick to a calorie deficit.
Why Diets Fail Long Term
All of these factors work together to make long-term weight loss extremely difficult. You may find that, despite your best efforts, you hit a plateau and stop losing weight altogether. Or worse, when you finally stop dieting and return to eating normally, you gain the weight back—and sometimes even more than before.
This is why so many people who go on restrictive diets fail to maintain their results. Their metabolism has slowed down, and when they return to their previous eating habits, their body can no longer handle the same amount of calories.
The Solution: Calorie Cycling
So, what can you do to avoid this pitfall and set yourself up for long-term success? One effective strategy is calorie cycling. This involves alternating between periods of calorie restriction and higher-calorie “refeed” days. Refeed days give your body a break from the stress of a calorie deficit, allowing your metabolism to recover and helping to balance your hormones.
There are several ways to implement calorie cycling. Some people reduce their calories for five days and then have two days of eating at maintenance levels. Others might restrict calories for two weeks, followed by one week of eating at maintenance. The key is finding what works best for you.
How Calorie Cycling Helps
Calorie cycling offers several benefits:
Prevents a Slowdown in Metabolism: By giving your body breaks from calorie restriction, you can prevent your metabolism from slowing down too much.
Balances Hormones: Refeed days help rebalance hormones like cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin, making it easier to stay on track.
Increases Long-Term Success: Knowing you have days where you can eat more freely makes it easier to stick to your plan during the week. Many women tell me they feel more motivated knowing they can enjoy meals out or take a break from strict dieting on weekends.
My Approach: Sustainable, Long-Term Weight Loss
In my 3 Week Body Reset and Health with Bec Tribe programs, I teach women how to implement calorie cycling as part of a balanced approach to weight loss. My goal is to help women lose weight without feeling hungry and, more importantly, keep it off for the long term.
By focusing on a moderate calorie deficit, incorporating refeed days, and ensuring you’re eating a high-protein diet and strength training regularly, you can maintain a healthy metabolism while losing weight.
This approach has helped thousands of women achieve sustainable weight loss, and it can work for you too.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been struggling to lose weight or keep it off, it’s time to take a different approach. Avoid the common diet trap of extreme calorie restriction and instead focus on finding a sustainable balance with calorie cycling. This will help protect your metabolism, keep your hormones balanced, and make sticking to your diet easier.
Remember, long-term weight loss is about consistency and patience—not about quick fixes.
If you’re ready to make a change and want to follow a plan that works, I encourage you to check out my programs: the 3 Week Body Reset and the Health with Bec Tribe. These programs take all the guesswork out of dieting and have helped countless women achieve lasting results.
Don’t forget to leave a review! If you’ve enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more women find this information and start their journey to sustainable weight loss. You can also find me on Instagram at @health_with_bec for more weight loss tips and inspiration.
Further podcasts to listen to that I mention:
Episode 48: Learn more about the link between cortisol and weight loss, plus my top stress-reducing tips. Click here
Episode 87: Thinking of Doing a Fad Diet? Three reasons why cutting calories too low will harm your progress. Click here
Episode 65: 7 Fat Burning Reasons to Eat More Protein Click here
Episode 124: All your questions about EXERCISE answered! Weight training, fat burning, mistakes and more: Click here
Links:
Download my FREE eBook with 4 15 minute meals: click here
Start your weight loss, gut healing and anti-inflammatory journey now with my 3 Week Body Reset
Continue your journey and figuring out YOUR own balance in the Health with Bec Tribe
Explore my recipe eBooks: Click here!
Follow me on instagram: @health_with_bec
Visit my website: Click here