Weight-loss diets are very popular, and we are constantly exposed to new ones with all kinds of fancy names. Most of them have one thing in common: the promise that it will “work for you to lose 10, 20 or more pounds” in a pretty short period of time. The bad news is that more than half of dieters gain the weight back. With that comes the “I have failed again” frustration and the “I give up” attitude. Why does this happen? Well, there are a few common denominators among these fad diets:

1. They are often too restrictive, unhealthy and demanding on our bodies. The focus is on what not to eat which makes it depriving and not very sustainable.
    
2. They create the wrong relationship with food—food should be associated with pleasure and with giving healthy nourishment to our body so it can thrive, not just survive.
    
3. There is no one-size-fits-all diet that could possibly benefit everyone; every body is unique.
    
4. They don’t consider the underlying emotional, lifestyle or health issues that led to weight gain in the first place.
    
5. If you are seeking weight loss, dieting is not the answer. Instead, root causes need to be addressed in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

Pamela Biasca Losada, MS, is a certified health coach and owner of Confident Boomer Health Coaching. For more information, visit ConfidentBoomer.com.