Crash Diets are a way of life these days. If you can’t find the right crash diet in a book, you can certainly find it in a pill. I have seen so many strange quick-fix diets and sadly, I’ve also been suckered into trying most of them. There’s a poster at my gym that I read as I walk by it everyday. It says

“If a great body came in a pill, then everyone would have one“.

So true, but rarely considered by most these days. Crash diets are easy to find, and always promise quick and dramatic results. It is difficult not to fall prey to that promise. Most people want to lose weight and there are a zillion great reasons to shed some pounds IF you are actually outside of a normal weight range. The problem with crash diets is that while they may promise weight loss, most of them require sacrifice in the form of your health.

Healthy long term weight loss cannot be achieved with a crash diet. The only way to sustain a fit and healthy body is to do the work. Suck it up and learn how to eat right and exercise in a way that works long-term for you. Women are all experts on the weight loss front. We all know that if we eat less than we’re outputting in the form of exercise and daily activity then we’ll lose weight. But then why is it so hard to do? It seems so simple that a crash diet would be unnecessary. It’s hard because we make it hard. We try these unruly diets that are impossible to stick to; we sabotage ourselves by ruining our metabolisms; and we convince ourselves that doing it the right way would just take too much time. I think that a diet should be a promise for the rest of your life and that it should be tailored to suit you. The Sonoma Diet, or the South Beach Diet or the _____ Diet are all great, IF you can eat that way long term without “falling off the wagon”. Find a diet that works well for you and if you can’t find one, do some research and make one for yourself like I did.

Here are 5 good reasons to stop yourself the next time you’re considering buying into the latest crash diet craze:

1. Crash Diets are extreme. Even if you can manage to hang on and eat and/or do whatever crazy thing that makes the diet successful, at some point your body will revolt and you will find yourself dealing with insane cravings for things you can’t have. This will lead to over eating and poof! up in smoke goes your weight-loss plan.
2. Crash Diets set you up to fail. Think about it. If they wanted you to succeed they would be out of business, right? So, what happens to you each time you fail? You believe in yourself less, you doubt your ability to accomplish a goal, and your weight loss goal seems impossibly out of reach.
3. They can and will ruin your health. A skinny person who is unhealthy will not garner the attention that a healthy and fit person will. A drug-addict or anorexic is a perfect example. Crash diets aren’t healthy and they can really foul up all your working parts, which in turn will shine through your outer layers. You may be able to fit into the size 2 shorts you bought yourself as a reward, but it will hardly make up for the unhealthy skin, dull eyes and lethargic personality.
4. Crash Diets can and will ruin your metabolism. I have really learned how fragile your metabolism can be. Once it’s out of whack (which seems to be so easy to do), it’s unbelievably difficult to get it operating normally again. I have a slow one, so my crash diets always revolved around trying to crank it up. It took me only a couple months of some really poor choices to get to where I am now, and I’ve been working hard for the last 8 months to try to repair the damage. Trust me, it’s not worth it! Your best bet would be to work with what you already have naturally. For example, step up your fitness routine a notch for three weeks and see if you see a difference. There are lots of good ways to give your metabolism a health nudge in the right direction.
5. Crash Diets teach your children. Anyone you mentor in your life, whether it’s your own children or younger siblings or friends, spends as much time learning from your actions as they do learning from your lessons. What does it teach a child who sees that their Mom is always looking for the quick-fix? Whether you want to send this message or not, it tells them that they should always look for another way to get what they want rather than work for it. Not only that, but you’re likely not instilling good eating habits in their lives either because if you were eating right, then you wouldn’t need the short-cut, right?

I finally came to realize that there was no diet on the market for me. I don’t want to be a dieter, even though I’ve been on a diet my entire life! I’m tired of it all, and I’m disappointed at what I’ve done to my body- especially the last few years. So, I made up my own diet. I took the basic principles (i.e. daily exercise, calorie intake vs. output) and created something that will fit my life forever. I urge everyone out there to consider what kind of eater they are. If you have a particular weakness for a food, find a way to incorporate it into a nutrition plan. Many women choose to incorporate their weaknesses by having an day off. I love that idea, but my only real weakness is espresso, so I just make sure that each day I account for at least two of them.

However you might decide to lose the weight, remember that there will be consequences to trying to pull off a quick-fix. The body isn’t meant to operate in such an extreme way and you could end up paying for that crash diet down the road. Why not give a healthy option a try?

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