Why crash diets do not work

Every year there is a new crash diet. Lose this much in three days, eat only this, cut that out completely. At first it looks like it works and the scale drops fast. But a few weeks later most people are back where they started, sometimes heavier. So why?

Your body resists hunger

When you eat too few calories, your body treats it as a threat and shifts into saving energy. Your metabolism slows down and you feel hungry all the time. This is not about willpower, it is a simple survival response.

Most of what you lose is water and muscle

A large part of the weight that drops quickly is not fat, it is water and muscle. Losing muscle slows your metabolism further, which makes regaining weight easier once the diet ends.

What you cannot sustain cannot last

No one can live on three foods for the rest of their life. When the list ends, the old habits come back, and the weight comes with them.

So what does work

It may sound less exciting, but the lasting answer is the slow, sustainable one. Building a routine that fits your day without giving up the foods you love. On the weight management page I explain how I approach this.

A plan that does not leave you hungry feels less dramatic in the first weeks, but a year later it is the one still standing.