Why we fail at diet resolutions, and five ways a dietician says we can fix this
Why do diet resolutions fail so often? A dietician explains the real reasons diets don’t last, and shares five practical, sustainable ways to fix your approach and build healthier eating habits for the long term.
Every year begins with good intentions, cutting sugar, eating clean, and losing weight. Yet within weeks, many diet resolutions quietly unravel. According to Dt Ginni Kalra, Head Dietetics at Aakash Healthcare, this pattern has little to do with willpower and everything to do with how diet plans are designed.
“Most diet resolutions fail because they are unrealistic, overly restrictive, and disconnected from daily life,” she explains. When a plan doesn’t account for real routines, emotional triggers, and social situations, it becomes almost impossible to sustain.
Extreme goals lead to quick burnout
One of the biggest reasons why diets go wrong is when people set extreme goals. Cutting out whole food groups, skipping meals, or restricting oneself to certain foods may seem like a great way to start off, but it is not very practical.
Going to such extremes will only lead to exhaustion, vitamin deficiencies, and hunger. This will lead to frustration, and eventually, people will fall back into their old ways of eating, and this time with guilt and overeating. This is not because the person has failed, but because the goal was not very achievable.
Diets ignore emotional and social eating
Another big problem is the undervaluation of the role of emotional and social factors. Eating is not only a function of physical hunger. It is also related to stress, moods, celebrations, late work hours, and family gatherings.
Many diet plans fail to account for stress eating or social meals. When real life intervenes, people feel they have “broken” their diet, when in reality the diet did not allow for flexibility in the first place.
‘Eating healthy’ without structure doesn’t work
A lack of structure is another reason resolutions don’t last. Vague aims such as “eat healthier” can mean missing meals, irregular meal times, and insufficient protein or fiber.
This can lead to fluctuations in blood sugar, low energy, and strong cravings. Without a regular meal routine, the body is in survival mode, making healthy decisions even harder with time.
The scale is not the only measure of success.
Focusing only on weight is another common pitfall. When the scale does not move quickly, motivation drops. “Weight loss is not linear,” Dt Kalra explains. Early improvements often show up as better digestion, improved energy, reduced bloating, or better sleep. Ignoring these internal changes can lead people to abandon a diet before meaningful progress has time to show.
Dt Kalra concludes, “As a dietician, I believe the most successful diet is not the strictest one, but the one that fits into a person’s life and can be maintained over time.”
Also read: How long does it take to adjust to a vegan diet? A dietician explains