5 Myths Keeping You Stuck in the Chronic Dieting Cycle (And What to Do Instead)

You’ve tried everything—counting calories, cutting carbs, intermittent fasting—but no matter how much effort you put in, the results never seem to last. At first, a new diet feels exciting. You’re motivated, determined to follow the plan perfectly. Maybe you even see some progress. But then life happens. You go out to eat, get too busy to meal prep, or find yourself exhausted from all the rules. Before you know it, you're back where you started—except now, you feel like you failed.

If this cycle sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The problem isn’t you—it’s the dieting mentality itself.

For decades, we’ve been told that weight loss is about willpower, that cutting out entire food groups is necessary, and that quick-fix detoxes can ‘reset’ our metabolism. These myths keep us stuck in an endless loop of restriction and frustration. Instead of creating lasting habits, we end up feeling deprived, out of control, and convinced that if we just tried harder, it would finally work.

But real health isn’t about rigid rules or punishing yourself for eating the “wrong” foods. It’s about understanding your body, fueling it well, and breaking free from the dieting cycle for good.

Today, I’m breaking down five of the biggest dieting myths that might be keeping you stuck—so you can finally take a different approach.

Myth #1 : “I Just Need More Willpower”

If you’ve ever struggled to stick to a diet, you’ve probably blamed yourself. Maybe you’ve thought, If I just had more self-control, I wouldn’t keep giving in to cravings. Diet culture thrives on this idea—that success is all about willpower, and if you can’t stick to a plan, it’s your fault.

The truth? It’s not about willpower—it’s about biology.

When you drastically cut calories, eliminate entire food groups, or ignore your hunger cues, your body fights back. Restriction triggers a cascade of physiological responses: hunger hormones like ghrelin increase, making you feel hungrier, while your metabolic rate slows down to conserve energy. On top of that, your body ramps up production of neuropeptide Y (NPY)—a hormone that drives cravings for carbohydrates. This is because your body prefers carbs as a quick energy source, and when it senses a calorie deficit, it pushes you to seek them out.

Think about the last time you tried to “be good” by avoiding certain foods. Maybe you swore off sugar, only to find yourself raiding the pantry days later, eating way more than you intended. That’s not lack of discipline—it’s your body responding to deprivation and restrictive dieting practices.

Over time, ignoring your natural hunger cues can also make it harder to recognize fullness. Your body adapts by dulling satiety signals, making it easier to overeat when you do finally allow yourself food. This is why cycles of extreme restriction often lead to feeling binge eating and weight cycling.

What to Do Instead: Honor Your Hunger and Fullness

Instead of fighting your body, work with it. Learning to tune into your natural hunger and fullness signals can help break the cycle of restriction and binge eating. A helpful tool is the Hunger-Fullness Scale (0-10):

• 0-1: Starving, dizzy, weak

• 2-3: Very hungry, stomach growling

• 4-5: Slightly hungry, thinking about food

• 6-7: Satisfied, comfortably full

• 8-9: Uncomfortably full, stuffed

• 10: Overly full, feeling sick

Before eating, take a moment to check in: Where am I on this scale? Ideally, you want to start eating when you’re at a 3 or 4 (hungry, but not ravenous) and stop at a 6 or 7 (satisfied, not stuffed). When you wait until you’re at a 1 or 2, it becomes much harder to eat mindfully because your body is desperate for quick energy.

By regularly checking in with yourself, you can rebuild trust in your body’s signals. When your body knows it’s getting enough nourishment, those intense cravings lose their power, and eating becomes a lot less stressful.

Myth #2: "Diets Work—If You Do Them Right"

If you’ve ever blamed yourself for a diet “not working,” you’re not alone. It’s easy to believe that success is just a matter of following the rules perfectly—sticking to the meal plan, hitting your calorie target, or avoiding ‘bad’ foods. And when things don’t go as planned, diet culture is quick to tell you the problem isn’t the diet—it’s you.

The truth? Diets don’t fail because of a lack of discipline. They fail because they’re designed to be unsustainable.

Research shows that most people who lose weight through restrictive dieting regain it within a few years. A 2020 study published in The BMJ found that while many diets lead to initial weight loss, the majority of people regain the weight within 12 months. Other studies indicate that long-term weight maintenance is rare when it relies on strict food rules rather than healthy eating habits.

The Metabolism Problem

When you significantly cut calories, your body adapts by slowing your metabolic rate to conserve energy. This means you burn fewer calories at rest, making it harder to maintain weight loss over time. In extreme cases, prolonged restriction can even lead to metabolic adaptation, where your body becomes more efficient at storing fat, leading to weight gain.

At the same time, hunger hormones like ghrelin increase, making food even more tempting. Ever noticed how, after a strict diet, you feel obsessed with food? That’s not weakness—it’s biology. Your body is driving you to eat in response to perceived starvation. Chronic dieters often experience this pattern, leading to frustration and a cycle of yo-yo dieting.

What to Do Instead: Shift to a Sustainable Nutrition Approach

Instead of chasing short-term results with extreme restrictions, focus on habits that you can maintain for life:

✅ Ditch the all-or-nothing mindset. There’s no such thing as “on track” or “off track.” Aim for consistency, not perfection.
✅ Prioritize nutrient-dense foods while still allowing room for enjoyment. A balanced diet includes all macronutrients—carbs, protein, and fat.
✅ Listen to your body. Eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re satisfied is far more effective than following rigid external rules.
✅ Think long-term. Instead of asking, Will this help me lose weight fast? ask, Can I see myself eating this way a year from now? If the answer is no, it’s not a sustainable approach.

The key to lasting health isn’t another set of diet rules—it’s learning how to eat in a way that supports your mental and physical health, your lifestyle, and your well-being without guilt or restriction.

Myth #3: "A Detox Will Reset My Metabolism"

Detox teas, juice cleanses, and “reset” programs promise to flush out toxins, restart your metabolism, and give you a fresh start. It sounds appealing—especially after a period of eating differently than usual. The idea of wiping the slate clean and undoing the effects of indulgence is tempting.

The truth? Your body detoxes itself every single day—no special cleanse required.

Your liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs all play a role in filtering out waste and maintaining balance. No amount of lemon water or green juice can "detox" your body better than these built-in systems. In fact, many detoxes and cleanses can do more harm than good by depriving you of essential nutrients and slowing your metabolism.

How Detoxes Backfire

Extreme detoxes often involve cutting out solid food, severely restricting calories, or relying on laxative-based supplements. This can lead to:

• Muscle loss: Without enough protein and energy, your body breaks down muscle tissue, which can slow your metabolism over time.

• Blood sugar swings: Juice cleanses, for example, spike blood sugar quickly but lack fiber and protein, leading to crashes that leave you feeling weak and irritable.

• Digestive issues: Many detox teas and supplements contain laxatives, which can lead to dehydration and disrupt your gut microbiome.

What to Do Instead: Support Your Body’s Natural Detox Systems

Rather than chasing quick fixes, focus on habits that help your body function optimally every day:

✅ Eat enough fiber. Fiber helps your digestive system remove waste effectively. Load up on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.
✅ Stay hydrated. Your kidneys filter toxins from your blood and eliminate them through urine—water is the key to this process.
✅ Support your liver. Your liver processes toxins and waste, but it needs nutrients to do its job. Eat a variety of whole foods, including cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli and Brussels sprouts), healthy fats, and lean proteins.
✅ Get enough protein. Amino acids from protein are essential for liver function and detoxification pathways.
✅ Move your body. Exercise promotes circulation and lymphatic drainage, which help remove waste from tissues.

Your body doesn’t need a detox—it needs consistent nourishment. Instead of looking for a quick reset, focus on long-term habits that support your health every day.

Myth #4: "I Need to Cut Out Carbs (or Fat, or Sugar) to Lose Weight"

Low-carb, low-fat, and sugar-free diets have all had their moment in the spotlight. From keto to the ‘90s low-fat craze, diet trends constantly cycle through new food villains. It’s easy to believe that cutting out a certain macronutrient is the key to weight loss. After all, people often see immediate changes on the scale when they eliminate carbs, fats, or sugar.

The truth? Any diet that restricts an entire macronutrient can lead to short-term weight loss—but that doesn’t mean it’s an effective long-term strategy.

Why Cutting Out a Food Group Leads to Immediate Weight Loss

When you eliminate a major source of calories—whether it’s carbs, fats, or sugar—you’ll naturally eat fewer calories overall, leading to weight loss at first. However, the initial drop on the scale is often misleading:

• Cutting carbs? Your body burns through glycogen stores, which hold onto water. As glycogen depletes, you lose water weight—not body fat. This is why people see a quick drop in the first few days of a low-carb diet.

• Eliminating fats? Since fat is calorie-dense, cutting it out means an overall reduction in calories. But fat also plays a key role in satiety, so long-term restriction can lead to increased hunger and cravings.

• Avoiding sugar? While reducing added sugar is beneficial for overall health, banning all sources of sugar (including naturally occurring ones) often leads to intense cravings and an eventual rebound effect.

Over time, your body adapts, and without a sustainable approach, weight loss stalls, energy dips, and cravings intensify. This is why extreme restriction rarely leads to long-term success.

Why Balance Matters

Your body thrives on all macronutrients—carbohydrates, fats, and proteins—because they each serve unique functions:

• Carbohydrates (fruits, whole grains, legumes) provide quick energy and fiber for digestion.

• Fats (avocados, nuts, olive oil) support hormone balance, brain function, and vitamin absorption.

• Proteins (lean meats, fish, tofu, eggs) build and repair tissues while keeping you full.

When you eat a balance of these, your body functions optimally, your energy levels stay steady, and you’re less likely to experience extreme hunger or cravings.

What to Do Instead: Learn Moderation, Not Elimination

Instead of cutting out entire food groups, focus on incorporating nutrient-dense options while allowing room for enjoyment:

✅ Carbs aren’t the enemy. Opt for fiber-rich sources like quinoa, oats, beans, and sweet potatoes rather than highly processed carbs.
✅ Healthy fats keep you full. Avocados, nuts, olive oil, and fatty fish support overall health.
✅ Sugar in moderation is okay. It’s unrealistic (and unnecessary) to avoid sugar entirely. Instead of banning it, practice mindful indulgence—enjoy a dessert without guilt rather than binging after prolonged restriction.

Sustainable health isn’t about eliminating foods—it’s about learning how to include them in a way that supports your body’s needs. When you stop seeing food as “good” or “bad,” you gain the freedom to nourish yourself without fear or restriction.

Myth #5: "The Scale Determines My Success"

For many people, stepping on the scale is an emotional experience. A lower number feels like a win, while an increase—no matter how small—can trigger frustration or self-doubt. Diet culture has conditioned us to believe that weight is the ultimate measure of health and progress, reinforcing the idea that if the scale isn’t moving in the right direction, nothing else matters.

The truth? The scale is just one data point, and it doesn’t tell the full story of your health.

Why the Scale Fluctuates (and Why It’s Not the Best Measure of Progress)

Weight naturally fluctuates day to day and even hour to hour due to factors that have nothing to do with fat gain or loss:

• Water retention – Eating salty foods, hormonal changes, and hydration levels all impact water balance.

• Glycogen storage – If you eat more carbohydrates, your body holds onto more glycogen, which comes with additional water weight.

• Digestion – The amount of food in your stomach or intestines can temporarily increase weight, even if you haven’t gained body fat.

• Muscle vs. fat changes – If you’re strength training, you may gain muscle while losing fat, leading to little or no change on the scale.

Relying solely on the number on the scale can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, and body image. Many people get discouraged when they don’t see immediate weight loss, even when they’re making meaningful progress in other areas.

What to Do Instead: Focus on Non-Scale Victories

Instead of obsessing over a number, shift your focus to how you feel and function:

✅ Energy levels: Are you feeling more energized throughout the day?
✅ Hunger and fullness cues: Are you able to eat when hungry and stop when satisfied without guilt?
✅ Strength and fitness: Are you getting stronger, lifting heavier, or improving endurance?
✅ Digestion and gut health: Are bloating, discomfort, or irregularity improving?
✅ Sleep quality: Are you sleeping better and waking up refreshed?
✅ Mood and mental health: Do you feel less anxious or preoccupied with food?

By shifting your mindset away from the scale and toward long-term well-being, you’ll create habits that support a healthier, more sustainable approach to food and movement—without the emotional rollercoaster of weight fluctuations.

Health isn’t a number—it’s how you feel, how you function, and how you care for your body over time.

Conclusion: Breaking Free from the Dieting Cycle

If you’ve spent years chasing the “perfect” diet, you’re not alone. Diet culture has convinced us that willpower, restriction, detoxes, food rules, and the number on the scale are the keys to success. But as we’ve broken down in this post, those myths do more harm than good—keeping chronic dieters stuck in a cycle of frustration rather than leading to real, lasting health.

So, what’s the alternative? Ditch the quick fixes and focus on sustainable habits that actually support your body.

Instead of:
❌ Blaming yourself for not having enough willpower → ✅ Honor your hunger and fullness cues
❌ Following a rigid diet plan → ✅ Focus on balanced, flexible eating
❌ Doing a cleanse or detox → ✅ Support your body's natural detox processes with whole foods
❌ Cutting out entire food groups → ✅ Embrace moderation and variety
❌ Letting the scale define success → ✅ Celebrate non-scale victories and long-term well-being

When you shift from restrictive dieting to nourishing your body with balance, mindfulness, and trust, you can break free from the chronic dieting cycle for good. Focusing on a positive relationship with food and honoring your body's needs is the true key to sustainable well-being.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

If you’re tired of feeling stuck in the diet cycle and want a sustainable, science-backed approach to food and health, I’ve got you covered! 

Book a consultation if you're ready for personalized support in breaking free from dieting and finding what works for you long-term.

Your body already has the wisdom it needs—you just need to start listening.