Diet and Exercise Not Working? Here Are 3 Powerful Reasons Why.

Diet and exercise not working? That’s not news.

But I’ll say it again.

Diet and exercise aren’t working. It’s not working for you. It’s not working for me. And it’s not working for 99% of the people who try it as their only path to weight loss.

Let me ask you this. Are you frustrated because you’re depriving yourself on your diet, but it’s not working? Or you’re killing yourself in the gym and the scale isn’t moving? You’re not alone.

Many have the same experience. But don’t give up yet – there are three powerful reasons why your diet and exercise may not be working.

Reason 1: Diets Are Hard to Stick To

First, dietary changes are difficult to sustain over time. Second, exercise can be discouraging when results are slow or nonexistent. Third, most of us have hidden obstacles to weight loss that we’re not even aware of. A dirty secret that the weight loss industry hopes you never find out.

First, diet changes are difficult to sustain over time. This is especially true when you consider popular restrictive diets. For example keto (restricting carbs). Or low fat (restricting fat). And even intermittent fasting (restricting time).

When you feel restricted by your diet, you’re more likely to revert back to old habits and cheat on your diet.

You may find that you’re able to lose a few pounds or so at first. That’s how they hook you.

But over time, it gets harder and harder to stick to your diet. And because it was successful at first, you won’t blame them. You’ll blame yourself instead. This is just plain wrong.

While you’re feeling bad about yourself, you’ll find yourself craving the foods you used to eat. And, with your willpower fading, you’ll fend up in situations where there’s no choice.

How many times have you been on a diet and suddenly you’re starting to accept invitations to lunch? Or after-work drinks? Or pulling into a drive-through? Even when it isn’t your normal routine?

Yeah, I’ve been there too. It’s not your fault, it’s your body telling you that there’s something your missing. Carbs, or fat, or, yes, even calories.

It’s stressful.

Even when you have the best of intentions, it can be hard to stick to your plans over the long term. This can leave you feeling like a failure, which only makes it harder to keep making healthy choices.

But it’s important to remember that nobody is perfect. So why do you feel like such a failure when you slip up?

Maybe that’s part of the plan.

“Diet and exercise not working? Just as we designed it!” in my best villain voice.

You’re also less likely to cheat on your diet when you feel like you can eat as much as you want of the foods you like.

This makes it much easier to maintain your weight loss over the long term. When you find a diet that works for you, you’ll know it.

In fact, you may find that it’s hard to imagine eating any other way.

You’ll find that you don’t have as many cravings for the foods you used to eat. And you find yourself feeling satisfied by the foods you’re eating.

This site will show you the clear path to finding the food and diet choices that are right for you over the long term. And believe it or not, the path doesn’t start in the pantry or the grocery store…

Reason 2: Results of Exercise are Slow and Hard to Come By

Second, results from exercise are slow and hard to come by.

When you first start exercising, you may find that you only lose a pound per week, if any at all.

That may feel like a lot of effort for such a small reward.

Also, the amount of exercise you have to do to overcome even the smallest mistake in your diet is enormous.

A few years ago I came across a video on YouTube that stuck with me. In it, a man was eating pizza and drinking soda pop.

Another man was on the treadmill. Running. Hard.

The goal was to see what the calorie differential was over 3 minutes.

In 3 minutes, the man-eating the pizza ate almost 1000 calories. Four total slices.

The dude on the treadmill burned a whopping 43 calories. And he was busting his ass.

So you can see, even if you only eat one slice of pizza, making up the calories by working out is impossible.

The fact is that most exercise is hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to get the results you want. Especially if you’re talking about the popular HIIT workouts that are all the rage.

And it can be especially discouraging when you find yourself stuck in a rut and unable to lose weight.

You may find yourself wondering, “Why am I not losing weight even though I’m exercising so much?”

Many people start an exercise routine with the best of intentions. But then they lose motivation if they don’t see quick results.

This is especially true for beginners who don’t work out often (or at all). That was me. I’ll admit it.

Most exercise programs don’t have a ‘ramp up’ period. It seems that you already have to be in great shape to get into great shape! It’s insane. It’s like you have to be a professional athlete to lose weight.

And it’s like they want to make sure you fail. Well, they’re succeeding.

Exercise is one of the most difficult things to stick to in the long term. Most people can’t stick to an exercise program for more than a few days, much less a few weeks and months.

The truth is that you don’t have to be an athlete to get the results you want. You don’t have to spend hours and hours at the gym. And you don’t have to overdo it.

Reason 3: Stress and Hormones

Third, both diet and exercise cause stress that tells your body to hold on to your weight. When you diet, you restrict your food intake.

This can cause your body to react in a variety of ways. It may cause you to crave the foods you’re avoiding.

It can cause you to feel frustrated and angry. You may feel like a failure if you can’t stick to your diet. You may feel sad or anxious.

Then you eat even more comfort foods to try to make yourself feel better.

The same thing happens with exercise. You may feel frustrated if you don’t make the progress you want. You may feel like a failure if you don’t lose weight. This can cause you to feel stressed, which can cause you to turn to comfort foods. By the truckload.

And that’s all because of your hormones. Diet and exercise not working? This is where I look first.

These are Three Hormones That Play a Major Role in Weight Gain and Weight Loss

Ghrelin

The first is “ghrelin”. Ghrelin is a hormone that causes you to feel hungry.

The common wisdom is that when you’re dieting, ghrelin levels increase. This causes you to feel hungrier than usual and to eat more than usual.

You’ve likely heard of this hormone in this context.

But what they don’t tell you is that ghrelin also increases with stress.

Uh oh.

And this isn’t new research. This study is from 2008.

So, you have the best of intentions, and you have great willpower, and you’re focused on your diet. Maybe you’ve even started going to the gym.

And you have a stressful day at work, or you’re having an argument with a significant other, or the traffic is terrible…

So you secrete ghrelin. The hunger hormone.

Maybe it’s not your fault you’re hungry all the time after all. It’s your body’s natural reaction.

And, as is the case with most people, you cave in. You had no choice because your system is being flooded with this hormone.

Now, think about the double whammy of not hitting your weight loss goal. Especially after you’ve starved yourself all week. You were already hungry with ghrelin circulating through your system. And now we’ve thrown stress and frustration on top for another dump of the hunger hormone.

I’ve been right there.

The second hormone that plays a major role in weight gain and weight loss is “leptin”.

Leptin

Leptin is a hormone that serves to decrease your appetite.

When you’re losing weight, leptin falls. It comes from your fat cells, and they aren’t happy when you’re shrinking them. So they stop producing it.

This reduction causes you to feel hungry.

This is one of the reasons it’s so difficult to diet and keep your weight off once you’ve lost weight.

But guess what?

Yep, leptin also falls with stressors. Especially with sadness and social withdrawal.

Cortisol

The third hormone that plays a major role in weight gain and weight loss is “cortisol.”

When triggered by stress, cortisol increases your body’s fat and carbohydrate metabolism. This is your fight of flight response, and it gives you a burst of energy.

While this is an essential survival mechanism. It also jacks up your appetite.

Also, high cortisol levels can cause cravings for sweet, fatty, or salty foods. As a result, you’re more inclined to down ice cream than a well-balanced meal.

Even worse, increases in cortisol lead to a decrease in the effectiveness of leptin. This makes it even more difficult to diet and lose weight.

This is never more true than with prolonged stress.

So if diet and exercise aren’t working, what do you do?

There is a ‘THIRD WAY.’

The THIRD WAY is far simpler than science and engineering. But, like these studies, the process must follow in exact order.

We have known the truth about many parts of the THIRD WAY for thousands of years. Yet, no one has sorted what’s important from what’s not. And no one has organized that information into a cohesive system of practice. Not until the discovery of the THIRD WAY.

The THIRD WAY includes a large number of new and recent discoveries on how your body functions. It uses those discoveries to enhance the things already known. It helps you become more you.

And it takes the good things about you and makes them better.

Healthier. Leaner. Sexier.

HAPPIER.

It embraces nutrition and fitness as both valid and important. But it goes further than these old tropes. It considers the mind and its effects on your health, wellness, and yes, weight. But also your happiness.

If you’re not happy, then it’s not worth it in the end.