Bad Diet Signs

It’s a total 180 from the way you currently eat.

Can’t imagine a Sunday dinner without roasted meat as a centerpiece of the meal? Then choosing a vegetarian or vegan plan will be harder for you to follow. Know you won’t be able to spend more than 15 minutes preparing dinner on hectic weeknights? A diet that’s heavy on home cooking may become frustrating before long. “If [it’s] incompatible with your lifestyle, the chances are slim you’ll stick with it,” says Today nutritionist Joy Bauer, RD.

It eliminates entire food groups.

Most nutritionists will tell you there’s no food you should never eat, but obviously there are lots of foods you should eat very rarely—fried Oreos, anyone?. Diets that forbid macronutrients wholesale, like carbs, tend to be unsustainable long-term. In the case of carbohydrates, they’re essential for providing energy, among other things. Sure, you can ditch anything for a week or two and probably be okay. But if that’s the main reason you’re losing weight, as opposed to cutting calories elsewhere or learning to downsize your portions, you’ll start gaining again as soon you bite into your next bagel.

You don’t lose weight soon after starting.

We are extremely motivated by psychology and positive reinforcement. If the scale doesn’t budge or your jeans don’t shimmy up a little easier after a few days, it’s easy to feel deflated and give up before the diet has a chance to work. Recent research from the University of Florida shows that overweight women who lost weight quickly wound up experiencing a larger overall weight loss and had more success keeping the pounds off. We’re not necessarily advocating Biggest Loser slim-down levels, but even losing initial water weight may also motivate you to stick to a plan that will ultimately burn stored fat.

The plan is a little too convenient.

If every single meal comes out of a prepackaged box, chances are the diet is going to be challenging to stick to during life’s inevitable bumps in the road, whether it's a friend’s birthday dinner or a week-long vacation. Some people can eat those premade meals, and learn what a healthy portion looks like so they can cook their own. Some cannot. And once you fall off the wagon, it can be hard to motivate yourself to start all over again.

Plus, research shows we’re not getting enough NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). This is the calories we burn off from daily fidgeting and little activities, like washing dishes or chopping veggies by hand. The more “convenient” your diet is, the less spontaneous physical activity you’re getting. Don't laugh: On average, such mini-moves can burn 348 calories a day, and nearly twice as many for more fidgety folks.

The video below shows the Signs of a Bad Diet.