Why Dieting is Like Dating

Have you ever had a friend that falls head over heels in love.

Like soppy, it’d be cute if it wasn’t plastered over your social media for 17 ‘snuggle selfies’ a day kind of in love.

Seems perfect when they’re starting out. You’re happy for them

You drift apart a little, as often does when a mate gets into what seems like it may be a serious long term thing, over a short term fling.

When you properly catch up months later though, it’s evident that the perfect blossoming romance hasn’t evolved into all that was advertised.

Call it an improper match, crossed wires, or one of them being a bit of a dick

But relationships often turn a little sour as they develop.

Snarky comments, underhand remarks, and “little white lies” that escalate week after week

​Thing is- people get stuck.

It doesn’t matter how many drunken arguments they have. Or how often they end up falling asleep secretly imaging a life where they hadn’t swiped right

nor how frequently they “take a break” only to make up for the thousandth time

The thought of ending it  for good signals one thing in their mind

“I’ve wasted all this time” 

They get the notion in their head that if they call it quits, and go their separate ways after admitting it hasn’t panned out in a manner that’s bringing either of them any tangible enjoyment

that they’ll have somehow have lost the time they’ve put in

So they cling on for far longer than they should.

They are chasing the dragon for the nights they’d spent drinking red wine and laughing about their mutual love of awful bands from the 00s, or shared interest in slightly twisted documentaries on serial killers

They won’t get it back though

And the best case scenario? They’ll reach that conclusion in a way that doesn’t involve one of them taking an ash tray to the eyebrow in a heated final exchange.

Worst case they carry the toxic relationship on for years. Decades even.

Sort of like dieting.

The latest ‘fad diet’ is great to begin with

“I’ve lost 20lbs with Keto/fasting/cleansing/fit tea/insert-sort-term-solution-here, it’s incredible!”

These short, passionate dietary stints? Aren’t unlike the red wine drinking nights singing along to “The Year 3000” your friend's ill-fated relationship started with

It seems like everything’s coming up roses

But pretty soon? Your energy drops, you become a touch lax, stop following the rules, and fall out with your current affair.

After putting on 25lbs of the 20lbs you dropped, you go back though

It worked so well last time, right? This time it’ll be different.

So take two- drop that 25lbs and things are going great. Until they aren’t that is.

This cycle happens over, and over. With the same restart trigger being “I know this works, I’ve done it before”. Not wanting to admit they’ve made a diet choice they can’t sustain, or let anyone know that the solution they’ve raved about actually isn’t the answer they thought it was.

The same way you can get into a toxic relationship from messaging the wrong person on bumble, you can end up in the same spot by getting suckered in by a late night infomercial, magazine ad, or Instagram influencers endorsements

Here’s the thing though…

Admitting you were wrong is the best thing you could do

Same as breaking up with the one you thought was the one, but wasn’t

There’s no shame in getting off the ferris wheel, and refusing to take another spin through the same cycle of weight/loss and gain frustration

There’s strength in making that step in fact.

a step that we’ve helped multiple clients make in our Personal Training studio here in Milton Keynes

If you’ve bounced back multiple times, or your ‘diet’ approach makes you miserable? If it fills you with genuine stress, and takes over your life?

Choose a new method.

There’s a lot to chose from. Plenty of fish in the sea, if you will.

Plus, the same way your friend will now be better equipped to spot a partner that might end up going through their phone while they’re sleeping, and getting jealous of coworkers

You’re now better equipped to spot the shit diet approaches, from the good 

Which makes the initial diet not a complete loss, if you’ve grown from it

if you’d like to learn those lessons, without the heartbreak? Then just reach out, type in “I need help breaking up with my diet” into the 'message' box, and we can have a chat about how we’ll be able to help

purely from a nutrition side that is, actual dating advice is somewhat out of our remit.