What I Learned From 6 Months of Failed Diet Attempts

What I Learned From 6 Months of Failed Diet Attempts

January: Keto. Lost 5 pounds in two weeks. Felt terrible. Brain fog. Constipated. Gave up after three weeks.

February: Paleo. Lots of meat. Better than keto but missed bread. Gave up after four weeks.

March: Vegetarian. Actually liked it. Felt good. Missed chicken. And salmon. Gave up after five weeks.

April: Counting calories. See previous post. Gave up after realizing I was obsessive.

May: Just eating normally but less. Smaller portions. More vegetables. Less takeout. No app. No rules.

Weight change January to May: zero. Still 176.

But learned from each failure.

Keto: can live without sugar. Still eat less now. Paleo: whole foods feel better than processed. Vegetarian: beans and lentils are pretty good. Calorie counting: learned portion sizes.

"Eating normally but less" taught me previous attempts were too complicated. Too many rules. Too much mental overhead.

Simplest thing that works is usually right.

Current "diet":

• Breakfast: eggs, toast, coffee
• Lunch: Sunday meal-prep (chicken + rice + vegetables)
• Dinner: similar, or takeout if lazy
• Snacks: fruit, nuts, sometimes chips if stressed
• Weekend: pizza Friday, brunch Saturday, normal Sunday

Not a diet. Just eating. Like a normal person.

Weight: 175.2 this morning. Trending slowly down. No stress. No apps. No guilt.

Six months of failures weren't wasted. They were research. Expensive, frustrating research. But research.

— Alex

P.S. On fifth diet attempt feeling like failure? You're not. You're doing research. Eventually you'll find what works.

P.P.S. Still don't know what "macros" are. Too afraid to ask at this point.