We all know how the saying goes: Excuses are like a**ho!#s; everyone has one. And you know what? Truer (curse) words have never been spoken.
I'll start my diet next Monday because this week I have a wedding to go to... I can't stay on a diet because I don't have time to cook... I don’t have time to work out... I can't start eating healthy because my husband likes to eat steak every night for dinner...
According to our research, the top dieting excuse of all time is "I just can't resist my favorite foods." Makes sense. I personally know of at least one dieting attempt of my own that reached its breaking point over an ooey, gooey, cheesy, greasy pizza meltdown. And I'm quite sure that plenty other diets out there met their match because of cake, chocolate, Alfredo sauce or Coca-Cola.
And as far as putting off starting a diet, that's a whole other sack of excuses. Procrastination is an art form, and dieting is something that is all too easy to put off until "next week" or "next month" or "after I eat all the un-diet food in the pantry so it's not wasted."
Well, like the caring, helpful, encouraging people that we are here at eDiets, our experts are coming to your rescue! Our experts Pam (nutrition) and Raphael (fitness) are looking for the Top-10 List of Excuses you have for not starting or following through with a diet. They'll be checking this blog and compiling the most popular excuses out there, and then -- and here's where it gets good -- they're going to come up with some sure-fire solutions to bust through all of them!
So help yourself and all your fellow dieters out, and comment below with your personal dieting excuses. And don't be shy about it, because like we said at the beginning, we know you have one… :)
Labels: diet, exercise, lifestyle, weight-loss
Comment: Thursday, May 01, 2008 11:38:00 PM - 
Anonymous said...
I found that the best way to stick to my diet goals was by educating myself about food. Once I learned what junk food does to a body and how whole fruits and vegetables can help your body, the junk food didn't seem so irresistable. I also learned how to read a label. Once I understood what was in soda, ice cream, candy, etc. it didn't seem so yummy anymore.
Comment: Monday, May 05, 2008 12:09:00 PM - said...
I need something sweet after I eat. Kills my diet every time...
Comment: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 7:59:00 AM - rexfollett said...
Well see thats just it everyone has a excuse and when you start trying to pull out all these excuses your only hurting yourself you build a wall up that you can't hurl your fat self over cause you have begun to believe in your own excuses as a reality.. You have to break that vicious cycle and push forward to sticking with whatever regimen you have found to loose weight.. Persistence is the key!
Comment: Wednesday, May 07, 2008 11:44:00 AM - said...
mine used to be..."It's not working anyway"... My husband is good at nutrition and exercise, and once he started explaining it to me and once I started understanding the basic about how food works in your body, it somehow clicked!(I actually ended up taking a Nutrition, Anatomy and Physiology class...I wanted to know everything down to the chemical brakedown of food). The combination of the education, knowdledge, the support deom my husband and the easy to make meals I find on E-diet are the perfect combination for me! It all works together, my energy is up, I am never hungry (I am following the GI plan)...therefore the portion I eat are plenty to satisfy me, and my self-confidence has boosted...I AM LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT! The first two weeks are the hard part...after that your body wants healthy food, so stick with it and push through! Goodluck everyone.
Comment: Thursday, May 08, 2008 3:50:00 PM - said...
I watch children all day and when I have had a bad day , or am in the middle of a bad day , chocolate is a comfort. ONLY one , then two, then the bag. It's comfort right now .
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 1:37:00 AM - said...
My main excuse is it costs too much for ingredients to make healthy meals. I don't have anyone else to cook for and I don't want to make too much that will go to waste. I'm not a very good cook anyway. It's much easier to go to a drive-thru. I always say I'll start Monday (or on the 1st). Then my logic tells me that I better eat as much of my favorite foods as possible because I won't have them again for a long time....which really only ends up being maybe a week. Its a vicious cycle that has helped me gain 20-30lbs.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 2:36:00 AM - said...
i stick to my diet, its exercise that ruins me. although i do go jogging every now and again i often find myself saying 'no its too windy today' or 'it looks like its about to pour' (ten mins later sun is beeming through and i still dont go. it is funny as i am quite obsessed with the way i look and always want to improve yet i still dnt find the motivation to get some serious exercise done.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 6:31:00 AM - said...
I'll never look as good as "her"even if i did loose the weght....then when the weight does come off i can see how Short my legs really are..then my boobs just Sag..then i have a big Italian dinner thinking the weight wont come back......then i keep eating..pretty soon those few Kilo's are on the scale
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 6:49:00 AM - said...
I just am not ready. I want to, but am afraid of always passing up my favorite foods because I am afraid I will fail but yet again.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:11:00 AM - said...
i am a widow and i cant afford special food for a diet. I work 12 hr shifts 4 days on and 4 days off any suggestions?
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:16:00 AM - said...
I dont have time to excercise and I dont have money to spend for diet food it hard sometimes when I have to leave for work at 6:30 am first to take my daughter to creche and get to work at eight am and knock off at 4:30 pm and I get home at 6:00 if no shopping to be done that day and cook bath the my daughter get her to eat and then I can eat as well and wash the dishes re-pack her back pack what the weather might be tommorrow and pack snaks for the new day tommorrow let that alone she also needs attention she has not seen me the whole day then hubby wants his own attention I go to bed eventually @ 10:00 or 10:30 pm and wake up at 5:00am if I am doing my hair 4:30 am has to that but these days I am tired I dont even bother with my hair.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:16:00 AM - said...
I'm just too tired to stick to my diet. As a wife, mother and a full time student at an academically challenging University, I'm exhausted all the time. I just want whatever is easiest and all too often that means heavily processed food, either take-out or from the freezer. My son has autism and will only eat certain things. My husband says he wants to lose weight but he's not that heavy and so he's not motivated to eat healthy foods he doesn't really like. I hate the idea of making three separate dinners and so...there it is. I guess I just go with the flow and the pounds keep flowing on...
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:21:00 AM - said...
Mine is the excuse of "Oh, I'll diet after we go out to eat on Sat" or "I'm just going to eat whatever I want today and get back on my diet tomorrow" things like that.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:52:00 AM - said...
I work at a church and there is always an overabundance of "comfort food". It's real hard to resist
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 9:52:00 AM - said...
"Well, I already messed up today by eating '...' so I'll start again tomorrow."
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 10:07:00 AM - said...
Traditionally, I have regularly had a sweet dessert (not fruit!) in the evening around 9 as something to look forward to. And when I'm successfully dieting I use it as a daily reward. When I'm on a roll with dieting and exercise I can stick to something within my limit, but whether it's been a good week, month or months, I eventually give in once, twice and then it's all over. (Sometimes my breakdown happens during the day.) Pig out. My excuse then is "I'll do better tomorrow", or "I'll wait until the weekend is over". (I always allow lax weekends also (with both diet and exercise) like a vacation of sorts.)
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 10:35:00 AM - said...
My main excuse is that I can't stick to a diet or a workout plan, plus I always feels as through I'm just wasting my time and energy because it's not working anyway. I also have a weakness for chocolate and ice cream which just throws the diet out the window everytime, I'm also a college student so I don't have time to plan and cook the perfect low fat, low cal diet meal everyday.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 10:52:00 AM - 
TMarie said...
One of my excuses used to be, "I'll start on Monday. Today is Tuesday/Wednesday, and I don't want to start mid week".
There was just something wrong with starting during the week. But during in April, my sister and I decided to get fit and began to eat healthier and exercise. It was a Thursday, and we decided to stop procrastinating. I have since lost 11 pounds and am feeling great. I still indulge in some of my faves, but I don't over eat and I eat in moderation. I exercise 5 days a week and I am eating much healthier than I have ever done. And I discovered that it is not as hard as I told myself it would be.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 12:07:00 PM - Stephanie said...
Here it is...I work in a very high stress job. The film industry in the production office. 12 to 16 hour days for a minimum of 4 months. We do not leave for lunch. They pay for our lunches and dinner. I think I'm not choosing the proper foods because A. I'm screaming for comfort and I find it in the food. B. It is the only thing that I can control and darn it if I'm not going to get what I want because there are so many people above the line controlling me. This is what I came up with anyway. Cheers-
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 2:09:00 PM - Anne said...
Working in retail means my schedue changes every week. It's hard to plan exercise into my schedule.
If I don't exercise i get tired and sicker easier, but once I get sick and stop exercising its really hard to start up again.
Comment: Friday, May 09, 2008 6:00:00 PM - said...
Socializing and special occasion celebrations always revolve around food and I love to eat out.
Comment: Saturday, May 10, 2008 12:28:00 PM - said...
"A little bit won't hurt." But when I say that a lot it's more than a little bit, and it really hurts.
Comment: Monday, May 12, 2008 10:01:00 AM - said...
It's just way too expensive. I mean yeah a bag of potato chips are like $2.50 (the normal sized ones) but the healthier bags are almost double that. Not to mention FRESH fruits and veggies. How're you to win?
Comment: Friday, May 16, 2008 6:12:00 PM - abdelmoaty said...
i am a doctor ,i work in the nutrition field,i hear all these excuses ,The struggling mood of the patient against his healthy food program arises mainly due to ignorance and depressive states of mind
Comment: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 8:51:00 PM - Madeira Darling said...
My excuse for not eating fruits and veggies (even though I really and truly do love the taste of fruit) is the fact that I have an extremely delicate stomach. Anything with fiber in it usually means a day spent curled up in a ball with gas pain so intense I can barely move.
Comment: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8:46:00 AM - said...
I see the reason for not eating healthy is because it's expensive, but I find that's not the case, if you shop smart :) Produce is really cheap, a lot cheaper than junk food because it's in bulk. Whole grain foods are cheap too (like store brand wheat pasta, brown rice, and wheat bread). When it starts to get pricey is with the lean meats. The leaner the ground beef, the more expensive. Same with chicken breasts. But cheap steak is generally lean, and skin can be removed from thighs/legs. Canned tuna's also really cheap. They have $1 Michaelina's low-cal frozen meals, which I buy for the week. I don't have a lot of money, but I manage :)
My excuse is my stress eating. I have no idea how else to cope. When I get crazy hungry from stress, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can replace the feeling I get from wolfing down 1000 calories worth of White Castle. It is absolutely divine, and I feel much better when I'm done. Until I see the number on the scale rise. *sigh* I would just really love to have another coping mechanism, but eating high fat foods just feels so good.
I try to distract myself, but sometimes the urge to binge is so strong that nothing drowns out the noise. What to do?
Comment: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 9:46:00 AM - said...
I am just lazy when it comes to the exercising. In my house I have an eliptical, treadmill, home gym, sit up bench and a couple other misc items AND a 55 inch TV in the exercise room - and still can't get motivated! I wish i had someone to push me everyday. My eating habits are really good - healthy lo-cal foods so my weight is in the normal range - i just wish my body were toned.
Comment: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 9:58:00 AM - said...
I am with some of you here too. I work 2 jobs and when I get home especially on 12+ hour days I don't even feel like walking to the kitchen let alone cooking! I buy already prepared dinners (hamburger helper) and others that I just pop in the oven. I know it's bad but they are cheap and easy.
People say buying healthy food is not as expensive as we say but I don't agree. That bag of chips for 2.50 like someone said before will last me longer than a few peices of fruit i can afford for a higher price. And when i am running from one job to the other I sometimes grap fast food. How come the salad is the most expensive thing on the menu??? Salads and their grilled chicken sandwiches are always higher than everything else! Sigh...I have started walking again though but usually after a month or so I stop. What to do.
Comment: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 11:18:00 AM - spydergirl1 said...
I'm a single mom that works 6 to 3 with 3 kids all in sports. I wake up at 5 to a busy day and don't stop moving until 10pm I'm too exhausted to exercise!
I have managed to eat healthy though and learned what the labels mean. I see white bread I think Cancer. I see chocolate I think cocaine. I see fried food and I see fried fat that is stuck on my body. Those are Excellent ways for me to stay clear of the bad foods. Just that darned exercise I can't seem to find time for!
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