Boredom, will power and cost have been revealed to be among the main reasons women use to quit a diet.
New research has found that rather than sticking to a diet, millions of women will find any excuse to have a day off whilst on a diet, or even quit altogether, because they are finding it too difficult to stick to.
‘I was eating out and couldn’t resist’, ‘I was in a bad mood with my partner’ and even ‘life is too short’ are also some of the defences used when stopping a diet.
It also emerged that chocolate, alcohol and fizzy drinks are the hardest for women to give up or cut back on when watching their weight, with a whopping 83 per cent only lasting an average of three weeks, making Thursday 22 January the day when New Year’s diets will start to go awry.
Top 25 excuses for giving up a diet:
1. I’ve had a bad day
2. I always felt hungry
3. I was bored
4. I was eating out and couldn’t resist
5. I haven’t got any will power
6. It’s that time of the month, so I need chocolate
7. It’s rude to turn it down when someone has made it for me
8. I couldn’t resist
9. I needed cheering up
10. I find it too difficult to keep going
11. I enjoy eating unhealthy food or the odd treat
12. It was my birthday
13. I’m in a bad mood with my partner
14. I’ve been good and I deserve it
15. Life is too short
16. It’s hard to eat healthy when it’s cold and wet outside
17. I needed a sugar rush/energy
18. I’m thinking about food all the time
19. Healthy food is too expensive
20. I don’t want to be a killjoy
21. I was lonely
22. I’ve got a hangover and I need lardy food
23. It was my partner’s birthday
24. It was my child’s birthday
25. There wasn’t anything healthy in the cupboard
Fiona Hope, UK Managing Director of SodaStream, which commissioned the research, said: “For many people, a diet can be extremely hard to stick to. There are so many temptations out there, whether it’s chocolate, fizzy drinks or a glass of wine, that avoiding these altogether for a particular amount of time can seem impossible.
“As a result, it seems that a large number of women are using any reason they can find to have a ‘cheat day’ or give up on the diet completely.
“But dieting doesn’t have to be hard work, by making small changes, instead of drastic variations to what you eat and drink, such as opting for reduced sugar alternatives and drinking more water, you’ll find it much easier to stick to the diet. Instead of having to come up with a reason for quitting, you’ll hopefully make it to your end goal much more easily.’’
The study, of 2,000 women, found ‘I’ve had a bad day’ is the most common reason for giving up on a diet, followed by ‘I always felt hungry’ and simply ‘I was bored’.
Eating out and not being able to resist the choice of food and drink on offer and not having any willpower also featured in the top five.
Others have quit a diet because they needed chocolate at a certain time of the month, didn’t want to turn down food or drink someone had made for them, couldn’t resist something or needed to be cheered up.
‘It’s hard to stick to healthy food and drink when it’s cold and wet outside’, ‘I was lonely’ and ‘I didn’t have anything healthy in the cupboard’ also featured among the most common reasons for giving up on a diet. ‘I’m finding it too hard to keep going’ completed the top ten.
It also emerged the average woman will go on three diets a year, losing an average seven pounds each time.
But 83 per cent admit they often give up on their diet sooner than they would like with an average of just three weeks, meaning that women starting a diet on New Year’s Day are likely to fail on or around Thursday 22 January.
And, whilst 15 per cent reckon they have plenty of will power and are good at dieting, 43 per cent admit they are ‘useless’ and find it impossible to stick to anything.
Chocolate is most likely to lead to women quitting their healthy eating scheme, followed by bread, alcohol, cakes and chips.
Pizza, cheese, a fry-up, Chinese takeaways and fizzy drinks also leave women struggling with their willpower.
And when the motivation to stick at a diet starts to slide, salad is the first healthy thing to be forgotten about, along with trying to eat more fruit and drinking more water.
Hope continues: “The research shows us that boredom is a key factor in people failing their diet, so the key is to ensure variation. This is why we’re on a mission to get the UK drinking more water by making it exciting, simply by adding some bubbles.”
SodaStream turns ordinary tap water into sparkling water in seconds, meaning families can have fun drinking more water this January.
