7 Reasons You’ll Never Lose Weight on a Fad Diet

A diet’s a diet, right?

Unfortunately, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of fad diets—you know, the ones that claim to help you drop several pounds in a short amount of time? Think The Military Diet, HCG Diet, and detox or cleansing diets. Behind its glitz, glamour, and promises, fad diets often have lots of false claims with no medical proof. In fact, experts are quick to debunk the claims of fad diets, noting that they’re often packaged as a healthy alternative to exercise, but that there’s really no such thing. “Ironically, one of the more common side effects of fad diets is often weight gain. Your body believes itself to be in [a] state of starvation and attempts to hang on to every calorie in a survival attempt,” explains Candice Seti, PsyD, CPT, CNC, founder of The Weight Loss Therapist. Yes, your diet could be doing just the opposite of what you want it to, and it can seriously hurt your health. Here are a few reasons your current diet isn’t working.