Fad Diet Truths (and What Actually Works Instead)

 

If January has you questioning your relationship with food all over again… If the start of the year brings a flood of new promises, strict plans, and messages telling you this is the moment to reset everything, this conversation is meant to meet you where you are. Wanting change is understandable. Feeling pressured to fix yourself is not the same thing.

In this episode, I slow the pace and unpack what’s behind the surge of January diet trends, how to recognize warning signs before getting caught in another cycle, and why restriction often creates the very struggle it claims to solve. We talk about how extreme approaches affect your body, your energy, and your mindset, and why progress feels so fragile when food becomes stressful. Most importantly, we shift the focus toward habits that support steadiness, nourishment, and long-term trust with your body.

Here is what you will learn:

• Why diet trends spike at the beginning of the year
• How to identify plans that rely on restriction
• What happens in your body during repeated diet cycles
• Why rigid rules increase stress and backfire over time
• What a more supportive approach to nutrition looks like

If this episode resonated, you may also enjoy:
Episode 508: The Only “New Year, New You” Fitness Protocol You Should Follow

If you want more from me, be sure to check out… 

Website: www.juliealedbetter.com

Transcript

 (0:00) Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Reel with me, Julie Ledbetter, (0:05) a podcast where I empower you to just be you. With each episode, I give you a dose of real (0:11) talk and actionable advice for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally (0:16) loving your authentic self.

Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Reel. Let's get it. Let's go.

(0:28) Hello, and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Your Podcast. The New Year has (0:33) this particular kind of noise to it, especially around food, new plans, new promises, new rules, (0:39) and a lot of loud messaging just telling you that this is the year to get it together again. (0:43) And almost every New Year, that presser shows up as bad diets, right? So today, (0:47) I just want to slow things down.

I want to give you an honest, just real talk about what is going (0:51) on with these New Year trends, how to spot red flags before you get pulled in, and why restriction (0:56) cycles are one of the biggest reasons progress keeps getting derailed year after year. This (1:01) episode is not about shaming anyone for wanting to change, wanting to feel better in your body, (1:05) that's valid. But the way that we're often told to go about it, that's where things start to fall (1:10) apart.

In this episode, I'm going to be breaking down why fad diets explode every New Year, (1:15) the most common red flags to look for, how restriction cycles actually affect your body and (1:20) your mind, and what to focus on instead if you want progress that last. I'm just going to dive (1:25) right into it to get into the meat. So truth number one is that fad diets don't show up (1:30) because their work, they show up because New Years make people crave control.

After the holidays, (1:37) routines fell off, bodies feel different, there's guilt around food, rest, movement, (1:41) and when things feel chaotic, restriction can feel grounding. Clear rules feel calming, right? (1:47) Eat this, don't eat that. Follow the plan and everything will fall back into place.

(1:50) But your body doesn't experience restriction as structure. It experiences it as stress, (1:56) big sudden changes, especially after an already demanding season. Tell your system that something (2:02) is wrong.

Hunger hormones rise, cravings get louder, energy drops. That's not a willpower (2:07) problem. That's your body trying to protect you.

And this is why so many New Year diets fall apart (2:13) after a week or two, not because you failed, but because the approach itself creates the stress (2:18) that makes it unsustainable. And this is where education matters so much. Inside my Macro Academy (2:22) and Simple Online Academy, the focus is moving away from extremes, those swings, into a steady, (2:29) supportive way of fueling your body.

When you understand how to eat enough and balance meals (2:34) in a way that your body recognizes, you don't need rigid rules to feel in control anymore. (2:39) Consistency starts to feel possible again. Truth number two is that if a plan needs (2:45) extreme rules to work, it's already working against you.

Now, most fad diets oftentimes (2:51) look different on the surface, but underneath they follow the same pattern. If a plan cuts out (2:55) entire food groups without a medical reason, that's red flag. Your body needs carbohydrates, (3:01) they need fats, they need protein, all of those things to function well.

Removing one usually (3:05) leads to cravings, nutrient gaps, and feeling like you have to be good around food. If it (3:11) promises fast results, those results almost always come from stress responses like water (3:16) loss or extreme calorie deficits. Your body senses that as a threat and adapts by slowing (3:22) your metabolism and increasing hunger, which is often why the weight comes back just as quickly.

(3:28) If foods are labeled as clean or bad or something that you have to earn or eating becomes emotional (3:34) instead of nourishing, you're no longer feeding your body, you're just judging yourself. And if (3:39) a plan makes social eating stressful or isolating, that's a big sign that it's not (3:44) built for real life. A supportive approach should fit into your life, not make you feel (3:49) like you have to step away from it.

Truth number three, restriction doesn't teach your body (3:54) discipline. It teaches your body to panic. When you consistently eat too little or remove too (4:01) much variety, your body doesn't understand that as a plan.

It understands it as potential scarcity. (4:07) Hunger signals change, stress hormones rise, sleep oftentimes gets lighter, (4:12) recovery slows, workouts start to feel heavier even when the effort stays high. (4:16) That's your body shifting into protection mode.

Over time, restriction becomes unsustainable, (4:22) hunger gets loud, cravings intensify, and when eating more finally happens, (4:27) it can oftentimes feel chaotic, guilt follows, and that cycle repeats. This is exactly why (4:32) nutrition is taught differently inside my macroeconomics at Ball and Lay Academy, right? (4:36) The goal here is to learn how to feel consistently so your body can just start to relax. When your (4:43) system feels nourished and safe, hunger signals will settle, your energy becomes more stable, (4:49) and food stops taking up so much mental space.

Truth number four, long-term restriction slows (4:55) progress because your body stops trusting you. So when restriction becomes normal, your body learns (5:02) one very clear message, and that is that food is unreliable and stress is high. So your system (5:08) is going to adapt, it becomes more protective with energy, muscle becomes harder to build, (5:13) recovery slows down, even normal workouts start to feel heavier, not because you're (5:18) doing something wrong, but because your body is conserving what it has.

This is also why (5:23) progress oftentimes stalls even if effort goes up. Your body is prioritizing survival, (5:29) not adaptation. And when under-fueling continues over time, that protective response gets stronger.

(5:36) Hunger signals become more intense, cravings feel more urgent, energy dips easily, (5:40) food starts to take up more mental space even when you're trying to be good. (5:44) That's the part people rarely talk about. Restriction doesn't just slow physical progress, (5:49) it actually erodes trust at a biological level.

Rebuilding that trust starts with consistency, (5:55) not control. Eating enough, eating regularly, allowing variety sends your body a very different (6:02) signal. It tells your system that food is available, stress can come down, and energy (6:07) does not need to be hoarded.

When your body feels safe again, it becomes more responsive. (6:12) Recovery improves, strength gains come back, hunger cues start to regulate, progress stops (6:17) feeling like it was a fight, and that shift actually can move things forward long-term. (6:23) Truth number five, the most effective new year plan is usually the least dramatic one.

(6:29) The new year doesn't have to come with extremes, it just needs stability. That looks like eating (6:34) enough protein to support muscle and recovery. It looks like regular meals instead of long (6:39) restriction windows.

It looks like balance plates that support blood sugar. It looks like hydration, (6:44) sleep, daily movement. And it looks like routines that you can still see yourself doing in (6:50) February, March, April, May, June, July.

This approach might feel quieter, but it's powerful. (6:57) When your body feels supported, cravings start to calm down, energy improves, workouts feel more (7:02) productive, food stops taking up so much mental space, and consistency starts to feel natural (7:09) instead of forced. And that's really the goal, not fixing yourself, not starting over, (7:14) just supporting your body in a way that actually carries you forward.

All right, (7:18) there you have it. Those are five diet truths that you need to know this new year. (7:22) Let me quickly give you a recap.

Truth number one, fad diets show up every new year because they (7:27) promise control during a time when people feel off, not because they're effective long-term. (7:32) Truth number two, if a plan needs extreme rules to work, it usually relies on restriction instead (7:39) of balance, which is why it's so hard to maintain long-term. Truth number three, restriction (7:44) doesn't teach your body discipline.

It teaches your body to panic, which is why hunger, cravings, (7:49) and fatigue tend to get worse over time. Truth number four, long-term restriction (7:54) slows progress because your body stops trusting that food is available. And when that trust is (7:59) gone, recovery and results are going to stall.

And last but not least, truth number five, (8:03) the most effective new year plan is rarely dramatic. Consistent nourishment and repeatable (8:09) habits is what is actually going to move things forward this year. If you're listening (8:13) to this and thinking, okay, well, I don't want to do another diet, but I also don't want to feel (8:16) completely out of control around food.

This is where, in my opinion, macro accounting can (8:21) be incredibly powerful, not because it's rigid, not because it's about perfection, (8:25) but because it gives you clarity without restriction. Macro accounting is going to teach (8:30) you about how food actually works in your body. It's going to help you to understand (8:34) how much food and energy you need, how to balance your meals, how to fuel consistently (8:39) without cutting entire food groups out or label foods as good or bad.

For a lot of women, (8:44) that knowledge alone is what is going to break the cycle. Instead of guessing, you have the (8:48) framework. Instead of swinging between extremes, you have the balance.

Instead of relying on (8:53) willpower, you're working with your physiology. That's why macro accounting can feel so freeing. (8:58) It can take the food out of the emotional spiral and put it back into a place of support.

(9:03) You're no longer reacting to hunger or trying to out control it. You're responding to your body (9:08) with intention. Inside my macro accounting made simple on that academy, the focus is not on eating (9:13) less.

It's about eating enough. It's about learning how to fuel your body in a way that (9:17) supports your energy, your workouts, your hormones, and your real life. If you want to get inside (9:22) the academy, you can go to macro accounting made simple.com. Again, that's macro accounting (9:27) made simple.com or find the link in the show notes.

I am telling you that this is going to (9:31) be a much more effective solution if you are wanting to take control of your nutrition in (9:36) 2026. So you can start building the body that you want. You can learn how to adjust without (9:40) panic.

You can eat flexibly without losing structure. You can learn how to trust yourself (9:44) again around food. And when that trust comes back, everything changes.

Food stops feeling so loud. (9:51) Progress stops feeling so fragile and consistency stops feeling like something you have to force. (9:56) If 2026 is the year that you want to step out of diet noise and step into something that (10:01) actually feels steady and empowering, macro accounting can really be a supportive place to (10:05) start, not just as another set of rules, but as a tool that helps you finally understand your body (10:11) instead of fighting it.

If this episode resonated with you, I know you will also love episode (10:16) 508, the only new year, new you fitness protocol that you should follow. And just remember that (10:21) the new year doesn't always need to be about fixing yourself. It can also just be about (10:26) supporting your body in a way that actually carries you forward.

If having structure feels (10:30) helpful, I have the movement with Julia app. Those are my double only workouts, five brand new workouts (10:34) every single week. All you need is a few pair of dumbbells and a small space that's going to help (10:38) take the guesswork out of your workouts.

And the macro academy and simple online academy that's (10:42) going to help to bring you clarity to fueling without extremes. Both of those will be linked (10:47) in the show notes below. That is all that I have for today's episode.

I love you so (10:51) much. I mean it. I'll talk to you in the next one.

All right, sister, that's all I got for (11:01) you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you're not already (11:06) following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie a lead better.

Yes, it's with an A in the middle (11:11) for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks and honest accountability to keep (11:17) your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to apple podcasts to never (11:23) miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me.

It means the absolute world. And I'm going (11:29) to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life (11:33) are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves.

(11:40) Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace a real (11:45) because you're worth it.

 
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