What If the Problem Wasn’t You?

You're Not Broken, But Your Weight Loss Strategy Is

We’ve been fed a lot of lies when it comes to weight loss. And perhaps the biggest lie of all is this:

“If it’s not working, it must be your fault.”

That’s not only false—it’s dangerous.

In her book Fast Like A Girl, Dr. Mindy Pelz talks about the “Failed Five”—five common ways diets fail women. But I’m going to take it a step further. As a health and wellness coach, I’ve seen these same failures show up in different forms. So today, I’m sharing The Failed 6—six reasons most diets fail… and what you can do instead.

Before we dive in, I want you to hear this loud and clear:

You are not lazy. You are not unmotivated. You are not broken.

You’re likely trapped in outdated, incomplete, or even harmful strategies that ignore how your brain and body actually work.

The Failed 6: Why Most Diets Don’t Work

1. Calorie Restriction

“Eat less, move more” is a broken formula. Sure, it works temporarily—until your metabolism slows down, your hormones crash, and your cravings hijack your brain.

🧠 The science? Your body has a metabolic set point—a natural weight range it tries to maintain. If you drop calories too low or lose weight too fast, your body responds by slowing metabolism and increasing hunger (Sumithran et al., 2011).

Functional medicine focuses on quality, not just quantity—because calories-in, calories-out ignores hormones, stress, nutrient density, toxins, and timing.

2. Poor Food Quality

Fat-free, sugar-free, low-carb, no-carb… remember Olestra? (Yes, the “may cause anal leakage” chip additive. IYKYK.)

🚨 Ultra-processed foods are designed to trick your brain, spike insulin, and promote fat storage (Monteiro et al., 2019). Even "healthy" packaged foods often flood your system with artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and chemical byproducts your liver can’t keep up with.

Real food = real fuel. That means less barcodes and more nourishment.

3. Cortisol Chaos

Here’s what most diet plans miss: Stress is a fat-storage signal.

When cortisol goes up, insulin follows—and your body clings to fat like your life depends on it.

📉 Fasting too long, under-eating, or simply pushing through overwhelm without emotional regulation can spike cortisol and stall all progress (Epel et al., 2004).

You can’t heal in a state of stress. You can’t burn fat when your nervous system thinks there’s a lion chasing you.

You need safety—nutritional, hormonal, emotional—to lose weight sustainably.

4. One-Size-Fits-All Approaches

What works for your favorite influencer might wreck your hormones.

🩸 Women’s hormonal needs shift weekly—especially around ovulation and menstruation. Estrogen thrives on lower carbs. Progesterone? She’s a carb-lover.

Men deal with stress-related hormone crashes too—high cortisol disrupts testosterone and metabolism (Sapolsky, 2004).

Personalization isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity. Especially if you want your plan to work with your body, not against it.

5. Over-Exercising + Under-Eating

We glorify hustle, but in health, more isn’t better. Smarter is better.

🏋️‍♀️ Over-training while under-fueling leads to hormonal imbalances, burnout, and chronic fatigue (Mountjoy et al., 2014). And yes, this affects men and women.

You can’t out-train a stressed-out body. Your nervous system needs rest, just as much as your muscles.

6. Toxin Overload

This one’s rarely talked about… but it matters. Your fat cells store toxins. The more toxins you accumulate, the more your body resists fat loss to protect vital organs.

🧪 Most diets don’t address toxins—from plastics, pesticides, skincare, processed food, and air pollution. Functional medicine does.

If you're going to track anything, track toxins—not just macros.

QUIZ: What Belief Is Holding You Back?

Ready for a quick self-audit? Grab a notepad or answer mentally.

1. When things aren’t working, I usually…

A. Push through harder

B. Blame myself

C. Compare to others

D. Shut down or give up

2. My health goals make me think…

A. I need more willpower

B. I should be further ahead

C. I should eat less and move more

D. My body is broken

3. When I’m stressed, I…

A. Ignore hunger

B. Suppress emotions

C. Eat anything

D. Feel stuck

4. Rest and recovery are…

A. Lazy

B. Only earned

C. Important, but I skip it

D. Guilt-inducing

5. When I see others succeeding, I think…

A. What’s wrong with me?

B. I’m messing up

C. I’ll never get there

D. That won’t work for me

Quiz Results:

• Mostly A’s – The Pusher

  You believe effort = results. But your body needs restoration, not punishment.

• Mostly B’s – The Self-Critic

  You internalize failure. It’s time to shift into compassion and collaboration with your body.

• Mostly C’s – The Comparison Chaser

  You’re looking outward instead of inward. Let’s find your formula.

• Mostly D’s – The Overwhelmed Warrior

  You’re in survival mode. Time to regulate your nervous system and reset from the inside out.

The Truth Most Diets Miss

You are not the problem. The system is.

Your body isn’t fighting you. It’s protecting you—with the tools it has.

But when we ignore stress, hormones, mindset, toxins, and individuality, we miss the whole picture.

What Makes Functional Medicine Different?

We don’t slap a diet plan on top of your symptoms. We investigate what’s going on underneath them:

• 🌱 Mindset + emotional patterns

• 🧬 Advanced bloodwork with optimal ranges

• 🦠 Gut health, toxins, and food sensitivities

• 💪 Hormones, inflammation, and metabolic rate

Then we build a customized, sustainable roadmap based on your biology and your lifestyle.

Final Thoughts: What If You’re Not Broken?

You don’t need more rules. You need better information—and a support system that sees the whole of you.

Real health isn’t about willpower. It’s about wholeness.

And that’s what functional medicine is here to deliver.

Ready to see what your body is really trying to tell you?

👉 Book your free discovery call now and let’s get to the root of your health challenges—together.

Because you’re not broken. You’re just ready for a whole new strategy.

This content has been generated with the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI language model. While every effort has been made to ensure originality and accuracy, the content may inadvertently include or resemble information from other sources. This is not intentional and we encourage users to conduct their own verification if specific details are critical for their purposes. The use of this AI-generated content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as a substitute for professional medical advice and is not intended to diagnose or treat.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The supplements mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult a healthcare provider before starting any new supplement regimen."