For many women between the ages of 50 and 70, the story is the same: years (or decades) of trying different diets, counting calories, weighing in daily, and labelling foods as “good” or “bad.” But the truth is – strict, restrictive diets don’t work in the long term. Here’s why.
The Problem with Restriction
At first, cutting calories or following a strict plan can make the scales move. But over time, your body pushes back. That’s not because you’re weak or lacking willpower – it’s because your body is wired for survival. Extreme restriction tells your brain that food is scarce, and it responds by ramping up hunger signals to make sure you don’t starve.
Meet Ghrelin: The Hunger Hormone
One of the key players here is ghrelin, often called the hunger hormone. Ghrelin is released by your stomach and signals your brain that it’s time to eat. Under normal circumstances, it rises before meals and drops afterwards.
But when you start dieting or cutting calories too drastically, your body interprets this as a potential famine. From an evolutionary perspective, this mechanism helped our ancestors survive times of food scarcity. When cavemen went through periods without food, ghrelin would surge to drive them to seek nourishment and prevent starvation.
So when you go on a restrictive diet, your brain and body don’t know you’re doing it on purpose. They simply think food is scarce – and ghrelin production increases. You feel hungrier, more preoccupied with food, and more likely to “give in” and overeat. This is not a failure – it’s your biology doing its job.
Why Strict Diets Backfire
This survival response explains why strict diets are so hard to stick with long-term:
- Increased hunger: ghrelin levels stay high, pushing you to eat more.
- Slowed metabolism: your body burns fewer calories to conserve energy.
- All-or-nothing thinking: when foods are labelled as “bad,” eating them can trigger guilt, shame, or overeating.
The result? Weight loss may happen in the short term, but it’s rarely sustainable. Most people end up regaining the weight – and often more.
A New Approach: Nourishment, Not Punishment
Instead of restriction, the focus should be on retraining your mindset and building a healthy relationship with food. That means:
- Letting go of the scales and daily weigh-ins.
- Ditching calorie counting and the good/bad food labels.
- Eating mostly whole foods – quality protein, plenty of vegetables, good fats – without extremes.
- Learning to trust your body’s signals and feed it consistently, not sporadically.
Practical Mindset Shifts
Here are some simple tools to help reframe your thinking:
- Journaling: Note how different foods make you feel in terms of energy, mood, and digestion – rather than focusing on calories or weight.
- Self-compassion: Speak to yourself as you would a friend. Slip-ups aren’t failures; they’re opportunities to learn.
- Focus on energy, not weight: Celebrate improvements in stamina, mood, and sleep instead of chasing a number on the scales.
- Small wins: Aim for one balanced meal at a time rather than “perfect” days.
The Takeaway
Strict diets don’t fail because you lack willpower – they fail because your body is designed to protect you from starvation. By understanding hormones like ghrelin and the evolutionary reasons behind your cravings, you can start to see why restriction backfires. The key to lasting weight loss and better health is not eating less, but eating smarter – and retraining your mindset with more compassion, balance, and trust in your body.
