Why I don’t believe in dieting

The very famous and most used and abused word ‘Dieting’ refers to ‘restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight’.

Firstly, no food is bad (no even pepperoni pizza), only proportions are. Tell me something, is roti fattening? No, it isn’t and it’s something you eat everyday. But eating eight rotis per meal will be fattening, right? Let’s try it again. Eating an entire bar of chocolate is packed with sugar and calories (and thus, is fattening), but having a piece or two a day won’t be that bad, right? Plus, you get to eat chocolate everyday this way.

Intermittent fasting or IF (eat in a eight (or even four) hour window and don’t eat for the rest of the day, Ketogenic Diet (eating high fat, adequate protein and low carb foods), liquid diet (the most disastrous of all), detox diet, etc are extremely popular to shed a few kilos fast. Notice the last word here, ‘fast’. If you are fat today, it is a result of YEARS of accumulation of food. Why do you want to put your body through the torture of depriving it from its essential nutrients? Why do you expect yourself to shed 10 kgs in a month because your layer of fat has taken years to accumulate. Now imagine what these fad diets must be putting your body through.

You can follow these diets and lose a lot of weight in a short time, but this package will also be inclusive of

  • Hairfall
  • Dehydration
  • Inadequate nutrition intake
  • Fatigue
  • Depression
  • Muscle loss, etc


Also, when you stop dieting you start gaining back.


Now, would you want to torture your body to shed a few kilos and have lifeless skin or feed your body and take care of it, and have glowing skin?


You NEED food. For energy, for your body to function, for you overall well-being.You can’t eliminate it to lose fat! Also . scientifically, your body stores fat for energy if it isn’t fed, so you will actually be storing a lot of your fat and your ‘weight loss’ will actually be a lot of muscle and water loss. This is why I promote healthy eating, and do not believe in dieting. In my entire journey of weight loss, I haven’t been on a diet even once. Okay, I did try IF and almost fainted on day 2, moreover it also made me really irritated because duh- I wasn’t eating for 16 hours a day!

When you eat healthy, you sustainably lose weight and burn fat. Which also means you can have an entire slice of cheesecake on an occasion and not worry about gaining. Why? Because you eat healthy, you fuel your body and not overdo it with cheap fuel which will harm it. So once in a while you can satisfy your cravings.

I know summer is coming, I know you want a bikini body / 6-pack abs, but don’t harm your body this way please. A solution should be permanent, not a temporary fix.

In the upcoming articles I would also be telling you HOW you can eat your pizzas and chocolates and ice-creams without any guilt.


Stay tuned!



  1. Hi Niharika, well written. This is one aspect people, especially in India, follow to understand. They follow all sorts of articles on the Net, try to do dieting and land up with all sorts of health problems. I also believe and tell people (I follow the same) that eat everything but in moderation. Each and every food is required by the body. Sadly, people do not believe in quality but “quantity”.

    Keep sharing such article. When you get time, come by my blog.


    Liked by 1 person

  2. Hiya Niharika! What is the best way to wake up at 6 in the morning and hit the gym without feeling kinda drowsy? And does eating food cooked in refined oil makes me less prone to being fat?


  3. Niharika, how do i loose upper arm flabs, will a total cal burn of 300 on treadmill be enough to tone my entire body? i feel my arms are still bulgy that makes me resistant to crop n other sleeve less tops:( besides other body parts seem to loose inches 🙂


  4. Hi Niharika,

    Read your quora post and your blog , amazing is the least I can come up with. Probably I am in the same phase as you were

    At 28 w / 103 kg as weight ( 6 feet) have just developed , high BP conditions and some breathlessness – so the way up is to improve ( this coming from someone who was into sports earlier and literally ruined w/ incessant office hours and over-eating , excessive social drinking.

    All I need in terms of suggestion is – did Gym and life style changes ( i have a dietitian appointment scheduled this week ) – were the only things you went ahead with over a period of 1+ year as I suspect, I might end up having a similar phase for nearly 4 years of bad choices.

    Again, thanks for your good right up.


  5. Hi Niharika! I am 26 years old and 103 kgs. My height is 5″1. I want to change this but I am really confused about how to start. I have tried to follow a diet and gym schedule and quit after a while. I want it to be permanent this time. Kindly guide me.
    PS: you are inspiringly awesome. 🙂


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