Diet hope and abandonment cycle - why keeping to a diet is difficult

Any woman with dieting experience is familiar with the roller coaster image. The weight goes up, down, and then up again, sometimes even higher than where it started. But what's really causing that back-and-forth?

In this blog I’m diving deeper into what I call the Diet, Hope, and Abandonment Cycle. Yes, it’s a long title. But I think you will find it a more precise map of what happens on the roller coaster pattern so many women experience.

What starts the diet hope and abandonment cycle

This cycle tracks emotion and action. Hope drives dieting behaviour, only for abandonment to follow and fuel disappointment, with most forgetting this only to start again. Let’s unpack this cycle and look under the hood to see the hidden forces at work.

Every diet starts with hope, genuine optimism that fuels the journey. This hope isn’t random; it’s fed by diet marketing, influencers, celebrities, researchers, and professionals all presenting answers to the problem. The appeal is huge because it seems you don’t have to figure anything out yourself, just follow the rules for results, as promised by endless success stories.

Why keeping to the diet is difficult

But sooner or later, that spark of hope dims. Underneath, an internal clash begins. One side is the new diet rules; the other is your unconscious food story and survival instincts, your body’s deep-wired system that reads restriction as starvation. The survival program kicks in, overriding willpower with primal urges to eat.

When your body senses starvation from restriction, metabolism slows to conserve energy. This is when hope crashes and abandonment kicks in, with eating to catch up, leading to weight regain, often overshooting the starting point. It’s biology versus diet plan; the old rules wired for survival always win.

Why does my weight end up heavier

Overshoot happens because your body, once restricted, stores fat more efficiently. That swinging pendulum means diets can ultimately make you fatter in the long run. The emotional fallout is difficult, sometimes you forget the cycle for relief, but that forgetting often leads you right back into another diet trap.

Why am I on this roller coaster

The takeaway? Abandoning a diet isn’t personal failure or sabotage. Willpower cannot override basic biology. If you’ve ridden the Diet, Hope, and Abandonment Cycle many times, it’s not a character flaw, it’s your body’s system at work. Recognising this pattern is a huge step forward. For sustainable change, weight loss needs be slow and gentle, working with your system, not against it. Consulting a dietician can help design plans that respect these biological mechanisms.

Where can I get assistance

To access more resources or explore the Weight and Dieting History Program, visit the Resources Page.

To start discovering why diets didn't work for you, download my free e-book here

Check out the Weighting for Happiness programs for the tools and roadmap to uncover your food story.

Download the free e-book 

Listen to my Podcast 'Before Dieting' where ever you listen to your Podcasts or try the Apple/Spotify links below.

🎧Episode 8 - Getting off the diet roller coaster

Before Dieting... - Podcast - Apple Podcasts 

Before Dieting... | Podcast on Spotify

Happy listening - Bronwyn 💚