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Those hoping to lose weight this year might be tempted to try to a diet challenge in the hopes of kick-starting their weight loss. But while we might think these kinds of short-term, restrictive diets will help give our waistlines a nudge, psychology and physiology shows us why this strategy can be so hard to stick to – and why it probably won’t result in long-term weight loss.

Research estimates that as few as 20% of people who lose weight through dieting manage to keep the weight off long-term.

For decades, psychologists have been trying to understand why it is that diets so often fail.

One potential reason for this is that diets often involve strict food rules – such as avoiding the foods you enjoy.

The problem with this strategy is that the foods people tend to crave most – such as chocolate, ice cream and crisps – activate the brain’s reward system. This creates positive feelings.

When we cut these foods out of our diet, we lose the pleasure they bring. This can then trigger food cravings – a complex psychological process where we experience an intense desire to eat a particular food, even when we’re not hungry.

Food cravings are often dependent on mood and may be particularly bad when we feel stressed. They can also be especially...

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