The Harsh Truth About Your "Favourite Foods" (And Why Every Coach Lies About This)

Every weight loss coach has their version of the same pitch.

"You don't have to give up your favourite foods!"

"You can still enjoy pizza and ice cream!"

"No food is off-limits!"

And here's the thing it's technically true. You can include any food in a fat loss plan if the numbers work out.

But it's also complete bullshit.

Let me explain why this well-meaning advice is actually a logical fallacy that's keeping you stuck.

The Logical Fallacy Behind "Flexible Dieting"

Every fat loss coach will tell you that you don't have to give up your favourite foods to lose fat.

That in itself is true, but it's ultimately misleading.

It's a logical fallacy designed to sell you your dreams. Kind of like having your cake and eating it too. Literally.

A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning that makes an argument invalid, even if it sounds convincing. These are flaws sometimes unintentional, often deliberate that use irrelevant points, weak evidence, or deceptive language to make you believe something that doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

Common Examples of Logical Fallacies

Here are some examples you've probably heard:

"More than 80% of dentists recommend this toothpaste."

Colgate made this famous. It's technically true, but dentists were shown a list and could recommend multiple brands. They recommended Colgate and several other brands just as frequently. The claim isn't false it's just misleading.

"Red wine is good for your health."

Studies on antioxidants in red wine are accurate, but the benefits are massively overstated. The minor upsides don't outweigh the very real downsides of alcohol consumption. Net benefit? Weak at best.

"Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world."

True if you measure from sea level. But Mauna Kea is taller base-to-peak. Mount Chimborazo's peak is farthest from Earth's centre. "Tallest" depends entirely on how you measure.

See the pattern?

Why "Keep Your Favourite Foods" Is Misleading Advice

Now back to your favourite foods.

Yes, you can fit them into a calorie deficit. But here's what nobody tells you: if that food is a cornerstone habit something you turn to for comfort, stress relief, celebration, or boredom then keeping it around is actively sabotaging your progress.

Because in order to lose fat for good, you have to change the habits that led you to being overweight in the first place.

If your habit is nightly wine. Daily chocolate. Weekend takeaways. Late-night snacking.

It has to go.

No matter what you tell yourself.

This is brutal honesty, and probably why marketing isn't my strong suit. I don't like selling people bullshit.

What I've Seen Work (And What Doesn't)

I've watched this play out hundreds of times. The client who "just wants to keep their evening glass of wine" stays stuck at the same weight for months. The executive who "needs" their Friday night curry never quite loses that last 5kg.

Then they finally commit to removing it for 4 weeks.

And everything changes.

Not just the scale. Their relationship with food. Their stress responses. Their energy patterns.

The food wasn't the problem. The habit was the problem. And you can't break a habit by moderating it.

Sound familiar?

The 4-Week Challenge: Identify Your Cornerstone Habit

Here's what I want you to do: Identify the one food or drink that's been the cornerstone of your health problems. The one you defend. The one you can't imagine giving up. The one you've negotiated around in every previous attempt to get healthier.

Remove it completely for 4 weeks.

Not "cut back." Not "only on weekends." Gone.

Then watch what happens not just to your weight, but to your cravings, energy, sleep, and relationship with that food.

Most of you already know what it is. You just don't want to admit it.

Research Insights: CBD

I work with a lot of clients who suffer from anxiety and struggle with sleep because of it. Often, their "favourite food" is actually a coping mechanism for stress the evening wine, the comfort food, the late-night snack.

I've personally tried CBD for anxiety-related sleep issues, and it helped me significantly.

A recent systematic review looked at cannabidiol (CBD) for anxiety and sleep disorders. Researchers analysed 8 studies involving 168 participants with clinical anxiety and sleep problems.

Here's what they found:

CBD showed benefits for reducing anxiety symptoms across multiple conditions generalised anxiety, social anxiety, and PTSD-related anxiety. The improvements were meaningful and consistent.

For sleep, the results were more mixed. Some studies showed better sleep quality and duration. Others showed no significant change. The researchers concluded that CBD might help anxiety-related sleep problems specifically, but may not work as well for sleep issues without an anxiety component.

Dosing varied widely across studies from 25mg to 175mg daily, taken as capsules or sublingual oil.

The review noted that CBD was generally well-tolerated with minimal side effects.

My Take on CBD

If anxiety is disrupting your sleep, CBD is worth exploring with your doctor. But if your sleep issues are metabolic (blood sugar crashes, cortisol dysregulation, poor meal timing), CBD won't fix the root cause.

Fix your metabolic health first. Then consider CBD as a tool for anxiety management.

And if you're using food or alcohol to manage that anxiety? That needs to be addressed directly.

The Bottom Line: Real Change Requires Real Decisions

Look, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear.

You wanted to hear that you can have it all. That transformation doesn't require sacrifice. That you can keep doing what you've always done and somehow get different results.

But that's not reality.

Real change requires real decisions. And sometimes those decisions feel harsh in the moment but become the best things you ever did for yourself.

The coaches who tell you that you can keep all your favourite foods aren't lying they're just not telling you the whole truth. Yes, you can fit anything into your macros. But if that food is tied to the habit patterns that created your health problems in the first place, keeping it around is like trying to quit smoking whilst carrying a pack of cigarettes "just in case."

It doesn't work.

Your Next Step

If you're ready to stop negotiating with yourself and actually make progress, here's what to do:

1. Identify your cornerstone habit. What's the one food or drink you defend most? The one you've worked around in every diet attempt?

2. Commit to 4 weeks without it. Complete removal. No moderation. No "just on weekends."

3. Document what changes. Weight, energy, cravings, sleep quality, mood. Write it down.

4. Reassess after 4 weeks. Then decide if you want to bring it back and if you do, whether you can do so without falling back into old patterns.

Sometimes you need someone to tell you the truth, even when it's uncomfortable.

This is that moment.