Why Over 99% of Diets Fail and What You Can Do About It
The CrossFit Podcast
CrossFit LLC
4.3 • 757 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Dr. Jason Fung returns to the CrossFit Podcast to unpack the real driver behind weight gain and chronic hunger. Drawing from decades of clinical experience and his new book “The Hunger Code,” Fung challenges the “calorie in, calorie out” model and explains why it has failed so many people for so long.
This conversation goes deeper than macros and meal plans. Fung breaks down the three types of hunger: homeostatic, hedonic, and conditioned. He explains how ultra-processed foods, the modern food environment, and social conditioning override natural appetite regulation. He and host Jocelyn Rylee explore how insulin and other hormones shape body fat regulation, and why long-term success depends on restoring satiety rather than fighting willpower.
Topics Covered
- Why calorie restriction fails long-term.
- The three types of hunger and how they drive overeating.
- How ultra-processed food hijacks appetite and satiety.
- Hormones and the body fat thermostat.
- Social environments and practical levers for change.
Resources Mentioned
- Dr. Jason Fung
- The Hunger Code by Dr. Jason Fung
- The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung\
- Hunger by Roxane Gay
Community Highlight
Travis Ponikiewski doesn’t train for the leaderboard.
He trains because he has two little girls who think he’s invincible, and he plans on keeping it that way for a long time.
When Travis was young, he lost his dad. Now that he’s a father himself, that experience quietly shapes everything. For him, fitness isn’t aesthetic. It’s responsibility. It’s making sure his daughters don’t grow up with missing memories.
At home, that same steadiness shows up in how he supports his wife through mental health struggles. He wants her to feel strong again, on her terms.
He cares less about how his girls look and more about what they’re capable of. Strong bodies. Healthy relationship with food. Confidence that doesn’t shrink to fit the world.
He’s even working toward his Level 1 — not to collect a title, but to better serve the people around him.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey everyone, just a quick note before we get into this episode. Over the next few weeks, |
| 0:04.6 | we're releasing a really interesting run of episodes that will wrap up this chapter of the |
| 0:08.9 | CrossFit podcast. These are conversations we're so excited to share, and they reflect where |
| 0:13.9 | we're going in the future. We'll be doubling down on who we are at our core, and it's all |
| 0:18.6 | about health and fitness. We'll talk more about what's next down the line, but for now, just know that we're finishing out this era of the podcast the best way possible with a fascinating lineup of subject matter experts who are out there changing the world. All right, let's get into it. And of course, this is the lesson of drugs like Ozumpic. I think you said something in there that I want to shine a spotlight on because I think it's super important. You need to unhook yourself from this treat, reward culture. And you're like, where did you get that? Well, we've been doing it to the kids the whole time and all through the school system too. Like, no wonder. It's not about the foods necessarily. It's about the eating behavior. If you think it's all about the diet, you've already lost. |
| 0:56.3 | No wonder you're hungry because you've conditioned that hunger. |
| 0:59.9 | Hopefully we've been there, done that, and learned it doesn't get you where you want to go. |
| 1:09.7 | Welcome back to the CrossFit podcast. |
| 1:11.6 | I'm Jocelyn Riley. |
| 1:12.8 | I'm so stoked today to be joined again, returning to the CrossFit podcast, Dr. Jason Fung. |
| 1:17.7 | Dr. Jason, good morning. |
| 1:19.5 | Hi, good morning. |
| 1:20.5 | Great to be here. |
| 1:21.2 | Thanks, Jocelyn. |
| 1:22.2 | I'm so glad to have you back again. |
| 1:23.6 | You're joining us from your office in Toronto, correct? |
| 1:26.6 | That's right. |
| 1:27.5 | Fellow Canadian represent. |
| 1:28.7 | I'm in Saskatchewan. |
| 1:30.9 | So we're so excited to have you back to continue this conversation. |
| 1:34.7 | We had a great talk last time about lots of aspects of metabolic health, the use of fasting, all the ways that you've brought your clinical experience as a practicing nephrologist, kidney specialist, |
| 1:46.2 | and your experience working with real people and some of the things we would like to see as |
... |
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