I know in my first post I complained about people calling it a "lifestyle" change. And then a few posts ago I said it really does have to be a lifestyle change! Now, I am that annoying person. Diets fail. They do. I see it over and over. People want to lose weight so they try some diet, hoping it will be the magic bullet that leads to weight loss. The problem with all these "magic bullets" is that people can't keep up with them. They don't fit into a normal routine well enough.
For instance, Nutirsystem. It seem alike a fabulous idea. Pay for the meals, they get delivered to your home, and they take all the guess work out weight loss! Except that's the problem, they take out all the work. So what happens when you can't afford to have the meals delivered anymore? Now you are back to guessing. Because you never took the time to figure out healthy eating on your own, you are most likely going to fall back into old patterns and gain weight back. Plus diets like this aren't reasonable for families. If only one person is dieting it might make sense, but then you are always making separate meals. One for the family and one for yourself.... that's just silly. That can't be continued for a life time. And besides that what does that say to the rest of the family about healthy eating? It's not for everyone?
What about juicing? It's a huge thing right now. Everyone seems to be doing it. It's fairly simple and people seem to be feeling amazing. Except that seriously, all you are going to do is drink smoothies the rest of your life.... What about kids, husbands? Are they just gonna drink smoothies forever, or again is this just about you? This kind of diet is bound to fail because we are meant to eat actual food that you chew. You are bound to get tired of nothing but juice. You are bound to fall back into old patterns. Again this diet doesn't actually help you learn how to eat the right way. It simplifies the process of dieting by limiting you to one type of meal. This is not helpful!
Slim fast... this one died a while ago, but it's a great example of taking things to extremes. Really, shakes and bars. Is this sustainable for a lifetime?
All of these "diets" are popular because they seem simple, and quick. They take all the work out of dieting. But they require a lifestyle change that is impossible to maintain. They are diets. A lifestyle change requires work. It requires dedication, and education about food. Real food that you eat every day.
I changed the way I eat, and I also changed the way my whole family eats. I want them to be healthy too. I want them to see the importance of fueling your body to be at it's best, not eating weird stuff just to lose weight. I want to set up good eating patterns now while they are little. I don't want them to struggle like I did. I also want to help them take the "guess work" out of eating healthy.
These diets suggest that Americans are to lazy and stupid and figure out healthy eating on their own. They want a fast simple solution, so here it is. But these diets are only adding to our problems, not helping to solve them.
I'm going to take an educated guess that most of us trying to lose weight were not raised eating healthy foods and leading healthy active lifestyles. That's why we are struggling now. That's why we are frustrated and fat.
The changes I made seemed extreme at first. I was used to a totally different way of thinking about food, and calories. I was totally unaware of just how much crap I was ingesting. It was so hard to wrap my mind around what I was supposed to be doing all along. But it seems to have clicked. It makes perfect sense now, and I can't believe I ate the other way for so long. I can't believe I wasn't even heavier honestly.
Someone asked me the other day how I kick my sugar cravings. I don't! I still eat normal foods, and I still eat sugar. I just make wiser choices about what I eat. For instance, I ate at Qudoba last night. I looked up the calorie info before I went. They have a fabulous meal calculator that helps you make better choices about what you order. So I ordered 3 soft tacos, with chicken, lettuce, pico, cheese and sour cream. 705 calories. That's a pretty large meal calorie wise, but I worked out yesterday and I had the calories to spend. When I got home I tried these new Dove mini chocolate bars 60 calories each. I ate two. They were delicious, and just enough that I didn't feel deprived, but I also didn't feel like I over did it. I woke up this morning a tad worried that I may have over done it, but according to my calorie count I stayed within my budget for the day even though I ate that stuff on top of what I ate through out the day. I weighed in at less than I did yesterday!
The key is to do the work. Figure out how much your body needs every day, look at the calories and the nutrition information of what you are putting into your body. Educate yourself on your true caloric need, and eat more healthy foods! Measure and figure out real portion sizes. Eat fruits, eat vegetables, eat proteins. Stop eating so many sweets. It really is that simple. And it really is something that you can sustain for your whole life.
So stop with the fast fad diets and lose weight for real. It doesn't have to be that hard, you don't have to deprive yourself. You just have to do the work.
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