Have you noticed how the most popular diets always talk about what you can’t eat instead of what you should eat more of? You hear the same negative words again and again: ‘restrict’, ‘portion control, ‘eat less’, "eliminate’ and ‘less of’.
Any weight loss is temporary. But the feeling of failure and the shame we feel for being so ‘weak’. lives on long after the pounds are back.
The one thing you will eliminate is the joy associated with eating real food. They rely on you working against your body, forcing you to ignore what it is telling you.
Paleo is so last year!.
The food and diet industry has much in common with the fashion industry. It has trends and seasons. Last year’ ‘must-do’ diet is thrown out as the newest fad is spread across the globe.
Influencers who were telling us in June we needed to be eating nothing but fermented goop, by December are touting their newest ‘diet coffee’. Last year it was Paleo, this year it's 'Whole 30'. There is no end to the weird and wonderful ways they try to convince us that we are the problem and they are the solution.
They decide this seasons’ rules - what you need to restrict and what you should eat, often with no scientific basis. The company behind Whole 30 They can promise this diet is the miracle ‘cure’ to your problem, because they always have a get out clause: you have to supply the magic ingredient. Willpower!
As long as you have the strength to ‘cut out’, ‘eliminate’, ‘restrict’, you, too, can be slim, fit and gorgeous. And if you fail? It’s because you didn’t have the willpower.
But here's what the food and diet industry doesn't want you to know: The term "willpower" as it relates to the food you eat is a myth — and it’s one that sets you up for failure.
Commercial diets set the bar too high for you succeed. But failure is YOUR fault!
Fad diets often go to extremes by cutting out major food groups like carbs and they simply aren't sustainable strategies and may even be counterproductive.
Diet trends and fashions are nothing new. It's believed that William the Conqueror decided to reduce his corpulent frame by severely restricting his food intake whilst increasing his alcohol levels. Apparently he did lose weight but he died in a riding accident. No surprise there, then!
The more we restrict, the more likely we are to fail. In fact, a 2017 review of numerous studies found that conventional commercial diets have no impact on long-term health and weight management.
And a Harvard paper states
Even when research studies confine study subjects to a research setting — with carefully-controlled calories, food types, and physical activity, and with intensive counselling, teaching, and monitoring — the lost weight and other health benefits (such as improved cholesterol and reduced blood pressure) tend to disappear soon after the study ends.
Our lives are not made up of meal plans, diets, and calorie counting — they’re made up of experiences that provide enrichment and fulfillment in a multitude of ways. A more holistic approach to better health starts with the way we talk (and think) about food as it impacts our health.
One size DOES NOT fit all
Your body is unique. Your mind is unique. You are unique. That’s why diets don’t work.
A generic plan for everybody, means a personalised plan for nobody.
To build a life filled with health and vitality you must work with your body and mind to create your own personal plan and strategies. Your health can only become part of who you are when your daily habits naturally gravitate towards the healthy option.
You can develop healthy habits. And I can help.
Is it time you stopped dieting and started living the life you desire?