- Do not diet. The end.
The first definition of a diet is “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats,” for example a plant based diet or a dairy-heavy diet or a traditional diet. It has no negative implication. Everyone eats a diet of some kind because, as my toddler would say, “If you eat nothing, you’ll die!”
The very next definition, however is more colloquial: “A special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons” such as at the Dukan diet, the Adkins diet, or the Keto diet and there are so many negative thoughts and feeling around this idea of dieting.
Many of us find diets to be sad, restrictive, and fun-sucking. We have this idea that in order to go on a diet, we can never again enjoy our favorite foods or that we must remove all of one particular substance (like sugar or carbs) from our lives entirely or until we reach our desired weight-loss. That leaves us feeling like we have two options – be fat or be miserable.
The problem with most modern diets or fad diets is NOT that they don’t work. If you remove one type of anything from your diet, more than likely your calorie count is going to decrease. Any decrease in calories is going to cause a fluctuation in weight. To lose weight, all you need is to be in a calorie deficit, meaning you burn more calories that you eat. It’s that simple. If you burn 1000 calories in a day but only eat 800 calories of doughnuts, you will lose weight, 100% guaranteed, no question. You will also lose energy, muscle function, and you’ll be very hungry all the time because that would be like one doughnut a day. So please don’t try this at home.
What most people fail to consider when starting a new restrictive diet is the sustainability of that diet. Meaning, how long can they keep eating no sugar or no carbs or how long can they go without their favorite sugary beverage? They might try really hard January through February, but as soon as Valentine’s Day hit, they fall victim to that box of chocolates. And true to human nature, as soon as they have a Twix Bar or a sip of Coke, they consider their diet to be ruined and have a lot of guilt which usually leads to emotional eating and, yup, weight gain. Thus “that diet didn’t work.” But it only didn’t work because they were unable to sustain it!
Another unsustainable example is when someone commits hardcore to a diet. They go Keto and cut out all carbs for a year. They lose the 50 pounds they intended to lose. They have a huge celebration for hitting that goal. Because they are now at their desired weight, they stop the diet and go right back to the eating habits they were in to when they were unhappy and, surprise, surprise, they gain all the weight right back! Because they can not imagine their life without carbs, they intend to remove them until they hit a goal and then add them back without any adjustment, and they become caught in a cycle of dieting and then gaining weight. Not sustainable!
What is a sustainable diet?
A sustainable diet is something that you feel confident in committing to for the long haul. It is something that will realistically fit into your life while allowing you to live your life! We were not put on this earth to eat lettuce and be skinny and die. There is so much more to life than worrying about how much or how little you weigh and sometimes, cake happens! Your diet will only be sustainable if it allows for that! Rather than going on a restrictive diet (see the second definition above) to lose a certain amount of weight, which, lets be honest, doesn’t usually have a end date and could seem to be the rest of our lives, we should commit to eating a healthier diet (see the first definition above).
If you do feel as if a restrictive diet is what you need because once you have one piece of cake, you have twenty, set a short term goal for yourself based on a calendar and not your weight. Promise yourself you will cut out sweet drinks for a week. Commit to 30 days of a plant based diet. Make it a timed challenge rather than an open-ended diet. You might be more likely to commit to something so restrictive if you knew it was only for a short time and you could see the end.
Here is my honest truth, last Friday my boys and I went out for dinner and ice cream. I had my very own Like-It size of Peanut Butter Lovers from Cold Stone Creamery with coconut flakes added in. It was heavenly. I did not feel guilty. I did not feel as if I had cheated on my diet. I did not feel the need to work extra hard the next day to make up for it. I did not even add in an extra workout. I just ate the damn ice cream! But I never want to lead anyone to believe that I eat sweets every day and still see results from my workouts. I don’t. Ninety percent of the time, I am eating according to the meal plan that my workout program lays out for me. I am making sure I eat all my fruits and veggies without overdoing the carbs. I make sure my carbs are complex (wheat in stead of white). I eat lean proteins. Even though I am ridiculed for doing so, I measure out all of my foods to make sure they are in the proper portion sizes. Everything is in the right proportions. I know that as long as I am eating this way every time I plan a meal, the once or twice a week that I eat an unplanned meal like a last minute BFF wine and whine, I can do so with confidence, knowing I will not undo my hard work.
That is sustainability.
Focus on cleaning up your diet rather than going on a diet. Try to eat more whole foods and less foods that come in a package with an ingredient list. Read the ingredient list and ask yourself if those things work for or against your goals. Eat according to your goals. If your goal is to lose weight, shoot for a calorie deficit while maintaining a diet that includes your favorite things. If your goal is to strengthen and build muscle, focus on eating enough proteins and the right types of carbs (carbs are not the enemy) but allow for those special treats in moderation. If your goals it to be healthier and live longer, switch out your favorite foods for healthier options more regularly.
I never realized how simple-carb-heavy my diet was until I started intentionally eating four servings of vegetables a day. Why do veggies seem so hard to slip casually into a day’s food? All munchy, grab-and-go snacks, even healthy ones, seem to fall in to the carb or fruit categories of my meal plan! It is not always easy, which is why I have to be intentional about it. I meal prep every Sunday. I commit to eating a diet rich in nutrients. I do not buy tempting foods. Over the past ten months, I have found that the more I eat right and workout regularly, the most I see my body changing for the better, the less I want to eat terrible-for-me foods! It is so much easier to say no to binge drinking on a weekend if I have already promised myself a killer workout on Saturday morning. You can bet your bottom dollar that I won’t be eating doughnuts in the office on Monday if I am still riding my post-workout high! It is as simple as the more you commit to it, the easier it becomes.
I never feel restricted. I never say, “I can’t eat that.” I never let my way of eating get in the way of living my life. And you shouldn’t either.
For some healthy food inspo, check out my recipes https://bekaxoco.wordpress.com/2019/04/22/easy-meal-prep-recipe/
https://bekaxoco.wordpress.com/2019/07/08/post-vacation-meal-prep/
And my tips for health eating!
https://bekaxoco.wordpress.com/2019/02/25/tips-for-healthy-eating/
XO Beka
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