Diets.
There are literally thousands of them to choose from. And if you’ve ever been on one you know the familiar cycle of emotions that come with dieting.
All diets begin the same way. The participant has decided they need to change something about their current nutrition to change something about their body. There’s usually an excitement when beginning a new diet plan because the participant often feels the diet is truly going to change their life.
The dieter begins the diet & strictly adheres to the rules of said diet. There is some progress noted in physical appearance because in the beginning the adherence makes a change. But typically, not too long into obeying “all the diet rules”, the participant finds him or herself “cheating” just a little. At first, this cheating doesn’t really affect the trajectory of said diet. But soon, a little cheating tends to become a lot of cheating & before you know it, the participant has quit the diet plan.
This is known as the yo-yo diet cycle. It’s a typical start a diet, lose weight on a diet, stop the diet, gain back weight (plus usually more) cycle.
So how can you choose a diet (aka nutrition plan) that will be sustainable & meet your health goals?
Here are some ideas to help you get on track:
Step 1 - Pick a sustainable plan
When you look at a nutrition plan, you should be able to imagine how it will work in real life. If you are going to choose Keto, how will that look on vacation, on Christmas Day, or at a friend’s birthday party?
How will you respond when faced with a difficult situation that challenges your chosen diet plan? If you can’t figure out how to stay the course in real life, then the diet won’t be successful.
Step 2 - Change the rules
Nutrition rules of a diet cannot work for everyone. Rules are made for robots not humans. A made-up rule of a diet cannot know your body like you do. So, if you plan on doing low carb, but you know that you tend to crash in energy every day after lunch, you’ve got to find a way to fit some carbs in so that you can sustain energy.
Or if you want to eat paleo, but you love peanut butter (which is off limits in a strict paleo world), how will you either accommodate that food desire or learn to live without it?
If the rules of a specific diet plan can’t be changed to fit your lifestyle & food likes, then that plan isn’t going to work long term. See step 1 above.
Step 3 – Don’t pick a plan with a time limit in mind
If the diet plan you are choosing is only going to be in your life for a limited amount of time, it is a sure failure. Picking a plan simply to drop weight for a wedding, reunion or vacation is only going to create the diet culture mindset that causes the cycle we discussed earlier. Whatever plan or path you are choosing needs to be able to work in your lifelong term.
This is why I like to steer people away from diet plans & back to whole foods. Whole foods are always an option. From now until the end of time, whole foods will be around. Bars, shakes & pre-packaged meals from a specific company aren’t sustainable because that company is likely to not last your lifetime.
In conclusion, the best plan is the one that works for you long term. If you need help figuring out what that path is for your life, contact me & let me help you with your nutrition & health goals.