TIS THE SEASON TO LOSE WEIGHT, WHAT DIET SHOULD I GO ON?
There are a lot of dieting options out there: South Beach, Ideal Protein, Green Smoothie, Weight Watchers, HCG, Jenny Craig and on and on. I get asked a lot which one works best to lose weight? Before I give you my answer, let’s chat about our beliefs about losing weight.
CALORIE IN CALORIE OUT IS WRONG
We have been taught many times over that fat is bad and reducing calories is good. I did a quick google search and found a weight calculator online and it told me to:
- Maintain my Weight: eat 2095 calories
- Lose Weight: eat 1676 calories
- Lose Weight Fast: eat 1257 calories
It seems SO simple – just take in less calories or burn more off and BAM – I can get to my perfect weight (love the “lose weight fast” option because I am going to the beach soon).
So easy to get sucked in!! There are many ridiculous myths in nutrition. But I am here to tell you that this is ALL WRONG! Don’t worry – by the end of this article I will give you THE BETTER WAY, but stick with me so that you can be one of the enlightened ones.
FAT IS GOOD, SUGAR AND GRAINS ARE BAD (especially processed)
All calories ARE NOT created equal (I am all for equal rights, but tough luck calories – you don’t deserve my advocacy). Sugar and flour calories are WAY different from whole food calories.
First, they activate addiction and overeating. Second, they spike insulin and inflammation, which makes you store belly fat and blocks your ability to feel full. Take my word for it, this combination of calories will NOT set you up for long-term weight loss.
WHY ARE WE ALL GAINING WEIGHT WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY DIETS AVAILABLE?
All dieting is doomed to fail for one simple reason; it’s not sustainable. Study after study has shown that over a short-period of time (up to 1 year), we do have the ability to lose weight by dieting. Maybe you’ve even experienced that glorious 10 or 15 pound loss during the first couple of months of a new diet. But how many of you or your friends have gained it back? How many have gained it back, and added an extra few pounds beyond where you started? Scientifically this has been documented among all diets, so it begs the question, why bother dieting?
We all want the perfect body, and realize we may have let things go a little too long (maybe a lot too long!). We really want to clean up our act, so we make drastic changes and take on the latest dieting fad. But while we all want rock-solid abs or buns of steel, shouldn’t the real goal be HEALTH? If we feed our body with proper nutrition will our bodies fix things on its own? Historically, we were not fat. If you look back in the paleolithic records, there is no evidence of fat cavemen. So why are we fat now?
THE ONLY DIET THAT WORKS – REAL FOODS
So the winner of my favorite diet is…real foods. My real answer is that it’s a lifestyle modification, not a diet, that works. I like to call it a “Paleo-ish” lifestyle. In my opinion, we should strive to eat grass-fed meats, seafood, vegetables, nuts, and fruits while avoiding and mostly eliminating the grains and sugars, sodas and packaged foods. I’ve added the “-ish” to remind us we are making lifestyle changes, not taking on a diet. Very few people can completely eliminate sugar, nor have a desire to do so. And while not impossible, enjoying a 4th of July burger without the bun may border on un-American. The changes we make must be sustainable for our entire lives, not just until we lose that magical 10 pounds!
START TODAY – TAKE BABY STEPS
This is a good time to take baby steps. I’ll give you a personal example. I used to drink 4+ cups of coffee a day, every day, and undoubtedly it helped me get through medical school. But like most things in life, excessive amounts of anything are rarely good for you, and I realized my afternoon cups were causing problems and exacerbating stress and anxiety. If I were to follow the “diet” mantra of “all or none”, I’d have completely eliminated coffee from my life, all at once. But I LIKE coffee, especially that first cup. So I decided I’d take things slow and eliminate the afternoon cup, and after a few months, eliminate the late morning cup. Before long, I decided I’d switch out my morning travel mug of coffee for tea. But, here we are several years later, and I’m still drinking that morning cup o’ Jo! In the grand scheme of things I’ve eliminated 75% of my coffee intake. Not bad at all, in my humble opinion. Baby steps.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I AM STARVING?!
Can you apply this example to your afternoon snack? At 3pm, are you wandering around the office or the house, looking for some sugar to satisfy your afternoon cravings? A travel pack of Chips Ahoy? A few pretzels? I’m not advocating you remove all sweets or snacks from your diet, I’m saying START making some small lifestyle changes now! When I pack my lunch for work, I have a mid-morning snack of almonds and walnuts, and a mid-afternoon snack of a piece of fruit. If I sneak a cookie into my lunch bag, I’ll definitely eat it, so why add the temptation? But why starve myself, so I insert healthy options into the lunch bag. Read that again– why starve myself?? Calorie restriction will never be a successful diet. Evolutionarily we were designed to store excess calories as body fat, and starving yourself signals the body to prepare for a famine, so its going to sack on the pounds. I’m definitely not saying be a glutton, but if you want to eat a big bag of cut up veggies, go for it! There is no reason to be “starving” and metabolically you are sending your body the wrong signals…but make sure you reach for the good stuff.
Dieting and weight loss must be focused around Health, and the changes you adopt must be sustainable every day. Eat real foods, take small steps, be healthy and without a “diet” you will start losing weight.