Everyday it seems like people are inventing the “latest and greatest” diets. “Lose seven pounds in three days with this tea.” “Eat only this to get a flat tummy.” “Drink only this juice for a week to drop weight like crazy.”
These fad diets are what people use to try to lose weight, but get no progress or just give up and go back to their old ways. I’m here to say the last thing you need to be on is a diet.
A fad diet is easy to spot. Betterhealth.vic.gov gives great examples to help you easily spot them, such as promoting a “quick easy fix,” excluding food groups or drastically restricting your consumption of them, or having rigid rules to “help” with weight loss. A fad diet provides short-term effects, where as a healthy meal plan should be balanced and not restrictive. You need fruits, vegetables, carbs and a little bit of chocolate, always.
A lot of these diets will be counterintuitive to you and your health journey. Being strict with yourself and limiting things you enjoy will only make you want them more and hate yourself after you indulge and decide to give up your next almost-30-day diet.
“Diet restrictions may later result in binge-eating, and restriction is also associated with lethargy and fatigue. This means less energy for exercise and going on with your daily life,” says online.uga.edu.
Not only are you depriving your body often of essential nutrients by being especially restrictive, but fad diets can also cause weight gain. When starting a fad diet, the weight you often lose in the beginning stages is water weight. Because you’re restricting your normal food intake, it can cause your metabolism to slow down, resulting in weight gain.
There is no quick fix to losing or gaining weight. The truth of the matter is a lifestyle change is necessary. Make sure you are eating a well-balanced diet to get all your nutrients and vitamins. Not only that, but you must include daily activities to get proper exercise.
Creating a meal plan is a great way to stay on track with what you eat and how much you are eating. Writing down what you eat during the day is also a great way to track what you’re putting in your body and gives you room to be mindful of what your next meal should consist of. But no matter what, nobody needs a diet! However, everyone should be conscious of filling their body with plenty of nutrients to fuel happy minds and hearts.
