Why I Hate 'Diets'

We've all heard about those crazy diets running around. You know, the ones where you eat nothing but tofu for 6 days straight and then you're supposed to lose 25 pounds. Or you know, some of these. Even the more popular diet systems, like Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem also have their problems. I dislike a lot of these silly 'diets' that come around. Yes, they may work in the short term, and on some of them, you will lose weight, even a significant amount of weight. But here's the simple truth that a lot of people don't seem to understand:

Diets don't always work long term.






I've been thinking a lot about what to say in this post, and I've spent much longer on it than I usually do. I want to make sure I get my point across very clearly. And I think I finally figured out my point. I saw this article, and I absolutely loved it. It says everything I want to say and more.

The bulk of my point can be summed up by one sentence: The diet mentality is terrible for you.

There are so many things you can do to lose a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time. But a lot of those things end up being really unhealthy in the long run. When we limit our calories and our daily input, our bodies try to get as much out of what we are eating as they possibly can. When you consistently eat a small amount of food, your body goes into 'starvation mode.' It absorbs EVERYTHING it can. You actually end up absorbing more fat than you otherwise would if you were eating a healthy amount of food every day.

The other problem I have with the diet mentality is the inherent temporary nature to dieting. You cut carbs and sugar for 3 weeks, lose 15 lbs, then go back to eating all of the terrible food you were eating before. That's ineffective in the long run, and not a healthy mindset in any way.

I've been successfully losing weight (almost 40 pounds now), not by doing any crazy diets, but by eating healthier food, at the right times of day, and by exercising. Yes, I use an app to help me keep track of what I'm eating. But I'm not restricting myself in any way. I don't have any foods that I look at and go 'oh, no, I can't eat this.' It's all about balancing things.

Remember this?

The food pyramid, while potentially flawed in execution, is sound in theory. Your body needs a certain amount of different types of nutrients every single day. It needs more of some things and less of others. I highly recommend programs like Weight Watchers or the My Fitness Pal app that I use, for three main reasons:

 1. Writing down everything you eat makes you very aware of what you're eating as well as how much you're eating. As soon as I started tracking my food intake, I noticed that I had a tendency to overeat at the end of the day, because I wasn't eating enough during the day. This let me fix my eating habits so I got back on track. 

2. They help teach healthy eating habits. Both of the programs I mentioned tailor everything to your specific needs. The amount of different nutrients you need is calculated for you, and then it adjusts as you get results. Since you're basically trying to meet a daily nutrient goal, you learn pretty well how to eat. Other diets get you results, but they don't teach you how to eat properly. Once you stop the diet and go back to your old eating habits, the weight you lost comes right back, and it brings even more along with it sometimes. 

3. Anyone can do it. Eating healthy is so much more universal than some of these other diets. The ones with the prepackaged food can often have problems when someone who's diabetic or has other dietary needs tries to sign up for their program, especially if they don't have other options of food. But, when you're picking your own foods everyday, you don't have that problem. 

At the end of the day, when you're trying to eat better, and lose weight, you should pick whatever method will work best for you. But I will always recommend eating healthier over dieting any day. 

Until next time, 

Punk Rock Pikachu