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Feb 20

Extreme diets will keep you on diet forever – Timesonline.com

Diet Comments Off on Extreme diets will keep you on diet forever – Timesonline.com

I connect with many on social media about fitness and nutrition. Doing so gives me a fly-on-the-wall view of the most popular fitness and nutrition trends.

For example, a protein shake resembling the taste of cake batter and promising weight loss swept through our area a few years ago, having grown in exposure with the help of social media. The fact that the shakes base was soy protein, (debatably nutritious) and contained artificial sweeteners didnt matter. It promised weight loss, so many bought it. But just as quickly as the bandwagon rolled into town, it was gone.

I get it.

I am not immune to being lured by the pull of new products boldly promising quick results. I recall my own adventure into extreme diet-land -- the Atkins diet being my choice, and not because we shared a last name.

The diet wooed me with promises of weight loss. I did indeed lose weight. But, as for its second promise, that I could eat this way for life, I simply couldnt. I began to miss pasta, bread, potatoes and certain fruits and vegetables that were on the no list. I had adopted a very restrictive list of food choices, even believing there were foods I could never eat again.

Please.

When it comes to emotionally healthy weight loss, the words never and always are red flags and descriptors of an extreme approach.

I was a healthy 27-year-old woman with no medical issues. There was absolutely no reason to resort to the popular low-carb diet. It left me addicted to artificial sweeteners in coffee, snacks and desserts. Weaning myself from these included a grumpy, headache-enduring 30 days.

When my Atkins days were over, I was left a bit fearful of food, for I didnt possess even a basic old-fashioned knowledge about how to make balanced and nutritious choices. I moved on to being the Weight Watchers gal who calculated how many Starbursts I could get away with.

Thankfully, I did a 180 and now enjoy all foods -- without thinking about it all day long or being fearful of making mistakes.

I cringe when I look back and when I watch current trends. Eliminate ALL sugar. ALL grains. ALL dairy. And so on, and so forth.

I am struck by the lengths we will go to get it right when even just simple changes such as reducing sugar, choosing whole grains, refusing to scrap entire food groups and committing to reasonable portions offer a better chance of sustainability, rather than that of restrictive plans. Restriction eventually results in noncompliance. According to the "Psychology of Eating," 95 percent of all dieters will regain the weight they lose within one year.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

True, there are those who must make extreme changes due to medical concerns and food allergies. These concerns may warrant eliminating specific foods. Here, a registered dietitian and/or allergist would be the necessary initial resource, not a best-selling book.

Yet, for those of us who desire to lose some weight, and are free of medical conditions that would necessitate a special diet, resist the trendy new diets and trust a commitment to proper portions of proteins, vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy.

Refuse extreme approaches.

We consume food. It shouldn't consume us.

See the article here:
Extreme diets will keep you on diet forever - Timesonline.com

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