Never say Diet Again!
Can we talk? Because before I get into the details of this article, I want to say that to some degree all diets work!
Think about it… you decide to go on a no carbohydrates diet. Are you going to lose weight? Yes!
Or maybe you finish reading an article about the dangers of fats and you go on a no fat diet. Are you going to lose weight? Absolutely. Or how about this? You overhear a conversation in the locker room one day about the negative effects of too much protein and you run home and put yourself on a no protein diet. Well, you lose weight indubitably. So, what’s the problem? The problem is that you are putting yourself at high risk of muscular dysfunction or worse because you cut out a valuable nutrient that your body needs in an effort to get your weight down.
The reason why those kinds of diets work is that, unbeknownst to you, by cutting out a nutrient (let’s say fat) you cut out one-third of your caloric intake, and the reality is that if you cut out one-third of anything you are going to lose weight.
The human body is an incredible machine that can not function without fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Let’s take a look at each nutrient one at a time.
Fats: There is a huge misconception about fats. Fats don’t actually make you fat, excess calories make you fat. Going completely “fat-free” can have a disastrous effect on your body because in reality getting some fat from our diet is absolutely vital for your health. Fats are essential to our diets because it is the most efficient way for plants and animals to store energy.
Here are some important reasons for fat taken from an article called “Eat Balanced” health by stealth food solutions.
What is fat for?
A source of Energy – Our body uses the fat we eat, and fats we make from other nutrients in our body to provide a source of energy for most of our daily functions.
Energy Store – The extra calories that we consume but do not use are stored for later use as an energy source.
Essential Fatty Acids- Essential fatty acids are a form of fat that is essential for growth development and cell function but cannot be developed by our body.
Proper functioning of brain and nerves – Fats are part of myelin- a fatty material that wraps around our nerve cells so that we can send electrical messages. Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats.
Maintaining healthy skin and other body tissue.
Protein: Here are four important reasons that the body needs proteins:
It is a component of every cell in your body.
Your body uses it to build and repair tissue.
You need it to make enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals.
It is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are your body’s primary food source. During digestion, sugars and starches are broken down into simple sugars. There are then absorbed into your bold stream, where they are known as “blood sugar” or blood glucose. From there glucose enters your body’s cells with the help of insulin. Glucose is used by your body for energy and fuels all of your body’s activities.
Carbohydrates also offer protection from disease. Evidence suggests that whole grains and dietary fiber from Whole Foods help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
So you can see that a case can be made that ALL nutrients that we consume have a profound benefit to your, overall, health.
Here is my point… as I stated at the beginning of this article “all diets work to some degree”. The problem, though, is in the word diet itself. Unconsciously when you say that you are on a “diet” you are subconsciously telling yourself that after the diet is over you can resume eating like you normally did. In essence, you set yourself up for failure from the very beginning of your campaign to lose weight.
It is a documented fact that most diets end up with a “rubber band” effect. (That is to say that the dieter loses weight for a short period of time, then after a short period (usually less than a year) gains it all back. That’s because they have convinced themselves that after the “diet” is over they can go back to eating the same way that got them overweight in the first place.
Instead of dieting consider making a lifestyle change. In order to do this you have to, totally, look at food in a different light. Instead of cutting out all carbohydrates, fats, or protein make the commitment to eat smaller, healthier portions of food.
There is a glaring reality to being overweight and that is, whatever you weigh you have to consume an appropriate amount of calories to maintain the weight. You, simply, can not weight whatever you weigh if you don’t eat a number of calories to sustain it. Again, the secret to losing weight is by doing two things: eat smaller portions and don’t eat and go to sleep. (When you go to sleep after you eat you burn no calories. Your body stores what you just ate as fat.)
Instead of going on a diet try this:
Eat dinner before six pm. You’ll be up for hours after you eat burning calories.
Adopt a 30, 50, 20 eating plan. Eat 30 percent of your daily calories at breakfast, 50 percent of your daily calorie at lunch, and 20 percent of your daily calories at dinner.
Don’t eat past being satisfied. Let’s face it, most of us continue eating well past hunger-ending simply because we are enjoying the taste of the food.
Eat consciously. Sometimes we continue eating because we are engaged in conversation or a movie and we simply forget to stop.
This is a big one, get in the habit of filling your plate with smaller portions. When most of us fill our plates we do so as if the food is going to vanish once we leave the kitchen. Then, out of habit, we are conditioned to eat everything on our plates. Try this, put less on your plate. If you are still hungry after you are done you can always add more (but if you’re eating consciously you will start asking yourself if you really need it vs want it).
Get in the habit of eating before you get hungry. You can do this by keeping apples, oranges or other fruit available for in between snacks. If you wait until you get hungry you tend to instinctively over it to compensate for it.
Get out of the habit of eating if you are: bored, angry, happy, nervous, etc. That kind of eating can be filed under chronic habitual behavior like smoking, drinking or biting your nails.
I hope that you have found this article helpful. If you are interested in a personal trainer or exercise coach or if you have any questions, I can be contacted by the info@wcrbkarate.com tab.
May you have everything that you want, and want everything that you have.
MB