HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Welcome to 2015! I’ve declared 2015 “The Year of More” – I want to reach and impact more people, collaborate and connect more, do more fun things and go more places! Part of that is MORE blog posting and providing you with great tips & tools you can use.
For the month of January, I’ll be posting daily with information to help you create a Healthy & Happy lifestyle. I’ll be using some of the elements of my 5 Step
Program; which is designed to make you HAPPY!
H = Healthy Foods
A = Activity
P = Planning & Preparation
P = Positive Mindset
Y = YOU are Amazing
Let’s dive in and talk about HEALTHY FOODS, what do you think of when you hear that phrase? Many people will automatically think of SALAD, which actually isn’t always the healthiest choice depending on what you put on the lettuce!
I want to discuss the concept of All Foods Fit and compare and contrast that to Fad Diets.
As a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist I maintain my professional membership with the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. A number of years ago the theme for National Nutrition Month was “All Foods Fit” – and I agree, kind of – for example I don’t think foods like Pork Rinds or Circus Peanuts fit in anyone’s diet plan! However, the concept of all foods being “ok” is an important concept to grasp when you are changing habits to lead a healthier lifestyle.
Would you consider French Fries a healthy food choice? I would say they are not on the top of my list, but I also really like a good french fry, and I feel much better about eating them if they are labeled “Pomme Frites” on the menu! However, if you are embarking on your new health kick and are told you CAN’T EAT FRENCH FRIES, the only thing you would think about eating is a french fry, and you would feel deprived, right?
Then after a few weeks or maybe a few months of following your plan, and you’ve lost 10 pounds, or whatever your goal was, suddenly you give yourself permission to eat french fries, but you seemingly don’t have much self control and you OVER eat them and lots of other foods on you DO NOT EAT list. If, on the other hand, you learned how to enjoy a few fries here and there you would never feel deprived; and you might decide you are ok with not eating them for a long time, by choice, not by demand.
That distinction is the problem with Fad Diets; which basically is a diet plan that sounds too good to be true, promises really outrageous results (with lots of fine print on the TV ads), and has a lot of food restrictions. A classic example is “The Cabbage Soup” diet – you make copious quantities of cabbage soup, and can eat as much of it as you want! YAY, all you can eat; well it’s all veggies; which is great but even eating all you can eat in a day you would barely eat 750 calories. Then one day you get to add 2 bananas, then another day you get a couple of apples…and so on. Basically you are following a list of crazy rules and eating very few calories; so yes, you would lose some weight AND slow down your metabolism. It isn’t a realistic plan to eat cabbage soup and bananas for the rest of your life.
Take a moment to think about the different weight loss/health plans you have tried and your success level; actually write them down. Write down the plan, how long ago it was, what was the result, and did it stick? Are you still doing it? Did you gain the weight back?
If it didn’t work in the long term write down why you don’t think it worked; and include if you think it was basically a “Fad Diet.” This reflection is not meant to make you feel unsuccessful, but for you to evaluate what you tried before and realize that it likely was a flawed plan to last a lifetime.
While you are writing, if you didn’t get any health goals written down for 2015 please write down two; people that write down their goals are significantly more likely to achieve them! If you are in really good health then your goals can be to maintain, or maybe a challenge to run a 5K or bike a certain number of miles this year. Make it fun!
So Day 1 of 31 – think about Healthy Foods that you like and look back on where you might have tried a Fad Diet and consider gradual lifestyle changes instead! I’m here to help! Email me your questions: Susie@TheSusieGarcia.com
