Say No to Fad Diets
In the last 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of individuals who are obese. This problem is occurring not only in North America, but also in many other countries where Westernized dietary patterns are increasing in popularity. This wasn’t obvious to me until I started traveling and noticed that McDonald’s could be found in almost every country! Taking into account our current obesity trends and the fact that everyone’s New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, I thought this would be a good time to give you the skinny on fad diets.
Thanks to Kate Middleton and her infamous Dukan Diet, fad diets are officially up and running. Don’t be fooled though, the only thing they’ll shrink is your wallet, not your waistline. Why?
Diets promising weekly weight loss can’t guarantee that the weight lost is from adipose tissue (fat). Depriving your body of energy or calories causes lean tissue (muscle) and water to account for the majority of the weight loss – sorry! Also, muscle weights more than fat. So when you’re satisfied with the number on the scale, chances are it might be a result of muscle loss.
Fad diets usually set the dieter up for failure. This is because the food selection is so limited that the person can’t follow the diet for long, sustainable periods of time. Initially, the number on the scale will decrease, but the weight lost is mainly from muscle, other lean tissue mass and water.
Fad diets often evoke negative feelings/attitude towards themselves and food. Once the dieter starts eating ‘normally’, the weight returns in weeks because they have basically starved themselves while on the diet. As a result, the dieter will feel a strong sense of guilt and failure!
Isn’t this just horrible? So stop the vicious cycle before it begins. According to the American Dietetic Association stay away from a diet that:
Promises a quick fix
Sounds too good to be true
Makes recommendations to sell a product
Instead, here are some good, sustainable healthy goals for the New Year:
Eat breakfast…and no coffee doesn’t count
Eat more fish (2x/week), fruits, vegetables, and fiber
Have a physical activity plan
Try looking into Health at Every Size, aka HAES
And treat yourself to your favorite dessert once a week
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Image courtesy of IvanSamkov
