Going on a Diet vs. Changing your Diet

It seems that each week we hear about the newest way to lose weight. We have heard about the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Low Carb Diet, the No Fat Diet and so on and so on. The list is almost never ending.  

These diets are all similar in a few simple characteristics; they promise a quick fix, they likely give you a list of good and bad foods and they focus on the elimination of one or more food groups.

One of the most important things to understand about these diets is that the main purpose of the diet is to manipulate the body’s normal response for the desired outcome of weight loss. Whenever discussing weight loss with people, I always try to understand the reason for the person’s desire to lose weight. When working through this discussion, it usually starts with one of the following ideas:

• “I want to look better in my swimsuit.”
• “I need more energy.”
• “I want to feel better about myself.”

Following further discussion, we usually end up with one underlying reason why everyone would like to lose weight; everybody would like to be healthier. This is a very important conclusion for potential dieters to reach. 

The reason for this is that going on a diet is VERY different than changing your diet. When we go on a diet, it helps us to lose weight, but many times, it is achieved at the cost of our health. And remember, our goal was actually to achieve health and wellness. Changing our diet to provide our body with the nutrients and fuel it needs will help to continue to move towards health and wellness and guess what…when we transition to a wellness-based nutritional lifestyle; there are usually some “side effects.”  Often they are weight loss, increased energy and an increase in self-worth. 

So, by understanding the difference between how to manipulate the body to lose weight, and changing our diet to gain health and wellness, we can accomplish all of the reasons why we would want to lose weight in the first place. 

On top of that, changing the daily routine to one based on health and wellness leads to far more sustainable weight loss, which can be a problem with some or most “Fad Diets.”

In order to make lifestyle changes, it is recommended that change is slow and gradual. Begin by focusing on adding healthy options to your daily routine, and don’t worry so much about taking stuff out right away. I recommend focusing on adding an abundance of fruits and vegetables to your routine. They provide your body with about 80 percent of your intake of essential vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

You can start by beginning simple routines like “Shop and Chop” method. She recommends going to the grocery store and as soon as you get home wash and chop all fruits and vegetables that won’t spoil and put them in clear containers. Then just make sure that if you are leaving the house, grab a quick snack of celery and almond butter (a much healthier alternative to peanut butter) or broccoli and cauliflower with a ranch dip. 

As with any dietary changes, it is important to consult with your physician to ensure safety.