Step 1: Choose your Diety
Many diet books and ideas around fat loss and healthy living are promoted based on a novel, unheard, secret scientific concept as to why people cannot lose weight.
These ideas will be pushed by a diet deity.
A diet deity is someone who claims to have answers to your program through following their special diet.
They will usually sound like this:
‘Everything you knew about weight-loss was wrong. Here is the real secret…'
’ Buy my special book or diet and you'll be able to lose weight quicker than ever.'
Usually the idea may mis-represent the actual science in favour of promoting a specific agenda or it will involve a short term 6-12 week fix.
Newsflash: Science has compared these diets and there is no one best diet out there for weight-loss (2).
Don't be a sucker
Avoid being tricked by unscientific claims.
The biggest obstacle for people to stick to their chosen dietary patterns is adherence/compliancy either due to hunger, fatigue or unrealistic demands.
The goal is how to get you to adhere and stick with the diet/eating pattern not which food/diet is the best.
Note: Context matters. There are certain circumstances, individuals and metabolic disorders where there is some truths to these ideas. E.g. gluten being inflammatory in certain individuals or a lower carbohydrate diet for type 2 diabetics and people with insulin resistance. There are also ethical reason why people would chosen to be vegan or vegetarian.
Now that disclaimers out there here is a brief summary of the witchcraft being sold to you by deities:
Low-carbohydrate gang - Insulin is a ‘fat storage hormone’ therefore to lower insulin levels you should eat a low carbohydrate diet keep insulin levels low to lower fat storage - The modern day paradigm - think Atkins diet, Keto diets. (1)
Low-fat cult- Fat leads to weight-gain so you must lower your fat intake to reduce fat mass - The paradigm in the late 80’s and 90’s.
Anti-grain/gluten demons - Grains and gluten (a protein in found in some grains - wheat, barley, oats and rye) are the cause of fat and weight-gain therefore as long as it's 'gluten-free' it's fine to eat. Think paleo diets.
Anti-meat/dairy zealots - Meat and meat products are the cause of our weight and health problems therefore everyone should avoid meat and meat products. Think vegetarian and vegan (not counting people who remove meat/diary for ethical reasons).
Calorie counting preachers - Reaching a healthy weight or being healthy requires you to count calories therefore you should count all your calories from everything you eat. Your body always burns the same amount of calories therefore you should continue to hit this magic calorie number in order to maintain fat loss. Think IIFYM (If it fits your macros).
The deity's program will demonise certain food groups or prescribe a plan that removes whole food groups.
Whilst this may be necessary in certain circumstances for certain conditions and contexts, it can often lead to people having ideological beliefs around certain foods. Most of these diets will only be necessary short-term for most people.
Not only that, this kind of diet mentality can lead people on a yo-yo pattern than often leads to weight regain in the long run.
In most cases, you are wasting your time, effort and money unless the approach is something you can learn to live for some time.
So why did I lose weight when I cut out gluten/carbs/meat?
The truth is most of these methods most likely produce beneficial outcomes because they spontaneously reduce calorie intake as they eliminate foods groups.
People eat less because when you remove either grains, meat, dairy , etc. then they will reduce their calorie intake thus leading to favourable health outcomes.
To promote a more healthful eating pattern that supports healthy weight and reduced risk of chronic conditions by embracing all food groups for their unique nutrient content, we must adopt a mindset where we focus less on the carbohydrate:fat ratio, less on demonising certain foods and reduce our dietary dogma.
Shift your focus: Ideas worth keeping
1. Overall food quality AND quantity.
Where has your food come from? Are you eating the right amount of food for you?
2. Unprocessed, natural food
3. Eating patterns over the long-term
4.Our relationship with food (3,4).
5. Developing a convenience method of preparation that promotes consumption of nutrient dense meals and foods that provide satiety and reduced hunger.
6. Paying attention and becoming mindful of our hunger cues and providing ourselves with the foods that best suit our individual needs.
7. Enjoy quality meals with family and family (5).
Consider changing your perspective
Diet mentality perspective
- Do I deserve this?
- I'll make up for eating this bad food (Usually with restriction or exercise)
- Describing a day of eating as either 'bad' or 'good'
- Describing food as 'good and 'bad.
- Viewing food as the enemy.
Long-term lifestyle perspective
- Am I actually hungry?
- How do I make my nutrition habits work around my lifestyle & personal preferences?
- Does my body need it?
- Am I going to be deprived without it?
- Will it satiate me?
- I can enjoy food. be full, without guilt
Amongst these mindset ideas, it is favourable to shift your self-affirmation mindset from:
"I am going on this diet for this specific outcome for 30 or 60 days" to:
"I am going to systematically start incorporating the nutrition and lifestyle habits that will produce my required outcome (being lean, healthy, stable mental wellbeing, more energy, clearer skin etc.) and make it inevitable for the rest of my life."
And with that all in mind, you'll be on your way taking the first steps to being in the right mental state to appropriately change your behaviour to accommodate the changes ahead (and you won't even need to take the 'red' pill!).
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REFERENCES
5. file:///H:/_Documents/Sainsburys%20Living%20Well%20Index.pd
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