| Just Say No To Diets |
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| Written by Toni Taylor | |
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Even if at this very moment you're learning from your past (oy I felt terrible after the last full pint of Ben and Jerry's) or planning your future (I promise not to do that again), there's little you can do right now--except to change what your doing in the present. This applies to our topic this month of diets and why they don't work. Diets tend to be all about perpetual planning that often fails, resulting in pointless self-flagellation. An alternative is to make a wise health maintenance choice, right now, while you're grocery shopping, deciding whether to go to the gym and choosing off the menu. In the next moment, you could very well choose to do something else, but right now, choose well. Why Weight? Diets Don't Work  Contrary to what most weight loss diets claim, they usually have the opposite effect. Their very design, usually variations of highly restricted food choices, is a recipe for failure. Yes, calorie counts matter, but the composition of those calories is even more important. The right number of high quality (nutritiously dense) calories will provide the energy you need to exercise and focus on the other pillars of health, quality of your relationships and work. The right kinds of calories will also be high in fiber, which will give you a sense of being satiated. An insufficient number of even the right kind of calories or too many of the poor quality calories tend to deplete your energy, making the exercise component of your health maintenance habit next to impossible to do. There is some thought in the field that feeling a bit hungry between meals is where the weight loss happens. While that might be true for some, there are also some indications that an excessively reduced calorie diet can trigger the "famine" impulse in your body. For some, when hunger is felt, the body goes into "famine" mode, becoming very efficient at storing calories as fat. For example if you're "dieting" on a 1200 calorie a day diet, no matter the composition of those calories, you will likely not have the energy to exercise (potentially forcing yourself, which sets you up to hate exercise) and your body will begin hoarding fat to preserve itself. You might very well lose weight, but the day you go back to a "regular" diet, of say, 1800 calories (a more realistic number in the long term, assuming high quality calories), your body, having just adjusted to 1200 calories and being hyper efficient at storing fat, will have more fat to store, resulting in quick weight gain. It's doubtful that there will be one solution for everyone. In addition to the long term ineffectiveness of diets, who wants to live on only 1200 calories a day, especially if it leaves you exhausted, hungry, and only thinking about food. And while you're thinking about food, you might also be quietly comparing your body image to the advertised "normal" body image, as defined by Madison Avenue. You will again come up lacking, because Madison Avenue's job is to convince you to buy their products to look like their ads. That said, I love the ad over Times Square, "find your right size, not someone else's." We each have an optimal size. By making the right choice, right now, often enough, you will reach your optimal health and size. When the right choices right now become natural habit requiring no thought, then the occasional indulgence can be savored. Food Focus: Fruit  A healthy lifestyle is the key to longevity, optimum weight, abundance of energy and balance. By using fruit to satisfy our taste for sweetness we can leave behind the use of chemical, processed and refined sweeteners, while enjoying all the positive effects of incorporating fruit into our diet. Fruits are easy to digest, are cleansing and cooling and are great for those who are over-stressed and over-heated from excessive mental strain or hot climates. Fruits are filled with fiber and liver stimulants, which act as a natural, gentle laxative. Whenever possible, buy fresh, locally grown fruit as opposed to imported fruits shipped from far off places. This can keep you eating 'in season', which helps us to feel more in harmony with our environment and climate. Eating raw fruit in summer months increases its cooling effect, while baking in the winter months neutralizes its cooling effect. Fruit in the form of juice is a great choice for cleansing the body, but be aware that juice rapidly raises blood sugar levels, sending you down an energy crash soon after. Frozen, whole, pureed or juiced fruit can make great summertime cool down treats, such as frozen grapes, banana-coconut smoothie popsicles or lime juice ice-cubes for ice tea. While your sweet tooth can be satisfied with fruit, many kinds of fruit also tends to show up in savory things. Fruit and poultry make an interesting combination. Add grapes to your chicken salad (or any green leafy salad), perhaps with a yogurt based dressing. There are many variations of duck l'orange that include everything from apples to raisins in addition to oranges. Raisins or any dried fruit cooked with bitter greens makes for an interesting contrast. Any combination of cherries and apples can be the basis of savory sauces that go well with lean roast pork or grilled/sautéed tofu. Almost any fruit that can be dessert or sweet snack can be made a savory soup with the addition of vegetable or meat based stock with, savory herbs, and vegetables. Spring and summer are great times to experiment. |
