WebMD lists 82 diet plan "The Latest Diets and Diet Plans." 82! And considering the source, these diets must have some validity to them. Now add in the number of unsafe, crazy, fad diets and miracle diet pills and supplements. I can't count them all but I am guessing there are tens of thousands of " diets " available to Americans. With all these diets available and an industry making billions of dollars a year from people desperate to lose weight, why do we still have the most obese country in the world?
If you want to know the true meaning of the word diet , here it is. Did I Eat Today! Too many of these diet plans are just plain unhealthy and fill you up with junk leaving you still hungry. Some of the ones I have run across lately include the 10 day water fast diet (nothing but water or tea for ten days.) Hmm, there would be some serious binging happening for me on this plan. How about the junk food diet ? The premise being as long as you keep the calories in check, you can eat ding dongs, chips, soda etc and lose weight. So what is the problem with that? A ding dong and a soda for breakfast, lunch and dinner adds up to about 2000 calories. Somehow I think I would still be hungry and I wont even mention the nutritional values for this.
Diets are short term solutions to a long term issue which is lifestyle management. Think about this. How long did your last diet last? A few days, weeks or maybe if you were really good, a few months. Why did you ultimately stop the diet ? Many times, people stop the diet because of the"I can'ts." I can't have pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, chocolate, etc. Diets deny. Lifestyle management allows. You can have that snickers candy bar if you are able to to see the overall effect of eating it. It means that in order to maintain your current weight, you need to walk 1 hour to burn off the calories of that candy bar.
Lifestyle management involves conscience, active participation. If you want that Quarter pound hamburger with cheese meal, understand the consequences. Hamburger, medium fries and a 32 coke, approx 1200 calories=90 minute workout of P90X=2 hours of aerobic class= 3 hours of running on a treadmill=4 hours of kickboxing = 6 hours of walking. By focusing on eating nutrient dense foods and exercising daily you change your outlook on dieting to lifestyle changes. You can treat yourself and eat something that is high calorie, high fat and low nutritional values, but there is a price you will need to pay later.
One thing that helps me is to think of my lifestyle management plans like a checkbook register. But in this "account" it is a good thing to have a negative balance (assuming your goal is to lose weight.)
Date Description Withdrawal Deposit Balance
09/29 Breakfast 180 180
09/29 P90X 862.00 -682
09/29 snack 60 -662
walk 30 min 100.00 -762
At the end of the week, evaluate your "Check Book." If you are trying to lose weight, you should have "bounced" some calories.