A CULTURE OBSESSED WITH BEING THIN
Keto, Intermittent Fasting, Low Carb, Atkins, Blood Type Diet, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Lose-It, My Fitness Pal, the “F-it” Diet… one thing we are not short of in 2020 is the endless options of diets on the best way to lose weight, and FAST!
Our culture today is OBSESSED with thinness, yes the Body Positive movement has come a long way, but time and again I see the same thing. My clients want to lose weight, period… at the beginning, a lot of them don't even care how it’s done. As long as they see the number on the scale go down, they are happy. According to Business Wire, between 2019-2023 Americans will have spent $72 Billion* in the weight loss and diet control markets. 72 BILLION, with a “B!” That’s a LOT of money… Unfortunately, the winner is always the industry and rarely the individual.
Why is that? Because Americans are so obsessed with losing weight and being thin, that they are willing to pay a lot of money for those results. I did the math for you, with $72 Billion, that would mean every US citizen is paying $219.38/year. EVERY. US. CITIZEN! Yet, at the same time, US obesity rates are at the highest they have ever been. What gives?
In my seven years of being a personal trainer, I have seen a trend: desperation. People are desperate to have instant results. So they are willing to try any and all diets to obtain quick weight loss like their best friend’s mom, or that pesky co-worker who always just seems to shed weight without a problem… ugh, so annoying.
What happens when they do select X, Y, or Z program is that it is usually done without too much research behind it. It’s done based on the results that co-worker got, it was the good ‘ol ego comparing themselves to someone else. I hate to break it to you, but we are all unique! EVERY single one of us on this planet is unique!
We all have different needs, health histories, genes, environmental stressors, incomes, everything! I LOVE that fact, we are all our own little endangered species, so I think it is time we look at and after ourselves individually & properly.
Before diving into what you can do as an individual, let me give you my argument as to why I don’t think you should try your co-worker’s diet, even if they did lose a bunch or weight, or put on a lot of lean muscle.
Top 5 Reasons I have found
that a successful diet for one person doesn’t mean another person will have the same results:
The diet only works for a short while and then you no longer see results due to a reduction in “water weight” but nothing else.
The diet doesn’t consider your normal routine: Example, eating 8 small meals a day, or limiting intake to only certain hours and you work a swing shift or at a job where that is just not realistic.
The diet isn’t right for you because of pre-existing health conditions; for example, a Type 1 diabetic would not be able to do pure intermittent fasting, their glucose levels would bottom out. If you have kidney problems and you put too much lean protein in your diet, it would be too much stress on your kidneys and then harmful to the rest of your system.
The COST! My goodness, the COST! Your new diet may not be affordable based on the list of ingredients you are supposed to stick with.
Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum annnnnd now, for the Number 1 reason why someone else’s diet hasn’t worked for you: IT’S NOT SUSTAINABLE.
The number one reason I have seen people fail at others’ diets is because they are
TOO RESTRICTIVE.
I’ve said it once, and by Spirit, I will say it again: EVERYTHING IS BETTER IN BALANCE. What that means for me is different from what it means for you, your mom, my mom, your pesky co-worker, to all of my clients. WE ARE ALL UNIQUE, therefore, our nutritional needs are unique, and for nutritional/diet success means looking at yourself on the individual level and figuring out what you need. Not only what you need to lose weight, but to be nourished, to fuel yourself for the activities you want to do and the life you want to lead.
Sounds simple enough, right? The real question is, how do you know what you need, and how do you create a nutritional plan that will help you reach your goals?
The answer is: BALANCE
In general terms, you “know” what you should be eating: vegetables, fruit, grains, proteins, and healthy fats. We all learned the Food Pyramid or My Plate growing up. The problem with those diagrams is that food and nutritional science has come a long way since the original Food Pyramid was introduced back in 1992. In fact, research from the Harvard Medical Institute suggests that the food pyramid from ‘92 added to the weight gain of Americans, with many of them choosing refined carbohydrates instead of the whole grains we all know is better for us today.
Now the question becomes; What is the right BALANCE of nutrients for me, my overall health needs, and my fitness goals? Because really, at the end of the day, we all know that more calories out compared to calories in, is what aides a person on their weight loss. Yet, it isn’t that simple and should not be considered as such.
Say it with me, “Not All Calories are Created Equally!” Counting calories does help some people, but really what you should focus on is the QUALITY of that calorie. What is that food providing for you? How is it going to help fuel you and balance out all of the other foods so your body can break them down to create energy for our desired activities?
You don’t need a degree in nutrition or food science to figure this out, I suggest starting with the basics and then going deeper from there.
Here are some of those basics that I like to tell all of my clients:
Don’t Skip Breakfast! Our bodies need more energy in the morning than they do at night. Those who intermittently fast should put their eating hours to where it makes sense for their day so they have the energy to get through it, not be hungry/hangry etc. Our bodies are ready for nutrition when we wake up because all night while we have been asleep our systems “housekeepers” get to work. That’s when our body heals itself, our digestive tracts start to heal if we have given ourselves inflammatory foods, our chemicals in the brain and body reset, and then we wake up ready to go off to the races.
Eat Like A King At Breakfast, A Princess At Lunch, And A Pauper At Dinner (last meal of the day should be the smallest portion). Again, this is so we can fuel ourselves throughout the day, our calories should be heavier in the morning than in the evening, because we don’t need the energy our bodies create with the foods right before we go to bed. Late night eating and overeating increases the chance of weight gain, heartburn in the evening, disturbed sleep, and really just effing up your whole circadian rhythm and gut biome.
Serving Sizes Matter! You can refer to My Plate, but as a general rule of thumb, you want “two handfuls” of fruit/veggies, “one fist” of grains, a “palm of your hand” of protein, and then a “thumb size” of healthy fats.
Once you familiarize yourself with the basics, now it’s time for you to dig deeper. If you haven’t been paying attention, this is UNIQUE FOR EVERYONE! You will need to look at what your body type is to better understand where you carry your weight and what that means for you. You will need to look at your health and your family health history to see if there is a higher risk of heart disease, intestinal issues, etc. If so, you want to make sure you are eating in a way that will help prevent those complications.
Then, we get to dive even deeper. Which nutrients is your body lacking? That can be determined by a blood test with your physician, or you can just take a look in your refrigerator. Is it colorful? To maximize your nutrient intake, you should be eating the rainbow with every meal. The more colorful your meal is, the more diverse in nutrients. If you look and see the same old colors again and again, it’s time to look up some recipes and get creative!
If you STILL feel like you aren’t getting anywhere in the weight loss/gain goals department, it’s time to talk to a nutritionist or dietician. Now, NOT ALL OF THEM ARE CREATED EQUALLY! I have a friend who is a holistic health coach, and she works on a plan WITH you to discover how you keep the foods you love, but also change your behavior patterns to help you know what you ought to be eating for your goals. What you DON’T want is someone giving you a list of foods that you Can and Can’t have… unless you have an allergy or sensitivity, all foods are fair game, but of course as I said earlier, not all calories are created equally, so you need to make those choices with intent.
Speaking of food allergies and sensitivities, I have gone down my own nutritional journey lately and found that my body has severe sensitivities to foods I thought were healthy. Yes they were high in nutritional value, but they were causing inflammation, fatigue, and water retention for me. So that is the last piece of the puzzle. If you have the financial means, I HIGHLY suggest that you do a food sensitivity test so you know what causes inflammation in YOUR body. For me, I have been free of Chicken, Egg, Almond, and Garlic for only a little while now, and I couldn’t tell you the last time I have felt this good. I thought those foods were good for me, and they ARE good, healthy foods, but my body said, “No thank you!”
We don’t know what we don’t know, the more we think about ourselves as an individual, the more likely we will be able to utilize the tools we have to create a plan tailored for us. It’s time to stop comparing ourselves to others or trying the latest fad diet to help us lose those pesky pounds that just won’t come off. It’s time to stop yo-yo dieting, and time to pick a nutritional plan that becomes our DIET. Your consistent daily diet will keep you from dieting, it will nourish your body, and will help you achieve your goals.
Until next time, stay healthy, stay happy, and remember; Everything is Better in Balance.
Xoxo Sara
Referenced:
*The $72 Billion Weight Loss & Diet Control Market in the United States, 2019-2023 - Why Meal Replacements are Still Booming, but Not OTC Diet Pills -https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-businesswire/ec35f3315f9a4816985615391f41815a