It’s impossible to avoid hearing about the latest fad diets and how much weight your friends and family (or distant acquaintances on Instagram) have lost doing keto, Atkins, or the HCG diet. Diets abound as the global diet market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars.  It’s interesting to note that studies find that people who lose a significant amount of weight often have a hard time keeping the weight off. As many as 90% of people end up weighing more three years after their weight loss than they did when they started dieting. 

We want to help our clients develop habits and the relationship to food that will benefit them beyond the next bikini season. Our goal isn’t to attack these particular diets or to try to discourage anyone who has found them to be helpful in meeting their goals. 

Let’s get to the basics. We all have a diet. A diet is simply the food that we consume.  Many of us might only think of diet as a restrictive program with the intent to lose weight.  The best way to think about diet is to tune in to your body and its needs and find the best, most sustainable way to fuel it.  

Here are some questions to consider when thinking about choosing a diet.

1. Does this diet eliminate entire food groups, making it hard to get all the nutrients my body needs?
2. Does this diet make social situations involving food difficult?
3. Is it difficult to see myself eating this way for the rest of my life?
4. Does this diet label certain foods as “bad” and make me feel guilty when I eat them?
5. Does this diet take the pleasure out of eating for me?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, that particular diet may not be the best choice for your long-term health and happiness.  A restrictive diet doesn’t tend to be a sustainable choice for most people and then they can get stuck in the frustrating pattern of losing weight, going back to their normal lifestyle, gaining the weight back and then starting the pattern all over again. 

Choosing a lifestyle that you enjoy, leaves you feeling satisfied and fueled is much more likely to be something that you can live with for the long term.

Click here to find more detailed information on how to fuel for success and implement a healthy eating lifestyle. A sample weekly menu with recipes is also included.