You’ve seen them, and you and/or your subconscious know how to identify them. The key thing about these diets is they are unsustainable, and often sound too good to be true. These diets generally result in the yo-yo diet experience. You lose weight on them in most cases but then people inevitably put that weight back on. There are often many issues with these fad diets in terms of your nutrition that also make them unsustainable. This is why I encourage everyone to not look at what looks easy, but to look to what will sustain your body through weightloss, won’t have you starving, and actually make logical sense without someone trying to convince you, or you having to navigate the research.
Let me tell you, it’s a minefield out there. So much differing information and some of these fads are oh-so tempting. Let’s get back to basics to understand what is a temporary/fad diet and what is actually good for you.
- An appropriate diet is sustainable long term even if your goal is weight loss.
- An appropriate diet includes all the necessary nutrients.
- An appropriate diet shouldn’t require calorie counting. This point is my own personal belief as I feel counting calories is difficult long term and is especially difficult on whole foods.
While I full endorse a whole foods plant based diet, I know this may be a step too far for some from their norm. So let’s provide two sustainable diet options – whole foods plant based and the very popular mediterranean diet. Both are considerably different to the SAD (Standard American Diet) that so many people don’t realise they are on, so a switch to MD or WFPB will have an impact immediately on your health if you are currently on an unhealthy diet.
The diet you choose ultimately should be something you can stick to and integrate into your lifestyle. Depending on your current diet switching to healthier options may be a struggle to begin with, but over time, it does get easier. Sometimes it is the little changes that make all the difference to your waistline and for some people, going more extreme is required. I feel I fall into the latter category and at this stage (3 months in) I’m quite used to it.
Lets keep it simple:
- Eat the rainbow – all those colours tend to represent different vitamins and minerals that help us.
- Eat grains (preferrably a variety and in whole foods form)
- Eat pulses
- Avoid sugar, saturated fats and overly processed foods
- Reduce your fats
- Reduce your animal products particularly red meats and dairy
- don’t be tempted to overeat
- if going plant based, make sure you get your b12 from a supplement
Take a look at my top tips for swap outs to make life easier with your diet.
