Image by TeroVesalainen from Pixabay
by Elizabeth Meyer, LRD
It's only mid-January so some of us our still hanging tight to those New Year’s Resolutions. I know myself well enough to know that these are not a good idea for me. It’s like I’m incapable of following the rules for these things. They’re all based around eliminating things, or adding in things that are miserable. Eliminating foods we love or adding exercise we don’t want to do. That’s not the recipe for success if you ask me (not for my brain anyway).
My social media feed is full of people dieting – juicing, keto, shake diet plans; then there’s the new gym memberships. Yikes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about positive life style change and doing better for our health and wellness, but not if it involves making me miserable.
I like to eat. I don’t love working out, but I do love how I feel after I work out and I know the benefits of exercise greatly outweigh my whining about it. So, I stick to things I like.
When I hear people on these crazy restrictive diets it basically drives me mad and forces me to ask WHY?!?! Why are you juicing? Why are you eliminating all carbs? Or white foods? Or gluten? Or fill in the blank? These are all fad diets – FADS – not here to stay. They might circle back through in a decade or so, but they generally aren’t healthy, nor will they last.
Now, the next thing that bugs me about fad diets are how people seem to brag that they don’t even have to work out. This is puzzling. Working out is great for us, we can’t argue that. So, if you’re goal is to get healthy, working out should be a part of it. If your goal is to lose weight (and around this time of year, that seems to be the general goal) you have to include BOTH exercise and diet changes. Both of them. You might get away with one or the other for some time but eventually you need both for the whole picture of health.
Eliminating an entire food group is a red flag. A diet that sounds too good to be true always is. Trust your gut. True change in health and wellness requires actual work. Changes that are hard (not impossible). Changes that can work in the whole family, not just the person who thinks they need to lose weight. We can all benefit from healthier choices; in both food and exercise. If there was a magic pill or plan that worked, we would have much more truth than an ad on Facebook or something you saw late at night on the TV. Doctors and other health professionals (who are credible) would be promoting it.
With the new year, if you want to make changes, that’s great! But use common sense. And maybe instead of eliminating certain foods, focus on adding foods. Try a new color fruit or veggie every week. Or maybe substitute a whole grain you’ve never tried before. Explore exercise you think sounds fun, not like a punishment.
Getting healthy isn’t a fad. And it can even be fun and add a little something to the regular hustle and bustle of the week!
Meyer is a licensed registered dietitian. Her posts appear monthly on OYT.