June 5, 2008
Strange Diets!
One of my clients asked me what I thought of the Lemon Juice Diet. "What's that?", I asked her. She explained that it was a diet she'd read about which suggested that people trying to lose weight eat nothing and drink a concoction of water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and molasses. Right. That sounds like a really sound way to eat (or not!). No protein, no fat and a tiny bit of carbohydrate from molasses.
Although strange trends abound, I suggest always using common sense to determine whether a trendy diet is a good idea or not. Also, consider who or what your source is! If it's the busybody from the office who tries to convince everyone to only eat protein and nothing else, or the weekly tabloid magazine you read on the plane, perhaps you might take what you've gleaned from them with a grain of salt!
Unfortunately, many times the information that is presented seems to come from a reputable source, but in actuality, it may not!
These days, we all have to do our own research and investigate matters to determine what diets are a healthy approach to permanent weight loss and lifestyle change, versus which are nothing more than a fad, or even worse, some strange trend that may not only not help you lose weight, but could even put you in harm's way!
Here are a few tips to help you decide whether a diet you encounter is a good idea or not:
-Does it suggest eliminating an entire macro-nutrient? For example, does it suggest anything like: "NO fat" or "NO Carbohydrate"? If so- keep on looking!
-Does it promote anything that just doesn't sound right? Refer back to the lemon juice diet example!
-Does it sound too good to be true? Perhaps you've seen an ad for a pill that claims you needn't diet nor exercise, but the pounds will just melt off, regardless of what you eat, if you take some special supplement; DON'T do it- who knows what's in the pills and whether you could be putting your health in jeopardy!
-Does it sound like something you can follow long-term; i.e. for the rest of your life? If not, chances are it would be a quick-fix diet designed to drop pounds fast, only to leave you in a position where you're ready to binge-eat your way back to, or above, the overweight place at which you started!
Remember- you need to eat food, real food, and you need to move. Take small steps that you can slowly make into a formula for an individualized approach that works for you! Be patient and keep in mind that you didn't gain the extra weight overnight, nor should you expect to lose it that quickly either!
Keep healthy and keep reading!
