I can’t remember what movie that quote is from but I do remember what they were talking about! Set the scene - two girls sitting chatting about starting a diet, boy interjects with “what you going to do that for? The word has DIE in it”? I remember being in hysterics because it pretty much sums up how I feel about Diets.
In my 92lb weight loss journey, I tried A LOT of stuff to get that weight off, some of them taught me some valuable lessons and some of them were just crap! Through my trials and tribulations I came up with some anti-diet diet advise:
Drink a shit ton of water, like way more than you think you should. The guidelines of 2L of water per day for Women and 3L for Men is based on sedentary individuals. If you lead any kind of active lifestyle, you need to up your intake - half of your body weight in lbs in oz of water every single day.
No food group should ever be off limits. There is an abundance of natural foods in our supermarkets, stores and markets and our body’s need all of that sustenance. You may want to limit your intake of various things due to digestive issues/how your body responds to them but I do not recommend EVER cutting out an entire food group #carbsareNOTtheenemy
Be your own experiment. See above; figure out what works for YOU and what doesn’t. We are all individuals and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to nutrition. You may need more or less of something than your friend Sophie and that’s OK! Listen to your body and feed it accordingly.
Don’t jump on trends. See above. Be educated about your health. If you want to try the Keto diet, why? Think Paleo sounds interesting? Why? What sounds good about Whole 30? Know what it is that you are going to be putting your body through before you do it, because any change in the regularly scheduled programming shows up in your body as stress.
Ask for help. Seek out people that have some knowledge about what you are looking to change/achieve through your nutrition and ask for their advise. No professional will ever say no to giving some general tidbits that could be very helpful to you through your journey.
Beyond these tips, it’s really all about your mindset. That will be the thing that will take you the furthest when making any substantial change in any area of your life, but particularly in your diet. Approach the challenge with grace, stay positive and trust the process.
Sabs xxx
