Diet. Go on a Diet. Dieting. Adopt a Diet. Diet to lose weight.
Think of the ways we use the word “diet.”
Noun – ‘My diet consists of …’ OR ‘I adhere to a vegan diet.’ When somebody mentions the diet they have adopted, it is usually a conscious decision motivated by being healthy.
Verb – ‘I am dieting.' When somebody is dieting, that is, temporarily eating a controlled diet, it is usually motivated by a desire to lose weight.
Sadly, people are often more motivated to diet for weight control, than they are motivated to attain better health.
DON'T JUST FOCUS ON WEIGHT LOSS
Every morning when I am working out in the gym I have the news on TV. The station I watch has two of the biggest “weight loss” organizations sponsoring the morning news. These are organizations large enough that they can pay celebrities to be on the commercials. In fact, big (no pun intended) celebrities have also invested in these companies. Sometimes the commercials feature ordinary people in the ads and sometimes they use these heavy-hitters (again no pun intended).
It dawned on me when I was watching one morning, that those same celebrities, or even those same everyday, ordinary “Janes” appear on the commercials for a month or two and then they move onto the next person and a new set of ads.
Recently one of these companies has had their ads designed to be a split screen of the before person/woman talking to the after person/woman. Ms. Before says to Ms. After, “I hardly recognize myself”, and Ms. After proudly says “I’ve lost 22 lbs and I’m still going strong”. Every time that particular commercial airs, my husband says, “she doesn’t look any different before or after to me.” This ad has been playing for at least 6 weeks now. So I started wondering, why are they not updating this to show her success; she must have lost more weight by now, and the difference would be more apparent?
That got me thinking, I haven’t seen the celebrity investors/weight loss champions on these commercials in quite a while. In fact, I realized that they too were in the commercials for a very short time after it was splashed all over the news that they had invested in these companies. And, because these people are public figures, and often in the news, we know that they did not keep off the weight they had lost when they first got involved with the organization.
So, what gives!?!
DIETING ISN'T THE LONG TERM SOLUTION
This is where the discussion starts between the verb, ‘to diet’ (to lose weight), and the noun ‘diet’ (how one chooses to eat).
Most people who choose ‘to diet’ are looking to lose weight. And yet, very few of us know anyone who goes on a diet once and solves their weight problem. If this were the case the diet industry full of books, and specially made food, would not be the multi-billion-dollar business it is today.
CHOOSING A HEALTHY DIET IS THE LONG TERM SOLUTION
Interestingly, as a vegan who eats a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet people are always telling me, “I could never give up my cheese, or my ice cream, or my chips,” or, or, or. Yet, these are the same people who go on a diet, and either restrict the quantity of their ‘favorite’ foods, or completely eliminate them for the finite period of time they are dieting.
When you choose a specific diet as part of your lifestyle, and you are motivated for all the right reasons, primarily your health, you find there are many much healthier options for what you are giving up. It is also possible that your cravings for some of the less healthy foods may diminish. I know this sounds crazy, but it is true. How is that possible you ask … the answer is 2-fold. First, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is full of foods that are highly processed and sold to be addictive. Secondly, if you decide to adopt a specific diet, such as WFPB, you get to explore a whole new world of foods you didn’t even know you would love.
DIET SUGGESTIONS
Next time you think you should diet (v), think about how many times you have tried that. If you want to adopt a diet (n) that includes foods you will love, that will never leave you feeling deprived, and will never have you worrying about your weight again, I suggest the following; eliminating highly processed foods completely, eliminating dairy (it is addictive and full of sugar), minimizing (or eliminating) your intake of animal products to less than 10% of the calories in any meal. You will never have to count calories again. Most often this is the secret to weight AND health management.
RESOURCES
If you are really serious about losing weight and being healthy, pick up a copy of: “Freedom From A Toxic Relationship With Food: A Journey That Will Give You Your Life Back”. It is available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.