I get
messages literally every single day from people asking me to tell them what
diet is the best to follow. With so many options out there (i.e., paleo, Weight
Watchers, 8 Hour Diet, Dukan, etc), it is not surprising to me that people get
overwhelmed when it comes to proper nutrition. Each of these diets uses a
different method that promises fast weight loss but how on Earth do you know
which diet to follow when there’s so many to choose from?
I’ll
let you in on an industry secret. The best diet out there is finding one that
is sustainable, not restrictive and satisfying. You cannot fully and honestly expect
to go through life eating only raw foods or only eating carbohydrates at
certain times of the day or only eating salads for every meal (when you hate
salads). When you make a decision to eat healthfully, you need to toss out the
diet mentality that so many of us are used to prescribing to. You need to
switch out those negative thoughts to empowering, positive thoughts. For
example, instead of saying, “I can’t have pizza” you could say, “I could have
pizza but I choose not to.” BUT, that said, if it is a treat day, by all means,
eat that pizza but just remember to be smart about it. Don’t eat an entire
large size pizza to yourself.
A
well-balanced diet is absolutely ESSENTIAL to the healthy lifestyle equation.
You can go to the gym and work your butt off for an hour every day but if your
nutrition doesn’t reflect your goals, you just won’t progress. Believe me on
this one. I spent 3.5 years working out hard, but it wasn’t until I really dialled
in my nutrition and starting eating the right foods and the “bad” foods in
moderation, my body didn’t really make a lot of huge changes. Or, I shouldn’t
say that. My body did make changes
but my mind didn’t. I have been a chronic yo-yo dieter for almost my whole
life. When I started my weight loss journey in 2008, I thought that if I
exercised often, I’d be okay to eat the Pilsbury cookie dough in our fridge for
snacks every day. This, obviously, isn’t the answer. I would workout hard and
eat well probably 60% of the time but the other 40% of the time, I would eat
unhealthier foods in excess and then be angry that I wasn’t losing weight. Or I
would commit to eating clean but then never let myself have treats which only
lead me to binge eventually. It wasn’t until last year when I finally realized that
I can still see progress with my fitness journey if I balance eating
healthfully with eating the less nutritionally dense foods (i.e., pizza, French
fries).
A
well-balanced diet:
-
Has no restrictions, especially whole food
groups or macronutrients
-
Allows everything (YES, even pizza &
chocolate), in moderation
-
Is varied as well as flexible (Planned on
chicken breasts for supper but feeling more like having eggs? Do it!)
-
Contains foods that you LIKE to eat, not foods
you FEEL you HAVE to eat (don’t make yourself eat spinach if you hate spinach!)
-
Includes a lot of water
-
Is imperfect
-
Creates feelings of positivity towards foods
-
Is fulfilling
So, I’m sorry I cannot give you an exact diet
plan to follow but I will tell you this: eat healthfully (whole grains, lean
protein, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats) 80% of the time and use that 20% to
eat those less-nutrient dense foods (see how I didn’t call them ‘junk’ foods or
‘unhealthy’ foods? That creates a negative relationship and we want to AVOID
that). I don’t expect you to eat like a fitness model and you don’t have to.
You just need to become more aware of what are more nutritionally sound food
choices. Do not ever follow a diet that makes you feel like you're missing out on the foods you love. Doing so sets you up for a negative experience and implementing a healthy lifestyle change should be one of the most positive and empowering decisions you make.
