Diets, Diets, Diets…Do They Really Work?
What is the golden promise of any short term fitness or nutrition diet? To unlock the secret to fitting into skinny jeans, in under three weeks. This golden promise makes yo-yo dieters around the world drool at the possibility that maybe, just maybe, this is the secret diet that will finally get them in skinny jeans.
The secret is simple, there is no secret. There’s no magic nutrition pill or machine or secret fitness gadget that is going to turn you into a rock star. There’s no brilliant diet that was secretly discovered in Area 51 that is going to shrink your butt, flatten your stomach and make your boobs bigger and if any magic pill actually did that I’d be using it, I can guarantee you that.
Diets lead you to one thing and one thing only, a new diet soon after you crashed and burned on the previous one. Most likely you’ve been down that road before as well but just incase there’s a person out there who hasn’t played the diet game, let me break it down for you exactly the diet timeline. The majority of diets begin with a desperate Sunday night promise and by Wednesday have failed miserably, mostly from sheer frustration and the realization that every friend or family member is terrified to come near you. Let’s face it, someone who can’t have chocolate and wine is not someone I want to be around when they hit the diet wall.
If you need any more proof that diets don’t work, just take a look at your bookshelf. At one point I had a client who was the nicest lady you would imagine and she had every diet book ever published from A-Z. She would read the reviews online and then order the book, when it arrived at her home she’d skim through the “important” parts and then call me into her office and tell me that THIS book is the one that finally clicked with her. She’d get so excited and pumped up for about a week and then the book would be filed next to all the others on her bookshelf and soon another diet book would catch her interest and the cycle would continue. What I learned from her is that no diet that deprives you of something you want will ever work. Take a look at your own bookshelf and count how many diet books you bought and ask yourself these three questions:
- Why did I buy this? (ie, famous author, cool title, sounded easy)
- Did I actually read it?
- Why did the diet fail for me?
Most fitness and nutrition books are purchased based on the promise the title gives you, and the recognition level of the author. A book titled, Lose 10 pounds in 5 hours is going to grab anyone’s attention couple that title with a recognizable name and you’ve got a best seller.
There’s not a diet out there that will put you in skinny jeans. There are plenty of diets out there that can temporarily make you lose a ton of weight but you have to understand it’s coming right back to your hips and thighs because you can’t stay on the low calorie diets for a lifetime.
Take a look at these Common Sense Heart Smart Minute Tips:
Avoid Fried Food, like you avoid someone with the flu: There’s nothing nutritious or remotely healthy about fried food…it’s the fastest way to an unhealthy heart and clogged arteries.
Move your Body: Walk around your block, do your Heart Smart Minute exercise, ride your bike…do anything you want. Just move, everyday for at least 30mins
Never Clean your Plate: Somehow we were all taught if it’s on your plate you have to eat it…not true. Leave a little over after every meal and you’ll be surprised at the calories you save.
If it Sounds too Good to be True it is: Diet books sell because you crashed and burned on the last diet book. Make good choices 9 out of 10 times with lifestyle changes you can actually live with.
