When most people think of losing weight, the first thing that typically enters their mind is that they should go on a diet.
Dieting appeals to many individuals who have lost their way nutritionally since it offers a temporary change in nutritional habits with the purpose and benefit of bringing their body composition to a satisfactory level.
The yo-yo effect
The main problem with dieting is that it creates a yo-yo effect due to it being a temporary change created out of sheer discipline.
A person will go on a diet: typically one that counts calories or restricts the intake of certain foods, suffer a lowering in metabolism due to gaps in nutrient profile, and then once the diet is over they return to their old nutritional habits in a hurry, only with a lowered metabolism.
This causes an increase in stored fat since the body can no longer process higher amounts of food, and before long the individual is right back where they started or worse.
They may then go on a diet again or even try another diet, starting weight on/weight off the effect that keeps them from ever attaining their weight loss goals.
Nutrition is a lifestyle
The solution to this problem lies in making better lifestyle choices when it comes to eating. A major problem with the idea of dieting is that it promotes inconsistency with nutrition.
The human body is a highly adaptable organism that adjusts itself to whatever it is faced with.
This means that eating poorly causes the body to adjust itself, and it is not until the habit of eating poorly is conquered that the body will be able to become healthy.
What I am arguing is that nutrition is a lifestyle.
Time and commitment
Any lifestyle changes are difficult and take time and commitment.
One cannot expect to overcome a lifetime of poor eating habits overnight, or even in a week.
The best way to transition away from poor eating habits is to slowly progress towards what is better for today, with the goal of making further changes down the road.
For example, if you are having highly processed cereal for breakfast (all of the ones that look fun, and even many that are marketed as being healthy), you are consuming far too much sugar and preservatives, and not enough healthy carbohydrates and other nutrients.
A simple change in this situation would be to add a piece of fruit to the meal, and a further change would be to switch to a healthier option, such as cereal made with whole grains.
Once at that step towards better nutrition, one can implement having more natural, unprocessed foods such as oatmeal made with fresh nuts and fruit. As you can see, changes can be slow, but as long as they are consistent and sustainable, success will be attained.
A professor of mine once gave the class some golden rules for nutritional change, and asked that everyone work on checking off one item at a time:
• Eat to live, don’t live to eat
• Think lifestyle, not diet
• Drink clean water throughout the day
• Eat natural, whole foods
• Have some high quality, complete protein with most meals
• Have fruit and/or veggies with every meal
• Exchange unhealthy fats for healthy fats
• Food first before supplements
• Eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day
• Do the best you can in each situation, and when you feel you’ve made a mistake, focus on getting right back to health this moment forward.
Some of these may not seem very clear right now, but in future articles, we will elaborate on these 10 items, as well as provide some guidance through the phases of making proper nutrition part of your lifestyle. For now, plan and prepare for making small, slow, consistent changes to your nutritional habits, starting with one small step today.