Are Fad Diets Worthy Of Your Time?
Haven’t we all tried at-least one fad diet and yet failed several times. The most common cause why people opt to diet is to lose weight. With the growing popularity of fad diets in media, take a pause and question yourself “Is it worthy at the end?”
#1 factor that fad diets lack is balance. Plus they last temporarily. Though, some people may see results initially. This happens because when you avoid a specific food group you save more calories. As a result you may see your weight go down. But the question is are they reliable in the long run?
What’s a Fad Diet?
Fad diet is a fake trendy word. In reality they’re diets which claim easy and quick weight loss. These diets are little bamboozles. You don’t lose any weight but lose time, energy, and money. They add stress to your lives and give you zero results.
You Know When It’s A Fad Diet When..
First, when it claims quick result. In reality, there’s no such thing as a QUICK weight loss. Losing weight is possible only with patience, discipline, and self-motivation. It’s challenging but worthwhile in the end.
Next, when you’re told to avoid a particular food or food group. This means you may have to give up on your favorite foods all at once. Does it make sense to leave something which you love ? or Are you willing to give up on a food which you’ve been growing up eating.
Diets don’t have any scientific backing neither they really make any sense. People just blindly follow them because they see them as an easy solution to their problems.
Why Diets Don’t Work?
Don’t Diet. Say NO to a diet. Diets Don’t Work. First of all, our brains won’t allow us. Once we’re told to avoid a thing, we do the complete opposite. Then, we sink ourselves in the sea of gluttony.
The term DIET itself gives you a feeling of dissatisfaction. There are many restrictions attached, which no one wants to be in. Also with failure – people give up, never try again, and hold onto the feelings of self- guilt.
Popular Diets
There are a countless number of diets around you. Let’s look at the top 5 current popular diet trends.
Atkins diet: It’s a low carbohydrate diet based on a theory that when you eat low carbohydrate foods you may burn fat and lose weight. Not a sustainable diet as a major energy source has been excluded.
Paleolithic diet: Eat more vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat. No processed foods, dairy, alcohol, coffee, grains, legumes. Cavemen led an active hunters lifestyle which has no comparison to the lifestyle people live nowadays.
Vegan diet: It excludes all animal products. The most unhealthy diets of all, when you include fake dairy and meat alternatives you’re just ending up doing more harm than good. There’s also a raw vegan approach in which people refrain from any cooked plant foods. If you’re one of those who has eaten meat and dairy all his life, this diet would be impractical for you.
Ketogenic diet: A very low carbohydrate diet with liberty to eat meat, eggs, fish, fats. This is a very strict low sugar diet. Vegetarians find it difficult to follow as there’s not a lot of options to eat. Maintaining a constant KETO state is very difficult especially for a prolonged period.
The other popular ones include high carb/low fat diet, south beach diet, mediterranean diet, cabbage soup diet, baby food diet, weight watchers, and the list goes on.
What’s The Better Solution?
Life is simple. Avoid complicated choices. Choose to include more natural plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs, whole grains, legumes(beans, lentils, peas), nuts, seeds, and water. Include less of animal products, sugar, salt, oil, alcohol, sugary drinks, fast foods, packaged foods with long unknown ingredient list, any food other than fresh homecooked food.
There’s no temporary fix. When you go for a shorter route you might reach your destination. But, you may lose your precious health in the process.
Let me know which fad diet you have tried? What has or hasn’t worked for you?
