Diet 101: What is a Diet?
Most people consider diet to be a four-letter word; one that conjures up feelings too horrible to be spoken! It implies deprivation, hunger, and being forced to eat foods you don’t like. But actually the word itself is not evil. It is used to describe the food eaten habitually by a particular person or group. It can describe the way we eat as a population as in ”the typical diet of Americans”, or the benefits of eating a certain way such as “The Mediterranean Diet can lower incidence of heart disease”. Some people need to limit certain elements for health reasons and may be following a “low sodium diet” or a “low cholesterol diet“. It merely describes how we eat.
How did the word get the terrible connotation it has? Most people who change their eating habits do so to lose weight. The weight loss diet is indeed unpleasant, at least in the manner most people decide to embark upon this project. The immediate goal, with no education or forethought, is to lose as many pounds as quickly as possible. As a result, the diet often ends up drastic, comprised of tasteless, low calorie, high fiber foods (such as cabbage soup) with entire food groups prohibited (NO carbohydrates!) and the outcome is misery, disgust at the meals allowed, and usually an early failure in sticking with the plan.
The mistake is letting the idea of fast weight loss overshadow every other aspect of eating. In every culture diet is important. We use food for social gatherings, to celebrate, to indulge, to relax or take a break from monotony or stress and even at times to satisfy hunger. Going on most weight reduction diets, we don’t consider how these needs will be met. This leads to the feeling of missing out, craving many foods, and just wanting to get off the diet even more than losing weight.
The problem is the concept of “going on a diet”. Think about what this means–it means that eventually you will go off the diet, right? By now you probably know, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eventually change your diet: Not go on one until you reach a weight loss goal or until you are so miserable you absolutely must have some chocolate ice cream! Start now by making a better choice each time you eat. Select a baked entree instead of a fried one; order the small fries instead of the large; have an unsweetened beverage instead of a sugary one. For every time you make a better choice you are working your way towards a healthy diet. And when this is the way you eat, you’ll never have to go on one of those lousy, no-carb, starving-portioned, regimented, suffering diets again!
Next week, learn how to plan ahead before starting your journey toward healthier eating habits in order to greatly improve your chance of success!!
photo credit: Simon Aughton
Written by Laurie Beebe
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About The Author: Laurie Beebe has been a registered dietitian for 25 years and is certified in adult weight management. Laurie currently serves as a Related posts:
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