Diets… The full proof way for you to become healthy, or so they say. With the build-up to summer, you may be seeing a load of posts on social media and adverts selling you workout guides and supplements help you “shed the pounds before summer” *insert dramatic eye roll here*.
First off before we dive into the nitty-gritty of why your diet won’t work, believe me when I say YOU DO NOT NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT TO BE HAPPY. Work on yourself, you are amazing and beautiful/handsome the way that you are and your weight will never change that. If you want to lose weight, good for you! If you don’t that’s also totally fine! But do NOT lose weight because you hate yourself and because you think it will make you worthy. I personally have struggled (and still do) with the notion that losing weight = pretty, but I am slowly but surely realising that that is nowhere near the truth.
Why won’t your diet work?
The short answer to this question? Deprivation. You know what I mean, you start a diet taking out carbs, chocolate, sweets, cakes. All the things that you love you have taken out of your diet, eating boring salads filled with greens that you don’t like and constantly feeling hungry. Does this really sound like a healthy diet for you?
After a couple of weeks of eating this way and not enjoying your food, most of the time you will sit there and think “fuck it” and binge. This tends to turn into a cycle and you end up gaining the weight you lost or end up staying at your current weight. You’ll end up hating the diet, hating that way of eating, and then give up because you didn’t see results.
This type of yo-yo dieting is exhausting. Mentally you feel like crap, “why couldn’t I do this”. I’ll tell you why this was not sustainable. You were eating too little and not allowing yourself to have any fun with what you are eating. A healthy diet has to be enjoyable. This is a LIFESTYLE change. So yes, cakes, sweets, chocolate, and ice cream? All included in this. You are not a failure for not ‘making progress’ with this type of diet because this is not what they are made for.
The same goes for those meal replacement shakes. You eat next to nothing, you feel tired, eating maybe one proper meal a day. No wonder you gave up. This is what these diets are made for! So you give up and buy them again.
What’s the best type of diet?
I hear you through my screen, “So what is the best diet Scarlet! What can I do?!” and my advice? Seriously learn how to love food. See it as fuel, as something that will help to push you through the day. Eat things that you enjoy, eat the ‘treat’ stuff less regularly but ENJOY it!
In my opinion, the best type of diet for anyone is intuitive eating. This is where you eat what you want when you are hungry. Pixie Turner Nutrition is super amazing in this field so check her out for advice on this topic.
For those who struggle with disordered eating, or feel triggered when it comes to food. I seriously recommend investing in yourself and seeking a nutritional professional in order to help you with these issues and really learn how to love food and how to eat intuitively.
What even is a sustainable diet?
You hear the word sustainable, what do you think? For most it might be vegan, having less impact on the environment and something that can be done for a long period of time with little to no detrimental impact. For a diet, this means ANY diet that you are able to do for a long period of time/life.
So a sustainable weight loss diet? One where there is 1-1.5lb of weight loss a week (or less). You are able to eat the things you enjoy while still seeing progress. Making sure you are eating enough to fuel your body to be able to perform and see the changes you want.
I have a post up on my Instagram which is talking all about calories (Here) which can give you some info on calories for weight loss and how to make your weight loss diet (or normal diet) more sustainable to be able to see the results you want.
Tips to help you eat a healthy diet
- Remember a healthy diet is one you enjoy. Include all the things you want to eat, really savor food and enjoy every bite.
- Upping your intake in protein can help you to feel more satisfied. Including a protein source in every meal is one way to help up your protein (see here for my last blog post on different types of protein and why you might want to supplement)
- If you struggle to get your veggies in having 1-2 different types per meal will help to increase these! And also snack on fruit!
- Seek help from a registered nutritionist/dietitian to help you through any issues you have – invest in yourself
- Find a way of eating that suits you. Vegan, veggie, intermittent fasting. As long as you enjoy it.
- Weight loss is not the goal of your life. You are so much more than this. But if it is your goal do it in a sustainable way!
Takeaway notes from this? Eat food you enjoy, everything in moderation and make sure you are fuelling your body! Every day is a step towards your goal, no matter how big or small, you are going in the right direction!
