The Un-Diet: Say NO to Dieting in 2014

So you're on a diet, eh? Undoubtedly the most popular New Year's Resolution is to lose weight, meaning going on a diet. I hate diets and completely disagree with them. You could say I am an old fashioned Nutritionist when it comes to making changes in your life. If you've read yesterday's post, New Year, New You - 5 Tips to Help you Stick to your New Year's Resolution you'll see that I am a believer and advocate on finding balance in your life. For the sake of this blog post I will be using the word diet, as in what you eat. If your New Year's Resolution is to lose weight then please consider not going on a diet and instead making a lifestyle change. Concentrate on getting healthy and naturally the excess weight will come off.  Please take it from me when I say dieting does not work! Have you heard the phrase, easy come, easy go? It also applies to dieting. Drastically cutting calories will give you weight loss but as easy as it came off the easier you'll pack it on, and some. So say no to dieting, will ya? No more grapefruit diets, master cleanses, cabbage soup diets and all that other garbage. Just eat, and eat well. Here's how...

Eat Whole Foods – This means eat foods that are closet to their natural state or closet too natural state. For instance, eat a baked sweet potato as opposed to a bag of potato chips, which has been processed, striped of its nutrients and saturated in oil and salt. Enjoy a crisp apple as opposed to packaged applesauce which in most cases contains refined sugar and preservatives. Choose sprouted or multi-grain breads over refined wheat where the bran and germ (the reservoir for vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids) have been removed.

Choose Certified Organic – The term organic simple means foods that have not been exposed to pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, hormones, fertilizers and other harmful chemicals during their growing stages. More organic in the diet means less toxic material entering the body, therefore less work your body has to do to get rid of it and less damage to your body. Your body is an organic being and needs organic, natural foods to be well. Certain organic foods can be pricey and others are quite comparable to non-organic. Find a ratio of organic and non-organic foods in your kitchen that fit your household budget. Fact: If you are healthy and eating all fresh, organic foods you should have no body odor. Body odor is a sign of toxicity. See: Spring Cleaning: Your Body for more information on toxicity in the body.

Choose Foods that are Dense in their Nutrients – When making food choices concentrate on picking foods that are dense in their nutrients. For example, eat oranges for their vitamin C and Kale for its calcium. Also, go for more nutritious foods; romaine lettuce over iceberg lettuce, yams over white potatoes, brown rice over white rice and lean cut meats over organ meats and pork.

Moderation, Variety and Rotation – We are all human and sometimes you just want to go out and have a burger and a beer with your bff. Let yourself have a cheat day and don’t feel guilty about it. A cheat day is an example of having moderation in your diet. Remember this: Everything in moderation, even moderation. Don't be too laid back, you must own your lifestyle change to stick with it. Variety is just as important. A good rule of thumb is to buy brightly coloured fruits and vegetables to ensure you are getting a variety of different vitamins and minerals in your diet. Remember this: Similar Colours = Similar Nutrients. Lastly, make sure to rotate your foods every day. Eating the same foods day after day can result to food intolerances.

Drink Water – Drink fresh spring or distilled water everyday. Your body is 55% body after all so it just makes sense! How much you ask? Divide your body weight by 2 and then divide by 8 to get the number of 8oz glasses of water you should drink per day.

Balance – Find a diet that is realistic and complements your lifestyle that way it becomes a part of your life and not just another fad. Balance in nutrients, food groups, flavours and colours, prevents boredom and nutritional imbalances. For more information on realistic goal setting read: New Year, New You - 5 Tips to Help you Stick to your New Year's Resolution 

Pledge that 2014 will be the year you finally say NO to ridiculous dieting. Eat, eat well and be well. Don't make it complicated because it's not. 


You may also find these articles I wrote helpful:
Tips on Healthy Snacks
Sports Nutrition: Pre-Workout
Sports Nutrition: Post-Workout
Top 5 Healthy Sugar Substitutes 
5 Stress-free Stress Busters



The information presented here is not intended to replace professional medical care when needed. Consult a qualified healthcare practitioner for disease diagnosis, therapy choice, medicine selection and dosage. 

Originally posted on January 2, 2012.