Fad Diets: Do’s & Don’ts

Do you know which diets work and which don’t?

Because I owned a gym, I got this question more than anything else, well, except maybe, how do I get a firmed butt?

You may be thinking, what’s the best diet for me?

News flash, none of them work!! And here’s why. Yes, I will get into a few diets and break them down, however, let’s get broad for a second.

Diets don’t work, because diets are temporary. And anything temporary WILL NOT WORK!!!

What does work is lifestyle changes and sustainable food choices.

So, let’s talk diets.

A big one right now is keto. Everyone is on this ridiculous keto kick.

Let’s talk about keto.

When someone goes on a diet, any diet, they tend to track their food and pick healthier options. Yes?

People don’t lose weight because of the “diet”.

They lose weight because for once they are actually looking at the food they eat and making better choices. Just let that sink in for a minute…

Let me repeat, because I really want this to sink in.

People don’t lose weight because of the “diet”.

They lose weight because for once they are actually looking at the food they eat and making better choices.

Okay, back to keto. This is a high protein and low carb diet. At first glance, it seems like a good plan and almost everyone who tries it loses weight in the beginning. Unfortunately, these people are losing the wrong kind of weight and for the wrong biological reasons.

Want to know more?

Ketosis occurs when you have insufficient carbohydrates stored in the liver to meet the requirements of the body and brain. Once the carbs are used up, (which takes less than 24 hrs on a low carb diet), the body turns to fat to supply energy. Sounds good, right?

Well, unfortunately, that’s not usually what you get. The process of converting fat into energy gets short circuited, and instead, your cells manufacture an abnormal biochemical called ketone bodies.

The body has no use for these ketone bodies and tries like crazy to pee them out. So increased urination does mean weight loss. But that weight is just water, not body fat.

And that’s not even the worst of it. If you eat too much protein at your meals, your insulin levels rise because the body doesn’t want excess amino acids in the bloodstream. So the increased insulin help convert the excess protein into fat.

Keto diets also may cause changes in fat cells, making them 10 times more active in segregating fat. What does this mean?

It means as soon as you stop this diet you accumulate fat at a frightening rate.

To top all this off, the body isn’t stupid, and the brain still needs carbs to function, so it starts breaking down muscle mass to convert to carbs. You might be okay with this but remember, because of the increased insulin levels, you don’t lose fat anywhere near the rate you’d expect, so you eventually plateau.

This is why 95% of anyone who’s done a keto diet has gained all their weight back, and more! Keto causes permanent changes to fat cells that basically guarantee fat accumulation in the future.

To top it off, keto diets are high in fat and most people aren’t eating healthy fats. They eat tons of bacon, cheese and ground beef because the fat content is so high. 

The moral? Let’s just not do keto or low carb diets.

Instead, cut out all the crap in your diet. Try to replace white bread with whole grain. You may not like the taste as much at first, but after some time, your body starts to crave it and after a while white bread actually starts to taste bad.

This goes for all empty carbs. Just eat cleaner and less processed. Fruit and whole grains are good for you and unless you have a food allergy should not be removed from a healthy diet.

Diets like Optavia and Nutrasystem are not recommended. These are highly processed and contain little nutrition, plus they have added chemicals. You can’t eat foods like cereal bars, spaghetti, mac & cheese and so on and expect to be healthy.

Unfortunately the only thing people usually care about is losing weight and so they use these products not understanding fully what they are eating.

Are you one of these people?

I hope I’m slowly convincing you to change the way you think.

Let’s talk intermittent fasting. I hear this a lot. If I only eat one meal a day…

This works great for men, but NOT women.

Listen, your body needs food. Literally, food is what keeps you alive. Without it, you will die. Food is a necessity, it’s non-negotiable.

Now, it is true that “intermittent fasting” or eating all of your calories in one big meal a day can result in temporary weight loss. However, over time, your weight loss will stall and probably reverse. On top of that you’ll have no energy and it will make you “hangry” aka, a moody jerk.

When your body doesn’t know when to expect its next meal, it enters starvation mode, which means that it begins to hold onto calories. (Think hibernation) Instead, eat smaller, healthier portions of food every few hours. Try to eat all your food in a 12 hour window (like 7am-7pm for example) and never go more than 5 hours – within this window – without eating. This will improve your metabolism and provide your body with the nutrients it needs. FROM FOOD!

So let’s recap real quick.

Do diets work? No

Why don’t they work? Because they’re temporary. Plus, they mess with your hormones and metabolism.

How should you eat? Clean foods, a balanced diet, proper portions, as close to nature as possible, within a 12 hour window each day and more than one meal. You got this!!!