‘Don’t Fall For The Weight Loss Trends – Spot And Avoid A Bad Diet’ – Monica May

 

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that it’s so freaking hard to lose weight nowadays.

With so much misleading info out there and a sea full of “magic solutions”, it’s nearly impossible to determine right from wrong.

That’s why I decided to go through some of the worst yet most popular weight loss trends out there and help you spot a bad diet.

So many young girls and women fall for these trends, wasting precious time, trying to lose weight, while doing more harm than good.

I believe these diet trends promote weight loss at all costs, without thinking about health, and they need to be stoped.

Without further ado, let’s jump right into them!

Let me just say one thing first, if you are on a “bad diet” and you are reading this, please don’t get any hard feelings.
Of course this is my opinion, packed with a couple of facts leading me to believe that these diets are not the healthiest way to lose weight and get fit.
I know that you are trying to do the best for you, so if it works for you, don’t mind me.

How To Spot A Bad Diet - Don't Fall For These Weight Loss Trends

How To Spot A Bad Diet – Don’t Fall For These Weight Loss Trends

Diets With Eating Less

Are you on a diet, and you are constantly feeling hungry, even after finishing your meals?

Well, that’s a sign of a bad diet.

The first thing that comes to most of us when we think of dieting, is the worst feeling of being hungry all the time.

A healthy diet shouldn’t be about eating less – it should be about eating right.

Anything that feels like malnourishment is just not good for you.

And eating less than your body needs will do more harm than you think.

For starters, it will slow down your metabolism, which is not a good thing.

You may lose weight short term, but once you’re done with your diet you’ll gain more weight than you used to have, aka as the yo-yo effect.

This only happens when diet slows down your metabolism, because of eating less nutrients than your body needs for fuel.

Plus, when you’re hungry all the time, you are more likely to reach for unhealthy foods and binge eat at the end of the day.

In the end, if your goal is to get healthy and lose weight long term, you shouldn’t feel hungry and restricted all the time.

It’s not about eating less, it’s about eating right.

Cleansing and Detox

I bet you’ve run onto this trend of detox and cleansing.

It’s actually all about colon cleansing, which is believed that improves health by removing toxins from the body, boosting energy and enhancing the immune system.

However, there is absolutely no evidence that colon cleansing produces these effects or is beneficial at all.

Also, our bodies naturally detoxify our systems each day.

Plus, many people keep eating unhealthy and just hope to cleanse afterward, thinking that visiting the bathroom more often speeds up the metabolism and helps them lose weight, but that’s not really true.

Not only you won’t lose weight and you won’t get healthier, but you can harm your body too.

Colon cleansing can be harmful to many people since it’s proven to cause cramping, bloating, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and other unfortunate events.

Colonic irrigations done improperly can seriously injure the large intestine.

So, if your goal is to get healthy and lose weight, a detox diet is not the answer.

Gluten-Free Diet

Going gluten-free when you don’t really need to eat gluten-free won’t do anything for you in terms of getting healthy and losing weight.

Unless you are diagnosed with celiac disease, it’s not harmful or unhealthy to eat it, and it’s not an ingredient that causes weight gain.

In fact, it’s usually the other ingredients that are a problem for your health, like quick rise yeast,  and added sugars.

Maybe this one is obvious for some of you, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

Keto Diet

Now, I know that you know a few people that lost weight on keto.

I know a few too. I also know that keto is probably one of the most popular diets out there.

But, do I think keto is a good way to lose weight and get healthy? No.

This is mainly because I don’t believe in diets that exclude foods that are completely healthy and good for your body and overall health.

And in reality, there are many health concerns about keto.

My personal issue with a diet like this is that it’s restrictive, cutting out foods that are actually beneficial for your body.

For example lentils, beans, peas, potato, brown rice, carrots…

Do I think they are all healthier and better for you than bacon? ABSOLUTELY!

Then why the heck you are not allowed to eat them? Just because they have carbs.

But what about the fiber you are excluding, a nutrient you can’t get out of anything else other than carbs?

Not to mention the fact that loading up on fat and eating bacon and cheese is not a long-term approach to overall health.

I also think that this type of diet is not sustainable for people who struggle to make good nutritional choices.

I have personally tried the keto diet at the beginning, and I had another issue with it.

As an extremely active person, switching the body’s main energy source from carbohydrates to fat was a real setback for me.

Especially since I was not in the game only for weight loss, but I wanted to get strong and fit.

I was running, doing HIIT, building muscles, and this diet wasn’t doing anything good for me.

Also, for the first time in my life, I was dealing with cellulite.

So, yes, I don’t think keto is the healthiest way to lose weight.

Calorie Counting Diets

I feel like so many people are stuck with counting calories these days, that I get the feeling that they don’t value the word HEALTHY FOOD anymore.

Now, I know it’s common sense that the fewer calories you eat the more weight you’ll lose.

It’s all about calories in vs calories out. Except it’s not.

I talk about this all the time on my blog, all calories are not the same.

In fact, healthy food doesn’t always mean low-calorie food and it’s always better, for both your body and health, to have a handful of almonds with over 300 calories, instead of a coke zero.

I always say, with calories as with diamonds, it’s the quality that matters most and enhances their value.

This means that it’s not how many calories are involved that matters, but if the food is healthy and good for your body or not.

You can count calories all day long, but as long as they come from junk foods, you’ll end up with no long term results.

I’d rather you eat a handful of almonds with over 300 kcal than a coke zero.

Plus, obsessing yourself with numbers without paying attention to the quality of the foods you eat, can lead to eating disorders.

Intermittent Fasting

And last, but not least, one of the latest trends, Intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting achieves weight loss by severely limiting calories during certain days of the week or during specified hours during the day.
The theory is that intermittent fasting will help decrease appetite by slowing the body’s metabolism.

The pattern that is most popular is 5:2 diet, where you eat normally for five days of the week, but restrict food intake to just 500 to 600 calories on the two fasting days.

Another variation of intermittent fasting calls for alternating “fast” days, in which you consume a quarter or less of your basic calorie requirement, with “feast” days, during which you eat whatever you choose.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that Intermittent fasting can be a healthy way of living if you do it right, and eat healthy foods during your “eating” days or hours.

However, in its core, intermittent fasting is again all about restriction and keeping yourself away from food even when you feel hungry.

Also, I have a theory that if something is healthy, it should be healthy for every person, and that’s not the case with Intermittent fasting.

For instance, because of it’s restrictive nature, intermittent fasting is potentially harmful to people with diabetes, children, or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Now, when a diet is healthy, it should be especially healthy for all of the above, right?

Also, it could lead to overeating or binge eating, which is not the best idea for people with a history of disordered eating.

What To Do Instead?

Start eating healthy foods, and eat plenty of them.

As crazy as it sounds, eating less is not what it takes to lose weight.

What it takes to get healthier and start losing fat is eating the right foods.

Start with a plan that focuses on getting you healthy and clean, instead of restricting you to portion sizes and counting calories.

Losing weight is not just a simple math problem where you have to think about calories in vs calories out.

What foods those calories come from is as important, so make sure to choose your foods based on the quality not the number of their calories or carbs.

Also, our body has a thing called “volume counter” too, which means you won’t get full by eating calories, but they have to fulfill a certain volume in the stomach too.

This explains the reason why we can’t get full by eating 3-4 almonds, no matter how many calories are in there.

To help all of you figure out how to eat healthy and lose weight long term, I designed a 28-day healthy food meal plan, called Burn Baby Burn.

In my meal plan, I  focus on volume with the perfect formula where you can eat as much as you want without compromising the calorie intake.

Plus, you still have to enjoy the foods you eat at the end of the day, so start a meal plan that’s adjustable and satisfies your taste buds.

Always remember, eating healthy is about creating a sustainable lifestyle you enjoy and that looks different for everyone.

Check out my meal plan to find out the healthiest way to lose weight.

You can also check out my article What I Eat In A Day To Get Fit to learn more about eating healthy and losing weight.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or comment in the section below.

Till next time,
xoxo

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