While searching the internet today for some healthy cookie recipes I inadvertently came across a blog about a guy on a weight loss journey using something called the "Cookie Diet". Now, this sounds like a perfect plan for anyone struggling to lose weight right? Eat cookies, get thin; how perfect. The more I read about this diet, the more I was intrigued about other fad diets that exist in the world, and how on earth people choose to follow them. I understand that compared to the average person I have a fairly rich background in terms of nutrition and health education, but I would assume that it would just seems counter intuitive (to anyone?? everyone??) that eating only cookies (and a vitamin supplement) could ever be a good idea. The basic principle behind this diet is to limit calories. That however is the biggest problem, it is a diet. Being healthy is not about dieting per day, but about inciting a lifestyle change.
Everyone knows how the internet goes, one thing leads to another, and the next thing you know you are drawn into reading about several different "success stories" about various fad diets. I even found a blog a guy is writing about his Cereal Diet (basically all he eats is cereal, a multivitamin & some whey protein powder). He figures that this is the easiest way to calculate calories, and the "Natural Source Multivitamin" should give him all the nutrients his body needs to survive. So far he has lost 5 pounds, and says he feels great (however he has only been on this diet for a week or so, so we will see how things go I suppose). Several people commented on his diet, asking him why he was doing it, offering advice on how to eat better and still lose weight, and his replies were all about simplicity and how since he lost weight he he must know what he was doing. Eating cereal is just easier (to calculate calories, to keep track of, to stick to this diet etc). I guess this diet is not unlike many of the Slim Fast and shake meal replacement diets that were hot in the later 90's, so maybe this guy really isn't that crazy...
I spent some time talking to my physiotherapist this week about health in our society in general. As I heal from surgery I highly value her opinion, and we began talking about how everyone is an expert on their own health. I'd like to extrapolate this into the realm of food. The first part of this, is that everyone believes they are an expert when it comes to their own health. We have specialists that we bring our cars, computers, clothes, pets etc to when they need to be repaired or fixed, and yet people seem to think that they know best when it comes to their own health. People ignore their doctor's advice, and would rather follow the advice that is given to them on an internet message board (since its often what they want to hear). I'm not saying that the internet isn't a valuable research tool, but that people must do just that; research. Whether its about surgery, pregnancy, weight loss or general health, there are a million resources available, but the important part is to look into multiple angles, and not believe only what you want to see (imagine being able to just eat cookies ALL day! What a great diet right?)/
Now here comes MY advice, some of which comes from formal education, and most of which comes from a less formal, but in depth understanding of food and the human body.
1) In terms of health, your diet should be varied and "balanced" to use the old term from food pyramids. Balanced sadly doesn't mean a cheese burger in each hand, but foods from all of the food groups, and the fresher the better.
2) My mother in law's latest mantra comes from Michael Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma" which is "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"; although she has been saying some version of this from her own experience for year. I completely agree. Often the problem with people's diets isn't that its all bad or unhealthy food, but that we simply eat too much.
3) Watch what you eat, but don't be obsessive. Obsessing can make you more stressed, and actually make it harder to lose weight or be healthy. Be aware of what you eat, especially if you're trying to lose weight, but don't beat yourself up if you occasionally slip up.
4) Eat natural as much as possible. The fresher the food, the better it is! Think about every step of processing as removing nutrients and health value. The more natural the food, the easier it will also be on your wallet! Next time you go to the store, look at the price of fresh corn (as natural as it can get) vs frozen corn (mild processing, but no additives) vs canned corn (moderately processed, with additives like salt and preserving agents). You can even take it a step further and look at bagged pop corn (yet another step in processing, and additives).
5) Cook at home. This way you can control exactly what goes into your food. You can save a lot of added fat by cooking with leaner meats, and by adding lots of spices, you don't have to use as much oil to get delicious taste!
6) Practice portion control. Put your salad or veggies on your plate first. This prevents you from loading up on the less healthy parts of some meals (pretty hard to put 4 slices of pizza on a plate if there is salad there first!)
7) Watch the condiments. Think you're being healthy by having that salad for lunch instead of a burger? Did you get extra cheese, Cesar dressing...croutons? Turns out in terms of fat and calories, you may have been better off with the burger. A healthy baked potato can quickly turn into a not so healthy vessel to hold sour cream, bacon bits, cheese & extra butter. Pay attention not only to the food on your plate, but the dressings that you add to your food!
1) In terms of health, your diet should be varied and "balanced" to use the old term from food pyramids. Balanced sadly doesn't mean a cheese burger in each hand, but foods from all of the food groups, and the fresher the better.
2) My mother in law's latest mantra comes from Michael Pollan's book "Omnivore's Dilemma" which is "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants"; although she has been saying some version of this from her own experience for year. I completely agree. Often the problem with people's diets isn't that its all bad or unhealthy food, but that we simply eat too much.
3) Watch what you eat, but don't be obsessive. Obsessing can make you more stressed, and actually make it harder to lose weight or be healthy. Be aware of what you eat, especially if you're trying to lose weight, but don't beat yourself up if you occasionally slip up.
4) Eat natural as much as possible. The fresher the food, the better it is! Think about every step of processing as removing nutrients and health value. The more natural the food, the easier it will also be on your wallet! Next time you go to the store, look at the price of fresh corn (as natural as it can get) vs frozen corn (mild processing, but no additives) vs canned corn (moderately processed, with additives like salt and preserving agents). You can even take it a step further and look at bagged pop corn (yet another step in processing, and additives).
5) Cook at home. This way you can control exactly what goes into your food. You can save a lot of added fat by cooking with leaner meats, and by adding lots of spices, you don't have to use as much oil to get delicious taste!
6) Practice portion control. Put your salad or veggies on your plate first. This prevents you from loading up on the less healthy parts of some meals (pretty hard to put 4 slices of pizza on a plate if there is salad there first!)
7) Watch the condiments. Think you're being healthy by having that salad for lunch instead of a burger? Did you get extra cheese, Cesar dressing...croutons? Turns out in terms of fat and calories, you may have been better off with the burger. A healthy baked potato can quickly turn into a not so healthy vessel to hold sour cream, bacon bits, cheese & extra butter. Pay attention not only to the food on your plate, but the dressings that you add to your food!
Agreed. That mother-in-law of yours is such a smarty pants.
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