Can we collectively agree to leave dieting and fad diets in 2020? Unless you've been living on another planet, you already know that 95% of people that lose weight on a diet gain it back.
Restrictive dieting is not sustainable. Juice cleanses, Whole30 intermittent fasting, keto, WW aka weight watchers & Noom are all diets. They all require you to restrict certain foods and even entire food groups.
If you gained the quarantine 15 or 20 or whatever, look at this way: your body and you survived a global pandemic. Maybe it was by staying home and getting door dash every night or you found solace in a pint of ice cream several times a week. You survived and if it came with a few extra pounds so be it.
If you tried to diet this year and "failed", you didn't fail, the diet failed you. Diets are designed to fail so that we will keep going back over and over again. Kinda like that toxic boyfriend you just couldn't quit in college. Do not fall victim to the lose the quarantine 15, new year new you bs. Especially if it involves giving up your favorite foods. You can eat what you love and stay healthy. You can eat what you love and lose weight in a sustainable and even enjoyable way 🙀
HOW???
By finding a healthy balance of eating what you love, and doing what's good for your body. If you love carbs, you can enjoy carbs and lose weight. If you love yoga or lifting weights, you don't have to do hours of cardio to lose weight. You will have to make changes to your daily routine, including what you eat and how often you move if you want to lose weight, but it can be sustainable and enjoyable.
FIRST OFF If it took you 9 months to gain 15 pounds, it will not come off in 4 weeks and actually stay off.
If you are specifically focused on losing fat here is exactly what you need to do to lose fat sustainably & keep it off:
Start tracking macros: have a macro specialist calculate your custom macros based on your lifestyle and goals
Be consistent & patient: you may see results within a few weeks, stay consistent for 3-6 months (or more). Your body is not Amazon Prime.
Lift weights/do resistance training: Increasing muscle mass helps with fat loss. it's a MUST.
Reverse Diet/Take Breaks: You do not always need to be in a caloric deficit. Once you've met your goals find a maintenance program that keeps you happy and healthy. Have days, or weeks or even months/years where you don't track and eat intuitively
All foods are available all of the time: Ever feel the need to go ham on a pumpkin or pecan pie because Thanksgiving /Christmas only comes around once a year? You can have any food, just about any time of year. Ditch the mindset that foods are only available some of the time or that you 'cant' have something like tacos because it's 'bad'.
Notice how none of these things say eat 1200 calories a day, drink detox tea or starve yourself for 20 hours per day?! Those things may lead to fast results, but they are not sustainable long term. Implementing the above habits will improve your mood, reduce anxiety & stress, increase energy and help you lose fat & keep it off!
Diets and diet programs prey on feelings of shame or guilt about your body & the foods you eat to entice you to lose weight. Diets 'promise" us that weight loss will make us happy, energetic, and make us fall in love with our bodies.
BREAKING NEWS: YOU CAN BE HAPPY, ENERGETIC & LOVE YOUR BODY AT ANY SIZE
You can (& should) focus on health promoting behaviors at any age & size. It doesn't have to be perfect, there doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach and you don't have to give up carbs or swear off your favorite foods forever.
I know it can be scary to let go of something you've relied on for so long, but has dieting ever really made you happy??
If the answer is no, why don't you book a 15 minute consult call with me to see what breaking up with diets & focusing on your health with a coach could look like for you. You can focus on health, enjoy working out, eat healthy and lose fat without a detox, diet or cleanse. If you're not sure where to start, I can help.
xoxo,
Briana