No More Diets

I’ve been introduced to InnerLight and the Miracle PH Diet of Dr Robert Young. Are you familiar with his theory of alkalising for health by only eating alkaline food (mostly greens, beans no meat, wheat or dairy) together with reducing toxicity and stress in lifestyle.

I can’t say I’ve come across this diet but to be honest I’m not in a rush to advise anyone to go and try it out.

In my experience as a weight loss coach, for the most part, people have enough difficulty with diets which force them to give up junk food like cookies, cakes, pastries and pies, soda, candy and fries or in reducing their portion sizes to a moderate amount never mind trying to stick to something that sounds so far removed from their current eating habits.

This is the kind of diet that you try for a week and lose weight (with so many restrictions you almost can’t fail to do that and frankly, who wants to overeat beans and greens anyway?) but do you really want to keep it up for a lifetime? Through holidays and trips abroad? Through good times and bad? Weddings and parties?

It’s my belief that food is a sociable thing and that following a diet which divides you from the rest of the world by what you can and can’t eat is not good for the soul. Learning to make healthy food choices over unhealthy choices in a world where we are constantly bombarded with junk food offerings - now that is something worth pursuing - along with getting used to eating the right amount to keep your body slim.

But you can make healthy choices without restricting food so much - food is meant to be enjoyed not endured.

I’m not saying that this diet is unhealthy (for all I know it’s the healthiest in the world) but I think that a good life and good food is all about balance and moderation. If you can learn to eat and enjoy mainly healthy food and to be satisfied with modest portions you will be doing better than most.

For anyone who wants to try an ultra-health promising regime - make sure you check it out with your doctor - and think about what it really means to eat in that way for the rest of your life. (and if so, you’re probably on the wrong site because I don’t generally talk about restrictive diets here - we are aiming for progress not perfection)

How can I lose weight without giving up junk food?

I really wonder about this question but more about that in a moment.

First I’ll say that it’s perfectly possible to lose weight without giving up junk food. You can either

a) reduce your portion sizes so that you are eating fewer calories than you need

This means looking at how many calories you need to lose weight and then seeing how much of your normal foods will give you that requirement.

Advantage - you don’t need to change your food choices at all
Disadvantage - junk foods are high in calories so you will be able to eat very little in terms of quantity and will be hungry all the time

or you can

b) reduce the amount and frequency of your junk food eating

With this option you eat junk food less often than you used to, for example, allowing yourself one cheat day a week or one treat a day or whatever.

Advantage - you eat healthily most of the time
Disadvantage - you feel deprived during the times when you are not having your fix

Actually I recommend neither. Why is that? - after all anyone who know me knows that I like chocolate and I certainly haven’t given it up! I don’t like the first suggestion because before long you will give in to real physical (and potentially sugar-induced) hunger and I don’t like the second because imposes rules and restrictions on you which will probably make you feel deprived and rebel in the end.

What worries me however is where the question is coming from.

I normally get asked - how can I give up this or that unhealthy habit….not how can I keep on wrecking my health and still look good.

As a weight loss coach, I’d really want to explore where that drive to keep up something that does you harm comes from. If it’s just a casual question about wanting to eat the odd cookie now and again - then that’s fine - no need to go ” completely cookieless” as part of a healthy diet.

But if you are wanting to feed yourself junk all the time then that is generally more than a food preference issue but a self-esteem issue. If you love and care for yourself in a healthy way, then you want to give yourself the best possible nourishment and find the ways to make that nourishment taste good too.

Now why do you not want that for yourself? Just something to think about….