What diet is right for me?

The most common question I get asked when people find out I've lost a lot of weight is: "How did you do it?"

I'm often tempted to make up an outlandish reply like, "I stood on my head for 3 days and ate nothing but bacon and the weight just fell right off!"  But the point is, most of us already know HOW to lose weight.  Use up more calories than you put in.  So, either exercise more, eat fewer calories, or do a little of both.  Every successful weight loss plan in the world is some variation of this principle.  It's not some magic secret we have yet to unlock about the human body, and I am certainly not hiding it. 

What many people really need to know about weight loss comes down to three main factors...

What diet is right for me?  Not every diet is one-size-fits-all, works for everyone.  One of my favorite quotes is, "What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular."  Just because it's trendy to take HCG drops and severely restrict your calories, doesn't mean that is what's going to work for you (nor is it necessarily safe, but that's another topic).   

Many people find success in more structured plans like Weight Watchers and NutriSystem that try to take the guesswork out of counting calories and provide you with a set amount of "points" or food for you to eat for the day.  Group support is a very important part of many programs, like Overeaters Anonymous and similar programs.  Some people like the simplicity of plans like SlimFast, soup diets or juice fad diets -- most meals become predictable, planned, not something you have to think about anymore.  The best question to ask yourself when seeing if a diet is the right fit for you is: "Five to ten years from now, do I see myself still following this diet and still enjoying it?"  If the answer is no, then perhaps you need to do some more research and look elsewhere.  If a diet is not enjoyable, sustainable, and do-able long term, then what is the point in throwing your time, money, and energy into it?  Find a diet plan you really enjoy and WANT to do.  If you can't find one, make your own!  My current diet is a bastardization of what I learned in Weight Watchers -- high fiber, low fat, lean protein -- but I don't count any "points", because that drove me batty after a couple years.  I only weigh myself once a month so I'm not so fixated on the ever-fluctuating number on the scale.  I try to listen to my body and adapt my diet to what's going on in my life at any given time -- because that is what works for ME.

Am I ready?  The most underrated, unmentioned factor in weight loss is mentality, and to a lesser extent environment.  I am by no means a psychologist, but there were many times in my life when I was not ready to lose weight -- not because I couldn't buy the foods needed or start an exercise plan, but because my head was not in the game.  True, lasting weight loss involves a commitment to yourself, to get back on the horse and keep trying every single day even if you fall off the wagon for the umpteenth day in a row.  There is no shame in falling off a diet -- we are human, and our bodies AND minds need different things at different times.  But if you can't mentally pick yourself up after a fall, dust yourself off and say, "Today is a new day." -- then perhaps now is not the time to be forcing the weight loss issue in your life.  Weight loss takes a commitment to yourself and also compassion for yourself.  You've got to want it, you've got to be hard-working, but you also have to be forgiving of yourself.  This is the hardest thing to find, and something I still work on everyday.  Only you know what you are ready for and what you are capable of -- but only if you try to find out.  If you're not ready right now, that is OKAY.  Just keep checking back from time to time to see if you are ready to make that life-long commitment to a better you.

Can I adapt?  Weight loss is not about supermodels in teeny bikinis, beach vacations, free clothes, endorsement deals, and happiness like the media portrays.  Weight loss is hard, and life changes around you at the same time as your body.  The diet that worked for you at the beginning will need some tweaks and adjustments as you get to the weight your body is meant to be at, and it takes work to find that magic balance in diet and exercise to keep your weight stable for the long haul.  The people around you may react differently to you at a lower weight, positively AND negatively.  There will be bumps along the road, probably even some violent turbulence from time to time.  You need to be firm enough to stick to your plan, but also flexible enough to take changes in stride and adjust.  To me, losing weight is not the hardest part-- keeping it off through all of life's ups and downs is the struggle.  Continually be willing to adapt to your situation and your surroundings, and you will find that balance of diet and exercise that fits in your life, right here and right now.

Many of us expect "skinny" people to just automatically be happy, when often losing weight will bring up new challenges and problems in your life.  Weight loss is not a magic cure-all to every problem.  But if you follow the right diet for you, are mentally ready to commit to it for life, and still have the flexibility to adapt to changes in your life around you, you'll find that success you're looking for.  And it will feel pretty sweet to sit back and say, "Look how far I have come.  Now I just have to keep going."           

*Disclaimer: I do not endorse nor dispute the effectiveness of any diet plans linked in this blog.  The links are provided for informational purposes only.        

Why is weight loss glorified?

Many of us grew up with Barbie Dolls, watching movies with Disney Princesses and TV shows starring glamorous actresses.  The ideal put before us at a young age, particularly for girls, is of a waif-like, buxom beauty.  Models are size 0 women, twig-thin, emaciated.  We are programmed to want to attain that status, whether we admit it to ourselves or not.  It's there, secretly whispering to us, what we want to be, what we should be, what we value.

It came as somewhat of a shock to me in the past year or so, as I've been doing projects and during my clinical dietetic internship, that being overweight is not as bad for your health as it's made out to be in the media.

It is true that morbidity and mortality increases with weight.  Heart disease, diabetes, everything that we're told will kill us because of those extra pounds becomes more likely.  But it's a gradual increase in risk.  For a BMI between 25-29.9 (considered "overweight"), research has shown LOWER mortality rates than those for normal weight individuals.  This is especially true the older you get.  If you take the flip side and look at morbidity and mortality risk in underweight individuals (BMI < 18.5), the risk for disease and death skyrockets. Why?

During sickness, particularly infections, when your immune system is up and running at full steam, your digestive system gets turned down.  Remember not feeling hungry the last time you ran a fever?  That's your immune system doing its job.  Not only does your body shunt energy away from running digestion to run your immune system, but it's trying to keep nutrients away from whatever bugs are inhabiting you so it's better able to get rid of them.  Depending on the severity of the illness, this may last for days or weeks.  If you don't come into it with some energy stored away as fat, the body has no choice but to start breaking down muscle for fuel during times of starvation, and your chances for survival start going down quickly.  Your favorite supermodel would be taken down by the flu far faster than those of us with some extra padding.

In cancer patients, survival is directly correlated with the patient's weight going into treatment.  Many doctors won't even try a newer, experimental, or aggressive treatment option if a patient is underweight or even normal weight.  It is fully expected for a patient to lose some weight during most chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and if the patient doesn't have the weight to lose, that treatment suddenly does not become an option.  Most of the nutrition battle for cancer patients is finding ways to get enough calories, the opposite of what the rest of us are programmed to do.

This isn't to say that you should abandon reasonably healthy eating practices or forget your exercise routine.  I'm not advocating for obesity (BMI > 30) or pigging out with reckless abandon.  But we should be more forgiving of ourselves for those pesky last 10-20lbs that won't go away no matter how hard we torture ourselves about them.  Someday, they may just be what helps keep you alive.

Treat your body right.  Eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables but also eat some of what you enjoy.  Exercise regularly, but make it something you like to do.  Find successes in actions, not the number on the scale.  Your body will be at the weight it's meant to be at, and that will be your ideal.  Weight loss in and of itself is not what should be glorified.  Health is.