Word of warning, slight vent ahead!
Without going into too much detail I am having to follow a strict diet for a while for health reasons (nothing serious!) and the process has inspired this post.
This is not a post about why dieting isn’t good for your weight, how it will make you yo yo and put weight back on. It is not about fad diets that are crazy and extreme and not good for your health at all. I am using the word diet in this post in terms of restricted eating, not because I want to lose weight.
I’ve been on a lot of diets in my youth, i’ve wanted to try them all to find the secret to quick weight loss. Now, as a trainer I wish I could go back in time slap myself with some sense. Dieting by your own choice is one thing but having to eat a certain way due to medical reasons is another. I have so much more respect and empathy for these people now, how frustrating it must be to live with it.
Trust me you have no idea what food actually contains until you are restricted. So here are my top 5 reasons why diets suck
1. Eating out and celebrations
When trying to choose healthy options in the past I looked at it like I was doing a good thing for myself, I was looking after my body and it was my choice to do so. When you’re restricted on a diet you are not allowed certain foods therefore the freedom of choice is taken. Recently I found myself in 2 predicaments. 1 – I went out to dinner with friends and knowing this in advance I looked up the restaurant’s menu online and chose the best option. In reality what came out of the kitchen wasn’t as healthy as it described in the menu which was very frustrating. 2 -At the next dinner out I asked the waitor for a side salad with no dressing which they declined, seriously how much does a few pieces of lettuce cost??! Having to sit at the table while everyone ate garlic bread was just cruel but hey the ordeal was over with within 10 minutes and then I forgot about it.
Socialising is heavily related to food. I control what I can but what about those things you can’t? Parties, weddings, events? Times you can’t control what food is offered? It’s quite isolating and you often feel like you are being rude for refusing food.
2. Peer pressure
There’s something about when your friend goes on a diet, you just want to convince them not to, that they don’t need to they look fine the way they are. That what they’re doing is silly and unnecessary “go on, just have one piece/sip/plate” “why are you dieting for? Don’t get skinny!” Is it that people genuinely don’t understand or that they don’t want you to succeed? I have to say though, when restricted eating is for your health the pressure is mostly taken off.
3. Temptation
I don’t think i’ve ever noticed how many temptations there are around me in my everyday life. All of a sudden everything is amplified. People walking past you with a coffee, what’s in people’s trolley’s at the supermarket, the smells out of people’s homes as they cook dinner as your walking/running past, a mother feeding their child a sandwich for heavens sake! People offering me temptations is the worst, it also falls under the ‘being rude by refusing’ umbrella. I must admit that temptations die down after a while, it’s just the idea of it that is appealing. Try attending multiple birthday parties and having to eat your own lame fruit salad in lieu of cake… I still thought the fruit was beautiful though!
4. Wanting what you can’t have
Isn’t this, as humans, How we function? The grass is always greener and what not? At first, when I was told I couldn’t have bread I was upset, I don’t know why seeing as I don’t eat bread anyway, but the pure fact that I wasn’t allowed depressed me. Mental strength anyone? I started craving all sorts of random stuff purely because it was on the No No list, luckily that too has subsided.
5. Boring
Enough said.
This is not an all bad post, if you can read between the lines you picked up that i’ve got a handle on it right? Right? In all seriousness, following a diet can be hard. If you do not have to do so for medical reasons then I advise against it, it can cause health problems and weight gain. Instead, why not CHOOSE to eat healthy, you are not restricted, you can have whatever you want but you CHOOSE not to. You indulge every now and then, that’s normal, but you eat sensibly and eat to fuel your body with highly nutritious foods.
Stay tuned, i’m about to flip this article on it’s head… 🙂
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