Was this you on Dec. 31, 2015?
It's no secret that when one year ends, self-proclaimed promises are made to work out more and eat better the upcoming year. Diet program, diet products, health club membership, nutrition counseling and personal training sales drastically increase at the beginning of each new year from people going broke trying to achieve their ideal body. For all of you who said greetings 2016, it's a new year, new me, fit me, healthy me, hot me and made New Years resolutions to lose weight, let me break down five logical reasons and five realistic reasons why you should ditch the diet.
LOGICALLY:
1. Diets don't work.
Did you read that clearly? Let me restate, Diet's do not work. Period, end of story. It's not surprising that over half the people that go on legitimate diets regain all the weight back shortly after. Yes, the number on the scale may go down temporarily, but after your diet ends, you're gonna want and will eat those potato chips that you weren't allowed to have while you were on the diet, which will ultimately shock the body, and you'll likely end up overeating and buzzkill, back where you started.
2. It's bad for your mental health.
Diets are purely just a waste of mental energy. It is quite exhausting to have to count calories and live each day with so much focus on what foods will enter your mouth every moment of everyday. We are all human; we have enough to keep track of, we all like sugar; so we will cheat while on a diet. This can lead to feelings of guilt affecting your self-confidence. Point blank, diets can lead to depression and make life a lot less happy and vibrant.
3. Your body tells you what it needs, while a diet tells you not to listen.
Eating is an instinct that you have. You were born with the ability to sense when you were hungry and when you have had enough to eat. As a kid, food was food. Diets brainwash you, causing you to become out of touch with your own body's instinct. If you listen closely, your body will tell you what it is craving and when to consume it. They try to tell us that certain food are good and certain foods are bad, while in actuality, all foods in moderation is the key to a healthy life.
4. Diet's measure the physical quality of your life in numerical terms.
By numerical terms, I mean weight. Diets define you by the number that appears on a scale. You are worth more than how high or how low that number is. Believe in your self-worth, not the physchological marketing tricks hidden beneath diet programs. Don't let yourself believe that you must go on a diet to be healthy and happy.
5. Diets disrupt the body's natural process.
Diet's put an enormous amount of stress on your body which can lead to lightheadedness, unstable body temperature, low heart rate, tiredness, etc. They can slow your metabolism down and put your body in starvation mode. If your body is not receiving a sufficient number of calories, then your body will find energy from eating away at your muscles. You also might find yourself binge-eating, which confuses your body.
REALISTICALLY:
6. Two words: chocolate and pizza
Life without the sweet savory deliciousness of chocolate desserts, and the salty goodness of warm pizza is downright dreadful. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the tasty delight these foods bring, instead of depriving yourself from it.
7. It's annoying to eat out with dieters
You do not want to be that super boring, "on-a-diet" person who orders a salad at a social dinner outing. Treat yourself when at a restaurant and order the dish that will bring you the most satisfaction.
8. Being hungry sucks
It is extremely unpleasant to be around hangry people. It's as simple as feeding yourself enough to satisfy you, so that your stomach isn't growling in the middle of class, and so that your mood swings are not outrageous.
9. Food is good and life is short.
Plain and simple. Food makes people happy and life is too short to be anything but happy. Eat whatever you want because it tastes good, not just because you should eat it because its healthy. Simply control your portion sizes because consuming an entire piece of cake may not make you feel so hot.
10. It will save you money.
Seriously, why spend a fortune on a diet program, when you can just chose to eat healthy in moderation. Experiment with recipes and enjoy cooking in your kitchen. Preparing your own meals will make you feel accomplished and in control of your body's diet.
To all you diet fanatics, make your 2016 New Years resolution be to ditch the diet, and to make lifestyle changes that form healthy habits. Find some healthy recipes you want to cook up, and savor each dish. Food should not be the primary focus of each day. Of course, we need to nurture our body, but diets cause us to become obsessive over food. They cause us to overlook the other beauties of life. Ultimately, they just add stress to our lives creating unnecessary pressure. You are good enough; you are worth milestones more than the number the scale reads. Eliminate the diets and eliminate the scale too, if you have must. Don't end up like the girl above, just kiss the diet goodbye, and repeat after me:
