There are so many diets out there and they all claim to be the answer to any issue you may have - Want to lose weight? Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, Intermittent fasting, Mediterranean, Vegetarian. Want to reduce inflammation? Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, Intermittent fasting, Mediterranean, Vegetarian. Want to get healthier? Paleo, Keto, Whole 30, …. You get the picture. No wonder we are all so confused! Something that makes sorting this out challenging is that we want ALL the things: lose weight, reduce inflammation, get healthier, look better, feel better.
The first step to begin choosing a plan is to prioritize what we want to accomplish. This is different from goal-setting because we are tapping into what will motivate us to pick a plan and stick with it. Take a few moments to reflect on what about your health and/or appearance you thought about improving the most often in the last few months. Write them down here (in order of importance):
1._____________________________________________________________
2._____________________________________________________________
3._____________________________________________________________
Your choices can be anything (they are YOUR choices, after all) but the more specific you can be, the better. Here are some examples:
I want to lose 5 pounds by the end of February.
I want to lose an inch off my waist.
I want to be able to wear last year’s jeans.
I want to lower my blood pressure 5 points.
I want to drop one dress size by May.
I want to stop eating gluten.
I want to eat less meat, down to meat just once a day.
I want to have enough energy to enroll in the HIIT class at the Y.
I want to improve my gut health so that I’m not in pain or discomfort anymore.
Step two is the easiest. Write down your three priorities and tape them to your bathroom mirror. Every morning after you brush your teeth, repeat them a couple of times out loud. This will reinforce your intention and help make them a reality.
Step three. OK, so now that you’ve prioritized what exactly it is that you want to accomplish from your diet, now let’s figure out what you DON’T want from dietary changes. Be as honest as possible here, because this decision will in large part dictate your success in reaching your objectives. If you don’t like to cook, are on a budget, live with others who aren’t super supportive of your changes, hate meal prepping, travel a lot, don’t want to give up a certain food, or anything else, those things need to be taken into consideration. Go ahead and list them here (but you are only allowed to have 3 - too many and, to be honest, you may as well continue on your present course and love yourself as you are!) and once again, specificity is key. You may not have 3, you may only have one or two which will make your plan easier to follow.
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
Examples:
The meals have to be easy to prepare.
I will not give up my nightly glass of wine.
I am on a budget so meals need to be inexpensive.
I travel 3 days a week so I need to know what I can eat while on the road.
My spouse doesn’t understand my new diet and wants to keep all the foods I can’t have in the house.
I don’t want to spend more than 15 minutes preparing a meal.
I hate most vegetables.
The fourth step is to figure out how to compensate for those dietary no-go’s. This may take some time educating yourself (or using a nutrition consultant or health coach) to create the proper strategy but it will be well worth it. You will increase your knowledge of healthy dietary protocols while becoming more intuitive of your body’s needs and what may be standing in the way of accomplishing your goals. To get you started, here are a few ideas:
If you hate meal prepping and cooking, look at a meal service plan such as Sun Basket, Pete's Paleo, Purple Carrot, or Green Chef | Healthy Meal Kit Delivery Service. These can be a huge help if you are trying to eat according to a certain goal such as more plant-based, gluten free, paleo or organic. They may seem costly but actually can be affordable because there is no waste and you aren’t impulse buying at the grocery store. It also puts usually puts dinner on the table in under 30 minutes.
If you travel a lot, invest in creating a bin or drawer where you keep good quality snacks and meal replacement items that you can just grab and go with. I like Pamela's Gluten Free Whenever Bars, Bulletproof Collagen Bars, Keto Grass Fed Meat Sticks, Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter Snack Packs, Packets of Line Caught Tuna, Seasons Sweet and Savory Sardine Salad, Paleo Angel Power Balls, Pure Organic Layered Fruit Bars and Olive Snack Packs.
Also, the night before you’re traveling, make a quick dinner of ground beef cooked with onions and garlic, mixed with cauliflower or regular rice, vegetables and coconut aminos. Make enough to put some in a disposable container and take along as your travel meal for the next day.
If you live with others who aren’t following your new dietary guidelines, make a dish that will fit into everyone’s protocol, such as chicken noodle soup, but you have zucchini noodles in your soup instead of the regular wheat noodles everyone else is eating. You’ll just need to replace something in the meal with something you can eat. Don’t make separate meals, it’s way too much work. The others in your household will benefit from eating healthier foods and you will save yourself extra work. If you have little ones, transition them to healthier snacks instead of keeping the unhealthy ones around.
Step 5 is to use this information to determine the diet plan that best fits your criteria. You are going to use this information to design your own plan. For instance, if you decided your top priority is gut health, look for a plan that eliminates some of the foods such as dairy and gluten that contribute to gut inflammation. Familiarize yourself with the dietary guidelines, keeping your no-go’s in mind. If one of your no-go’s is to have that daily glass of wine, or you don’t want to spend more than 15 minutes putting a meal together, adjust the diet to reflect that using the strategies you’ve identified earlier. Here is a brief overview of the most popular diets out there right now:
The Paleo diet is designed to resemble what our ancestors ate thousands of years ago. It focuses on unprocessed, whole foods consisting of meat, seafood, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and healthy fats while avoiding processed foods, grains, dairy, legumes, and trans fats. This is a good choice for those who want a simple diet without a lot of rules, reduces inflammation and most people do lose weight on it because of cutting out processed foods.
Whole 30 is a 30 day reset that cuts out foods that may be having a negative impact on your health. It is restrictive for the 30 days; you must avoid dairy, grains, alcohol, legumes, sugar, food additives and processed or junk foods. The idea is to avoid any foods or liquids that may be “triggers” for you, catalysts for health issues. This one is good for those experiencing health issues without committing to on ongoing plan.
Keto is a very low carbohydrate high fat diet plan. It was originally developed almost a century ago as a treatment for epilepsy and may hold promise for people with Type 2 diabetes. The premise behind it is to train the body to use ketones for fuel rather than glucose. It’s generally not sustainable for the majority of people although there may be some weight loss in the first few months.
Intermittent Fasting isn’t really a diet in the sense that it promotes certain foods while restricting others, but it does restrict your window of consuming food. There have been many studies done on the health benefits of IF, one of which is to allow enough time for the body to focus on healing and repair rather than digestion. Because there is normally a restriction of calories due to the smaller window of eating time (can be as few as eating just within a 4 hour window), many people do lose weight while experiencing healing and more energy.
There you have a brief synopsis of some of the more popular diets or eating protocols that we hear a lot about. But I’d like to propose another route if this all seems too complicated or difficult. And that is…..
Just stop eating processed foods. I can’t stress enough how much change you’ll experience if you just follow this one rule! Processed foods (and that means almost anything in a box or fast foods) are:
Not healthy even if it’s organic, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, etc. because the nutrients aren’t good quality and bioavailable to the body
Usually contain unhealthy fats and high glycemic ingredients that convert to glucose quickly in the body leading to blood sugar spikes)
Easy to eat too much of because of “convenience”
Poor quality foods
Too many calories
When you go to the grocery store, shop the outer edge of the store. That’s where all the fresh foods are like produce and meats. My personal opinion and what I’ve found with my clients that they will eat less of a less desirable food like cookies if they actually make the cookies from scratch rather than buy a box. You’ll be eating much more nutrient dense food which is not only more healthful but more satisfying so that you’ll need less to fill you up. This ONE CHANGE can change your health, your appearance, your energy levels.
So many of us make resolutions for the New Year that we’ll forget by February !. Instead, formulate a realistic path that will become part of who you are and how you live. Don’t overcomplicate it or make it too difficult with rules that are impossible to stick with. Find what works for you and don’t be afraid to tweak it along the way!
