Wellness Wednesday: Trendy New Diets
wellness wednesday: trendy new diets
Samina Qureshi is the Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and owner of Wholesome Start. Her nutrition counseling practice is based in Houston, Texas and she provides virtual nutrition counseling sessions to clients across the country. Schedule your FREE 15-minute nutrition session today!
Question: What are your thoughts on diet trends?
While diet trends may give you the feeling that you’re losing weight quickly and effectively, 95% of all dieters regain their weight lost within 1-5 years. Sure, you may shed off a few pounds before a vacation, but that comes at a cost. Many diets are marketed in such a way as to feed off of your insecurities related to body image, health, and lifestyle. Ultimately, these trendy diets are marketed to make you feel unsatisfied about your body image. This insecurity plants seeds of guilt and you end up taking drastic action to fit into society’s beauty standards. Completely disregarding your natural body cues and losing trust developed with your body causes total reliance on external rules in the form of fad diets. Cue weight cycling and endless frustration.
Diets are a controversial subject and people associate their way of eating with their morality and health which is why I would like to put this out there-- Everyone’s eating patterns and styles differ and there’s no right or wrong way to nourish your body. Do what works best for you without compromising your mental or physical wellbeing. But remember, your health and worth are not determined by a silly number on a scale.
Another reason why I don’t favor trendy restrictive diets is because the moment you follow them your autonomy gets thrown out the window. You’re bound to what diet culture tells you to do rather than taking your health into your own hands. What do you do if the specific foods on your new diet are not available when you’re out at dinner with your friends or are traveling for work? You likely feel anxious and stressed in social situations and your only choice is to feel guilty for not being “strong” enough to maintain your diet. Fad diets cheat you out of learning how to nourish your body in a balanced way that fits your unique needs. For something that is marketed as a way for you to get “healthy”, trendy diets usually leave you feeling low energy, stressed, and HANGRY. Not only do you lose all control, restrictive diets actually slow down your metabolism, result in poorer health outcomes, and lead to a disordered relationship with food. Whatever happened to making informed food decisions for yourself based on your preferences, metabolic needs, and mood?
Some people have food intolerances/allergies or even certain health conditions which supports their specific eating style, but one specific way of eating or diet is not going to work for everyone. Your body, metabolism, nutrient needs, access to food, budget, and health is unique to you. It’s important to learn how to make food work with you instead of against you in achieving your best health. You have the power to rediscover your body’s intuition and become an expert on meeting your nutritional needs. At Wholesome Start you will develop the tools you need to nourish your body in any situation and develop a healthier relationship with food and body image. There’s no food rules, counting, measuring, fear, guilt, or stress. Just food freedom empowered by your intuition and backed by science.
Sign-up for your FREE 15-min consult today to learn how to ditch diets for good, get back to enjoying your favorite foods, and reclaim your health! Be the first to know about the latest Wellness Wednesday Q&A by joining the Wholesome Start Tribe!