We're Diet Crazy and Still Obese - Patch.com
Diets. What is a diet? The word means a way of life. The word diet comes from the Greek vocabulary meaning "mode of life". Let's look at some of the "diets" today.
DIETS TODAY:
- Atkins: High in Protein
- HCG: Injections and very low calorie intake.
- Soup Diet: self explanatory
- Low Carbohydrate Diet
- Low Fat Diet
- 17 Day Diet
- Zone Diet
- South Beach Diet
- Master Cleanse
- Grapefruit Diet
- Jenny Craig
- Medifast
- Nutrisystems
- Subway Diet
- Vegan Diet
- Weight Watchers
- VLC –Very low calorie diet
- Liquid Diet
- Herbalife
- Gluten-free diet
- Sugar Free Diet
- Diabetic Diet
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word diet is a noun and means, "food and drink regularly provided and or consumed", "habitual nourishment", "the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason."
Many people don't like to use the word "diet" because it has the word "die" in it. Many people don't like the words "go on a diet" because that means to be deprived.
I don't like the words "go on a diet" because it means you can then "go off the diet". On the other hand the word diet does apply to anyone who eats food. The bigger questions are "why do we have so many "diet choices" and the most important question is "what is your daily diet"? I believe that "a diet" is what you eat, period.
I also believe that it's a mindset, it's a choice and a way of life.
Diets have been around forever. People have been talking about calories and food choices forever. What hasn't been around forever are the junk food choices, fast food drive-through windows, processed foods, packaged foods, trans fats, hydrogenated oils, huge portions, mindless eating, sugar loaded "health foods", super-sized everything, and obviously we're not paying attention to calories.
CONTENT AND CALORIES ARE WHAT COUNT
- How many calories a day do you eat?
- How many calories a day "should" you eat?
- How much do you weigh? How much should you weigh?
- What is your waist size?
- What is your BMI?
- Do you open packages or cook real food?
- Do you know what a portion size is?
- Do you exercise everyday?
- Do you gain 10 pounds a year?
- Do you look at yourself in the mirror?
- Do you eat mindlessly?
- Do you eat nine servings of vegetables a day?
- Do you eat 3-5 fresh fruits a day?
- Do you drink enough water?
- Do you lift weights?
- Do you eat out more than three times a week?
- Do you wear a pedometer?
- Do you plan your weekly shopping lists?
- Do you cook food or heat "frozen food" up in a microwave?
Americans want a quick fix. We want results without having to do anything for them.
We want to lose 20 pounds in a month, we want flat abs in two days, and we want to go down a pant or dress size over night. Now we have the hcg injections that will "melt pounds away" with no exercise allowed! This is a very controversial subject. The concept itself is questionable. Inject yourself with a hormone, eat only 500 calories a day and don't exercise because your caloric intake is so low you won't have the energy! This "diet" costs up to $1,000 for six weeks. This is so backwards, yet so typical of what our society is not willing to do. You can take that $1,000 and for years work out daily at a gym, or hire a trainer or join boot camp or a life coach to get you on the right track, a sensible track to being healthy and fit for a lifetime not for a short time.
If you were unable to answer my questions above, do some research and start figuring out just exactly what you consume everyday and how much exercise you do.
Start writing it down, keep a fitness/diet journal with you, pay attention to how much you eat, when you eat, where you eat and why. And when you shop, read the labels! Look at sodium content, fat grams, hydrogenated oil and trans fat content, calories per serving, and fiber content.
I encourage you to answer each of my questions above in a food journal and use the journal everyday to track your food intake, to adjust your calorie count and to begin paying attention to just exactly what you put into your mouth everyday.
Sue D'Alonzo is a personal trainer and a boot camp instructor. She has been in the fitness business for more than 30 years. She lives in Pinole, trains in Berkeley and is a co-owner of Pinole Valley Bootcamp. She is certified with The American College of Sports Medicine.
10 Oct, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG1u9P44YJeg2s67dWNWVqjtTgzoA&url=http://pinole.patch.com/articles/were-diet-crazy-and-still-obese
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