By It’s time to eliminate these ineffective diet strategies for good.
Have you been stuck in the 80s regarding nutrition, weight loss and health?
You are not alone in that matter at all.
Old school and ineffective diet and nutrition strategies are still showcased on the internet, and people quickly tell you their versions.
Unfortunately, nutrition could be more exciting, although it’s pretty simple — like exercise strategies.
Losing weight, putting on muscle and getting your health back are not tied to some unknown entities; they are very simple and precise strategies that many still need to pay more attention to.
I fell prey to many of the points I will highlight below.
It’s only natural that we all want to follow specific trends or see someone’s physique and determine that their strategy is suitable for us, too.
For starters, when I first explored the world of bodybuilding to prepare for a figure comp, I was completely taken by how restrictive the diet was and the lengths people go to to stay lean.
Yes, some drugs are involved, but there are also very dangerous supplements — particularly fat burners.
These supplements and drugs may get you the desired results faster — but at what cost? Usually, that’s not even taken into consideration.
I now think of health, fitness, and well-being as a holistic approach to leading a balanced lifestyle. By balance, I mean your body works with the right food and exercise program to help you achieve your goals.
That realisation required a lot of struggles and following fads that left me questioning my self-worth in the process. Keeping it simple is what saved me.
Here are some old and very stupid things we have all followed at one stage, which don’t work and might compromise our mental & physical health.
One: The dreaded macro counting
For years, I followed this mantra.
Weighing and measuring all my foods to ensure I wasn’t getting too much or too little.
But the truth is, it’s unnecessary to go all out and take such an approach toward your macros. It’s not easy and simple (because we’re not laboratory scientists) to determine the best macro composition based on our body and metabolism.
It’s only a guestimation — not an accurate one by any means.
Weight loss results from eating the necessary calories, regardless of what macro group it’s from.
For instance, you can get your 1200 caloric per day ratio by eating pure fats.
What is important is to balance out your nutrition based on your goals.For instance, hitting those required protein goals is essential if you want to put on muscle, and eating lower caloric protein sources for fat loss will help you hit those weight loss goals.
Remember that ensuring you feel full and satisfied after every meal will help you eat fewer calories and give you the energy you need to sustain lower caloric levels.
Two: Counting the number of calories in food
I’m not sure about you, but any time I’ve taken this approach, my obsessive-compulsive levels rise.
It takes over my life, and since it’s happened many times in my youth , I would prefer to eliminate this negative behaviour from occurring again.
Back in the day, counting calories made sense because we all assumed how many calories we took determined our weight loss success.
Focusing on calories makes us susceptible to becoming fixated on numbers rather than thinking about the foods we eat.
Eating more foods low in nutrient value — that is, lower in fibre, fats, and protein- may be eating fewer calories, but your appetite will shoot through the roof!
A diet like this is not sustainable long-term and only backfires for weight loss and maintenance.
There are better options for your health, too.
Instead, focus on the quality of your nutrition, its vitamin and mineral content and how it will aid in feelings of satiety and quality of life!
Three: The low-carb way of life
Although many paleo and keto people won’t like this, restricting carbs can affect our satiety levels.
When I progressed with a low-carb food plan for many years, I was miserable, hungry and lacking energy.
My muscle mass started declining, which meant my hard work in the gym was for nothing.
I’m not talking about the refined carbs people are obsessed with — fibre-filled carbs sustain our appetite and fan our energy fire.
One study showed the difference in participants who ate low-carb and high-carb diets.
Researchers told both groups to eat as much as they liked.
Those in the high-carb participants (in which most carbs consisted of more high-fibre foods) are fewer calories and also lost the most weight.
These people didn’t feel the need to eat more.
Carbs promote the most health benefits when eaten as whole foods packed with lots of fibre.
Foods such as oats, fruits, veggies, nuts, beans, and seeds are some of the most powerful foods on the planet — no wonder the people who live the longest and are the healthiest eat this food in abundance.
Although glucose is the sugar in carbs, it’s what our body uses as fuel.
Our brain needs it to fire up with energy; from an evolutionary perspective, it’s the most preferred energy source. Plus, most people around the globe eat and adore carbs.
If you choose not to eat carbs, go ahead. For those who feel compelled to eliminate carbs for weight loss, you don’t need to.
Just eat healthy carb sources, and you will still experience weight loss.
This website looks at several studies on the pros and cons of low-carb eating. It’s food for thought.
Four: You don’t need to drink juices or take on a liver cleanse
While I love my smoothie every morning, the difference between that and regular juices is that I use the WHOLE pulp and only add valuable items, such as broccoli, spinach, berries, and a minimal amount of banana (just as a thickener).
On the other hand, clear juices are void of any fibre and claim to do miracle organ cleansing and aid in weight loss.
Unfortunately, that’s not the absolute truth.
Studies have yet to be conducted on the effectiveness of juice cleanses.
However, you may consume fewer calories in juice and perhaps lose some water weight — that will be short-lived when you begin eating real food again.
Plus, the juice’s effectiveness lies in the ingredients.
But seeing as all the pulp is gone, you’re consuming all the sugar within the fruit. It’s very low in nutrient value and will leave you feeling hungry.
If you love juices and are a little obsessed with them like I am, leave all the pulp and only add antioxidant-rich fruits, like berries and some bananas (try green or unripe ones).
Unripe bananas are great for your gut microbiome.
Key takeaways
It pays to keep nutrition simple by eating the most nutrient-dense foods possible, exercising and resting enough so your body can embrace weight loss effortlessly.
Fighting nature will only cause a lot of resistance and bring on frustration when the results fail to arrive.
It’s time we started paying attention to health first rather than drastic measures that bring on failure over the long term.
If this way of life served our ancestors, and we are the sum and total of them — because we share similar genetics, then why change course when there is no need to?
We’ve already discovered what works, so why are we trying to continually re-invent the weight loss wheel?
Don’t look for shortcuts; instead, seek the means to nourish your body, and you will be rewarded accordingly.
Grab your special Christmas recipes bundle, and stay healthy during the festive season.
1 Comment