Part 2 : Why I don't believe in diets

As of 2007, 66% of Americans older than the age of 20 are overweight, approximately 34% of Americans are obese, which equates to to approximately 72 million Americans. By 2015, public health experts expect that 75% of all US adults will be either overweight or obese.* That’s this coming year! Those numbers not only baffle me but they frighten me. Obesity has become the fastest growing health problem in the United States and it is increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes* in adults and children.

Couple those chronic diseases with Coronary Heart Disease, the leading cause of death and disability for men and women between 1996 and 2006*, and we a RUNNING past an epidemic and into a complete disaster with our health. So why are we doing this to ourselves? I think there are a lot of reasons we are failing our health and wellness and it’s not just because of diet fads but diets definitely contribute to those numbers.

Why? Let me use a friend I have had for well over 10 years and we will call her Zooey. Zooey and I are both 5’ 6” tall, I am an apple shape, she is a pear shape and we both used to eat like crap, except when I started making changes, she did not. When I met Zooey she was roughly a size 12-14 and around 175# but last year she hit a size 22 women's, 255# and was at or close to 54% body fat. So what went wrong, what happened?

As I started to educate myself about the food I was consuming, Zooey skipped that band wagon and continued a life of fast food, an all around poor diet, chose diet sodas over water and didn't exercise. She steadily gained about 10# a year until she gained a total of 80# in ten years. I know from my experience when I started packing on the weight, I was in denial and I know Zooey was too. I think there are a lot of Americans like Zooey who just aren’t aware of what they’re consuming or how much they are consuming until you look in the mirror one day and realize you have become a statistic.

In my discussions with Zooey I realized I was correct, she had no idea how much she was truly consuming or how calorie dense her meals were. So I started asking about her daily intake and asking her to use MyFitnessPal to track her calories. We found that by noon, after consuming lunch, it wasn’t that uncommon for her to be at 1,700 calories which was her total calories for the day. So she started diets, Weight Watchers, South Beach or she would follow the MyFitnessPal application. All of these avenues led to failure and feelings of self worthlessness.

Zooey, like millions of Americans want the magic pill, the instant cure and when she started these diets, she really felt like she was going to be that skinny girl she always wanted to be. When results weren’t coming fast enough, coupled with restrictive diets that allowed no wiggle room for cheat meals, she fell off the wagon every time and only gained more weight. She started the vicious cycle of dieting and did it for 10 exhausting years.

Today I am happy to report that with a more conscious attitude towards her food and intake, coupled with mild bouts of exercise, Zooey has lost 25#! Although she is no where near her goal or at the fitness level she desires, she has finally seen success with a reduction in eating out, making better food choices and choosing better fluids than diet sodas. I love getting texts from her sharing her healthy meals and pictures of her treadmill work for the day because it makes me happy to know she is finding her path. She may never be a Crossfitter or a runner but she is on the path to recovery and is finding what suits her needs and goals because she took the time to address the problem.

I don’t think that anyone in this day in age would actually think eating fast food is a healthy meal but for many Americans, it’s consumed on a daily basis. I still grab a fast food item when I am in a crunch, so don’t think I’m perfect over here and I know lots of people don’t have time to cook any longer but the reality is, we have to make time. If we continue to perpetuate the culture of instant gratification, we are only going to become less and less healthy and we are going to pass on these habits to our children.

*NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training Fourth Edition Revised

Image: Google StockPhoto

(Part 1 available here)

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