| Diets Don't Work! |  |
By Julie S. Rayburn
I know we have all heard it before, that diets don't work. Why
then, do millions of people spend billions of dollars every year on
diet foods, diet products, or the latest diet craze? Did you know
that right now there are more than $40 BILLION spent each year on
diet products? Are you contributing to those billions? I know there
are much better ways to spend your hard earned money, so let me
explain to you the REAL reason that diets don't work.
In order to understand why diets don't work, you need to
understand the needs of your body. Imagine a machine so perfect that
it maintains itself, reproduces itself, and operates itself. That
machine is your body! Simultaneously, your body operates over 125
trillion cells, and keeps them all in perfect working order. The
individual cells store and use all of the raw materials they need.
They get these raw materials from the food that you give your body.
Very literally, you are what you eat! So we have this perfect
machine, and just like any other machine, your body has certain
requirements for operation. We all know that the body can last only
a certain number of days without water, a few minutes without air,
and a few months without food. These are the basic requirements of
our body. But let's dig deeper. Obviously, to get the most from
your water, you would not drink polluted water. That would be
harmful to the development of your body, right? We would not last
very long or develop very well breathing polluted air either. Now
look at food. The quality of the food we put into our bodies
determines the quality of our machine. Would everyone agree?
I know you are wondering what all of this has to do with diets not
working. I am getting to that very point. Let's look at a
typical "diet" that exists in our society today. Without
singling anyone out, most diets require that:
a. you reduce your calorie intake,
b. reduce your fat intake, and
c. you add some kind of "supplemental" food to your diet to
ensure proper nutrition.
All of these requirements seem reasonable since we have been told
from day 1 that too many calories will make you fat, as will too much
fat in your diet. At the same time, we are being told that we need
fat, and too little calories will cause our bodies to go into famine
mode, and our bodies will actually fight to retain the weight! I
know that everyone reading this has heard these very things!
So is anyone confused?
Just how do you determine the perfect number of calories for you so
that you are getting enough to keep your body out of famine mode but
also in a mode where weight loss will occur? A lot of experts will
look at your activity levels and give you some points if you are very
active. Without specific scientific knowledge of your individual
body, how will you know exactly what number of calories are right for
you? Well if we look at how intelligent the body is, our body should
be able to tell us if we are eating enough, or eating too much. But,
you say, "I am eating the calories I am supposed to but I still
feel hungry!" Has anyone ever had that feeling?
I am going to propose a new idea.
If your body is getting enough calories based on what scientists
believe is enough calories for your weight and activity level, then
why aren't you losing weight? Is this not the question everyone
wants answered?! Let me explain to you why this is so.
Your body may not be so concerned about the quantity of calories as
it is concerned for the quality of the calories. Which daily menu
below would you believe to provide superior nutrition?
Menu #1
Breakfast: Wheat cereal w/ skim milk, English muffin, Orange Juice
Lunch: Turkey sandwich on Wheat bread w/ veggies, And mustard
Dinner: Roast Chicken breast, Mashed Potatoes, Biscuits, Green beans
Menu #2
Breakfast: Fresh strawberries, Fresh orange, Slice of seasonal melon
Lunch: Huge garden salad w/low calorie dressing,Bowl of white beans w/
Onions, 2 bananas w/ crushed flaxseed
Dinner: Huge garden salad w/low calorie dressing, Huge plate of
steamed broccoli, Baked potato, Big bowl of grapes
Neither menu looks particularly damaging, does it? Or does it? It
comes down to this; your body needs nutrients regardless of the
number of calories it takes to get those nutrients. That is why when
you eat one of those "nutrition" bars, that any one of a
hundred diets encourage these days, you are hungry soon after that.
I know they advertise those bars as having optimal nutrition, and say
that you will get all of the "recommended daily allowance" of
vitamins if you eat two a day. So why aren't you losing weight?
Or if they helped to begin with, why have you plateaued if you are
not yet at your ideal weight?
Let me say this, ANY diet will promote some weight loss if your
eating habits were bad enough to begin with. But what if you are
eating menu 1, which is considered to be a healthy low-fat diet, plus
eating two nutrition bars daily to make sure you are getting enough
vitamins? Face it, if you are eating menu 1 plus nutrition bars, and
your weight loss comes to a halt long before you think it should, how
long do you think you will continue choking down those diet bars?
After a while, it will feel like a complete waste of money! Plus,
you're thinking, "I can eat a few donuts a week and still not
gain any weight.' And eventually you will be back to your old
way of eating, and probably gain back any weight that you lost. This
cycle will continue over and over until you finally believe that you
were "meant to be fat'.
Well, buck up little camper! No one was "meant to be fat'.
Not even you!
As far as your machine is concerned, fat is waste tissue that it
wants to get rid of, if you will just let it!Yes, you read that
correctly, you have to let it! Since you are probably saying,
"what do you mean, let it', allow me to explain.
Remember talking about the perfect machine? The perfect machine has
certain requirements for operation. Your body requires vitamins and
minerals that it can only get through superior nutrition. Anything
less than this, your body will consider inferior. All it takes is to
read the ingredient list on some of the boxes at the grocery store
that claim to be "health' foods, and you will see what I
mean. Your body can recognize Vitamin A when it is coming from a
natural source of Vitamin A, like a sweet potato. But when the food
processing companies process the natural foods to turn them into
something that will have a long shelf life, and then "enrich'
the foods by adding back synthetic Vitamins, your body does not
recognize that as the vitamins it needs! Therefore, you are eating
calories but not getting any real nutrition from them. That is why
your body signals a short time later to you that you are still
hungry. Because it is more concerned with the quality of calories
than the quantity! If you have been looking for permission to stop
counting calories, you have it! Counting calories is a waste of your
time and energy that could be better spent some other way.
The calories that you consume must come from high quality sources,
otherwise you are just putting stuff into your body that your body
cannot use. When you start feeding your body high quality calories,
it will get rid of the fat waste tissue that it has been holding on
to. Your energy levels will skyrocket! Your blood pressure will
return to normal levels! You will feel better than you ever have.
Your body will be given the opportunity to do some "spring
cleaning', and will get rid of waste products that have been
hanging around in there just because it did not have the energy to
get rid of them sooner. These are the benefits that come from giving
your body what it biologically needs.
I have tried almost all of the diets out there, (with the exception
of the Dr. Adkins diet, which I personally believe is a crime against
nature!) and I have never felt better in my life than I do today. I
eat as much food as I want, my skin is smooth, my hair grows like
crazy, I do not experience indigestion, heartburn, or stomach upset.
I rarely get colds, and I never experience constipation! I have
energy that lasts all day, and I am saving thousands of dollars a
year that I used to spend on nutritional supplements! (Most of which
ended up at the back of the pantry after I couldn't stand them
anymore!) I am passing a healthy lifestyle on to my children which
also keeps them free from the "normal' childhood illnesses.
They do not get ear infections, they do not get fevers, they rarely
have colds, and they do not experience upset tummies! What could be
better than that? So even if you won't do it for yourself, do it
for your children. They are worth it!
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Julie Rayburn is a Lifestyle Coach for Vitality Health and Fitness.
She has created weight loss programs that are guaranteed to work for
anyone! You can check out her programs at www.takebackyourhealth.org
and sign up for a free monthly newsletter full of helpful information
about losing weight!
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