The Dangers Of Fad Diets

Most women have been “on a diet” at some point in their lives, hoping to lose extra weight so they can feel good about themselves and like what they see in the mirror.

And It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with dieting information, a lot of which is contradictory. Just try googling “weight loss,” and you’ll come across an overwhelming amount of diet advice and dietary plans.

Fads are everywhere, from magic diet pills to juice detox diets. People are desperate for that quick fix that will make them feel better right now. But are these quick-fix, often-extreme diets effective, and more importantly, what are they doing to our health?

One thing that most nutrition experts agree on, is that the biggest problem with fad diets is that they’re not sustainable. You may be able to survive on way less calories than your body really needs, but the motivation level with all-or-nothing dieting hardly ever lasts for long.

Also, fad diets can be dangerous. A common result of dieting is slowing down your metabolism because of not eating enough.

​(Don't feel like reading? No worries, just watch the video above. It contains the same information.)

I remember starving myself as a teenager wanting to be as skinny as possible and I ended up looking and feeling really unhealthy. My body wasn’t getting the nutrients it needed to run well.

Your body needs the proper balance of nutrients to function and it needs a steady supply of fuel to run well, and without it, it’ll do whatever it needs to survive.

So in the case of under-nourishing your body, your body is smart and it will hold on to whatever you do eat because it senses starvation and wants to protect you, so even when you do exercise or exert energy, your body won’t release the weight that it normally would if you were eating more.

So bottom line, you don’t have to eat less, you just have to eat right.

Another negative effect of dieting is the increase in anxiety or stress over your food choices. This often comes with all-or-nothing mentality.

Thinking that you’re either on the wagon or off the wagon. The truth is, life happens and you’re not always going to eat perfectly. Christmas parties and family dinners happen, and you’ll choose to indulge a little more on certain occasions. That’s life, and it’s ok.

I personally live by the 80/20 rule, where 80% of the time I’m intentional about eating whole, live foods as close to nature as possible and making sure I eat balanced meals, and I don’t get stressed out about the other 20% of the time or if I’m in a situation where my choices are limited.

Also, what works for one person may not work for another. Each one of us is unique in our thoughts, lifestyle and physiology, which is why when I work with clients one on one I customize nutrition plans based on their lifestyle and their goals, not on what necessarily works for someone else.

​My recommendation for clients and for you is to practice patience and putting your effort toward taking the long-term approach to developing healthy, sustainable eating habits that are life-long and enjoy life without restrictions or starving yourself.

If you want my help figuring out what will work best for you, send me an Email and I would be happy to chat with you.

Until next time,

​May Anne xo