Most people come to my office wanting to lose weight. Although most of them are so ready for change and want to start eating well, most come in ready for yet another diet. It takes me multiple sessions before they truly get rid of the diet mentality. Do you have the diet mentality and don’t even know it? Find out. Will you answer true or false for these statements?
- Carbs make me fat. Any diet that makes you eliminate a food group is not healthy. Yes, process carbs make us gain weight and so if we eliminate those, we will see more weight loss. Even eliminating “good” carbs will initially show weight loss results but we are actually losing water, not fat. The body needs whole grains for eliminating toxins, for energy, and for some nutrients. If you exercise and don’t consume any carbs, you are burning muscle instead of fat, and it will affect your energy level. Plus, I find most people on the carb-free diet end up eating too much meat.
- Low-fat products help with weight loss. Low-fat and fat-free are often laden with tons of sugar and chemicals, making the body pack on fat to dilute the toxins in our body.
- Margarine is better than butter. Eat the butter. Our body knows what to do with saturated fat in moderation but it adds more body fat when we consume trans-fat (margarine).
- Eat smaller, fewer calories of package foods. The food industry makes products labeled as “just one hundred calories” by making everything smaller and labeling each serving with fewer calories. These foods not only make us fat but they add to our nutritional starvation making us crave food constantly when we’re on a diet.
- I’ll keep hitting the gym to lose weight. No amount of exercise will balance out poor eating. Plus, what you perceive as torturous exercise on top of poor nutrition will alert your body to switch on the stress response and therefore, gain weight.
- 100% juice is good for me. Concentrated fruit juice is sometimes as bad as soda. Watch your liquid calories in juices and those flavored frappuccinos too (79 grams of sugar = 20 teaspoon of sugar….YIKES!!!).
Are you ready to quit dieting and enjoy the foods you love while losing weight with ease? It really is the ONLY way. Diets only lead to weight gain. Learning how to eat and move so that you are not only fit and slim, but healthy with great mood and energy.
Address the root cause of your weight and health concerns and start with a free health consultation at www.HappyFoodHealth.com or (619) 876-2655. See if this is the right match for you. I do things very differently to make health a natural lifestyle and this is not for everyone.
~Samantha Hua, Nutrition and Health Coach, San Diego, CA
