Escape The Diets
As we reflect on the past years and our health, we’d say “complicated” is an understatement. We often forget how far we’ve come when we see so much negativity, fear, and unachievable norms. Therefore, at Personal Touch Food Service, we want to celebrate the health in all of us and the fact that we are trying our very best.
“Lettuce” shift our focus to see that food is fuel over the long haul, not just in the short term.
A “diet” can be defined as the foods a person regularly eats. We ALL eat, so technically, we all have a daily diet. Yet, the word “diet” can describe a plan to lose weight with extremely low-calorie meals (calorie deficit) or certain types of foods. Some danger signs of these fad or trendy diets are:
- Quick and extreme weight loss
- Strict menu plans that often eliminate entire food groups
- Hazardous ingredients in pills or drinks
- Foods that promise to magically burn fat
- Promise no need to exercise
Trendy diets are dangerous and don’t work long-term. First, without adequate calories, you lose a lot of body water, and vitamins and minerals are excessively excreted or poorly absorbed. Disrupting fluid balance can have very serious health effects. You can end up sick and tired! Secondly, low-calorie diets cause a loss of lean body mass from muscles and vital organs. This leads to reduced growth and repair of cells and decreased resistance to infections and disease.
Also, the metabolism decreases, which results in your body needing fewer calories for every activity. So, you end up needing less food to maintain your weight, and if you want to eat more or in normal amounts, your weight goes back up even higher! Lastly, this “yo-yo syndrome” puts a dangerous strain on our organs and makes it take longer to lose the same weight and shortens the time to gain the weight back. Therefore, these diets discuss foods as good or bad and support short-term successes.
What works to achieve a balanced diet and healthy weight?
- Eat foods from each food group. Follow USDA MyPlate for a balanced lifestyle.
- Half of the plate is fruit and veggies. Start with fruit and veggies, then add your protein and carbs.
- Don’t skip meals. Consistency is the key to reaching weight goals and avoiding poor diet quality.
- Drink water, coffee, or tea! Skip sugary drinks, limit milk and dairy products to one to two servings per day, and limit juice to a small glass per day
- Move every day! Increase your muscle mass and burn more calories even at rest.
Remember: Balance Always Wins™!
Updated Jan 2023 by Michelle D. Davies, MS, RD, Corporate Managing Dietitian to Personal Touch Food Services, Inc.
Original content provided by: Mary Jo Parker, MS, RD.
