November 9, 2012

By Lisa English

I often get asked for advice on nutrition. All too often people want my opinion on some diet that has worked for others or is popular at the moment. Just in the past couple of weeks Ive been asked about the Paleo diet, the HCG diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and a Vegan diet. Most people really want to know one thing. Is this diet good or bad?

I always start by reminding people that I am not a dietician and I do not prescribe any diets of any kind. That being said, people still want to know what and how they should eat. To help provide a little clarity to this mystery, consider the following 5 tips when choosing what diet to follow.

1. Stop dieting. Seriously, who wants to be on a diet all the time? When most people hear the word diet they automatically think DEPRIVATION and that leads straight to fear-based thinking. Fear of being hungry, fear of giving up our favorite foods, fear of not being able to have fun, fear of not being able to stick with it, and ultimately, fear of failure. No wonder diet is a dirty four letter word!

If you dont go on a diet you dont have to worry about all the things you cant have, and you dont have to feel like a loser when you go off the diet

2. Do your research. (Two of my favorite resources at the moment are The New Me Diet by Drs. Jade and Keoni Teta and Jonathan Bailors The Smarter Science of Slim.) Dont just assume that because a diet is being prescribed by doctors, or because you saw it on Dr. Oz, or because your best friend lost 30 pounds without being hungry that any one diet is right for you. There are no magic pills, shots, foods, supplements, or macro-nutrient ratios that are guaranteed to work for you. The magic happens when you search for your own answers and make your own decisions about what is right for you. This can take years and it will likely change, which leads me to my next point.

3. Get comfortable with change. My way of eating has evolved over time and that is mainly due to three things: 1) I have changed my thinking, and therefore stopped dieting; 2) I keep learning and applying new information about nutrition and how the body works; and 3) I keep my focus on what works for ME and make adjustments when Im not getting results. Changing my thinking was the most important step in getting to where I am right now. Before I changed my thinking, I was a dieter. Ive done the starve yourself all day and then binge at night diet, the its fat free so it must be good for me diet, the strict competition diet, and the now Im going to eat everything Ive been missing for the last 16 weeks diet! Some of those diets lasted longer than others, but ultimately they all failed; and I got tired of feeling like a failure.

4. Clarify your goals. This is so important with anything in life and deciding what and how to eat is largely dependent upon what we want to achieve. If you are looking to improve blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, or your health in general then you will need to choose to eat foods that produce those results. If you want to sport a six pack on the beach, then you will likely have to go beyond just eating healthy foods and choose to follow a nutrition plan that will make your abs pop! The point is that your nutrition has to support your goals, and your goals may change and evolve over time (which is why number 3 is on this list!).

5. Think long term. If you want lasting results, then you have to think about that when making changes to your diet. If you can be satisfied, healthy, and happy never eating ice cream again then go for it! I for one, know that is not possible for me, so I build it in to my nutrition plan in a way that supports my goals and works for me. This is the difference between diets and lifestyles. Diets are usually rigid and temporary; lifestyles are flexible and easy to follow over the long haul.

I dont pretend to have all the answers. I am still learning, but what I do know is that a good diet is one that supports your goals, fits into your lifestyle, and one you can stick with!

There is no one size fits all plan. You can choose an off the rack diet and see how it fits, or you can choose a custom diet designed by you. Whatever it is, own your choice!

Want to learn more about nutrition and how to find what works for you? I include nutrition education in all of my boot camps . I also coach individuals on nutrition through personal training and wellness coaching.