Are you on a FAD Diet?

Are you on a “FAD”Diet?

For as long as people have wanted to get rich quickly; there has been a “get rich quick”scheme. A plan that promises huge financial returns on your invest; in the shortest amount of time. Typically the people who fell for this scheme would end up poorer than they already were.  The same goes for weight loss. For as long as we have wanted to lose weight, there was a miracle pill or potion to get us their quickly as possible without any regard for sustainable health. These miracles are more commonly known as fad diets. The phrase fad diet originally referred to idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns that promote short-term weight loss, usually with no concern for long-term weight maintenance, and enjoy temporary popularity.

This term was coined way back in 1974. Back then a fad diet needed to fulfill three criteria.

1)  A particular food or food group is exaggerated and purported to cure specific diseases.

2)  Foods are eliminated from an individual’s diet because they are viewed as harmful.

3)  An emphasis is placed on eating certain foods to express a particular lifestyle.

Not much has changed since 1974 has it.

#1 sounds a lot like eating only organic foods prevent cancer

#2 sounds a lot like going Gluten-Free or Fat Free

#3 sounds a lot like clean eating or paleo

The biggest change since 1974 is going to be the marketing of fad dieting. The people creating and selling these fad diets know today’s consumer has more access to information than ever before. So now they throw in words like “studies suggest”, “evidence suggests”, “science”. Any word that sounds scientific is used to help further trick you into buying their scheme. Those first three criteria are great and can eliminate most fad diets that exist today. Let’s expand that list from 3 to 10 for 2015 shall we.

4) Requires you to purchase expensive prepackaged food.  Nutirsystem

5) Requires a monthly membership to get new information or names of friends and family members to waive the monthly fee. Weightwatchers

6) Requires you to fast for hours a day than gorge on food. Intermediate Fasting

7) Requires the monthly purchase of weight loss pills and shakes. Shakeology

8) Requires you to eat one specific food for a period of time. Apple Detox Diet

9) Requires you to trick your body into changing its basic function. Ketosis Diet

10) Over promises results with little to no fact based information to support it. ALL OF THEM

 Now here are the criteria for picking the right meal plan.

1) Is it sustainable?

a)Yes

ii.Go for it!

2) No?

a) Go back to one and start over

At Fitastic it is our mission to help make our community happy and healthy for LIFE! Not just a short period of time. When you get results through our workout builder or programming, we want you to sustain them. That is why there is no Fitastic diet program. Each individual needs a different a program that fits their body, their lifestyle and their needs. Of course there will be some overlap in healthy eating, but meal planning needs to be an individual process. What works for Wild Will or H Bombs may not work for you. Look at our former transformation Jan Wilson (Wild Will’s mom) who saw amazing success on her meal plan. Does that mean every woman over 50 should do her meal plan? NO! She had Type 2 diabetes so her plan was specific to her needs.

Stick to the basics. How many meals can you eat a day? If you are a teacher, you can’t just bust out a meal every 3 hours. What foods do you like? What foods don’t you like? Make a list. Figure out your BMR with the Fitastic BMR calculator. Write down what you eat. Make it fun. Get in the kitchen. Do your research. Start there, start with the basics. That is how you will see results. Sustainable results of course. At Fitastic we do have numerous healthy recipes for you to try. We have everything from desserts like chocolate cake, snacks like sweet potato fries and meals like Meatzza Pizza. We have new recipes being added each month to help expand your meal planning. There is no need to eat plain chicken and brown rice every meal when you have Fitastic on your side. Follow the link here https://feelfitastic.com/category/recipes/

Leave the fads to your closet.

Stick to fact based, well researched eating methods for your body.

Wild Will (W3)