What Makes Diets Irresistible?
I think, deep down inside, people believe that weight loss has to be hard. They think that if a weight loss plan includes sensible portions, a plethora of food choices, and short, regular workouts, it can't possibly work. Instead, folks are intrigued by diets that claim the "secret" to weight loss is in avoiding entire food groups while doing 5-hour workouts.
To use a running analogy, I'd wager that most dieters are "sprinter" personalities. They'd rather work very hard for a short amount of time. But the key to successful weight loss and maintenance is more of a "tortoise beats the hare" situation. Slow and steady win the race.
Still, I know many people who claim they know and understand this, and are still tempted by the lure of the latest diet. Part of that is due to successful marketing: dieting sells, so the best marketers cash in. Here are some other reasons that I believe diets are so alluring:
1. They are temporary.
2. They claim to be a quick fix.
3. They are so outlandish or difficult that you just have to try it. ("It's so crazy that it just might work.")
4. They often cause large amounts of initial water weight loss, which fools dieters into expecting the same scale numbers each week. ("I lost 15 lbs in 1 week" is extrapolated to mean "I could lose 60 pounds in a month!")
5. They imply that you can take a shortcut to weight loss.
6. They tug at your emotions with their smart marketing methods. If you feel that you aren't good enough as you are, you'll be vulnerable to their claims.
As you can probably tell, I'm not a big fan of diets. Generally, they are gimmicky and ineffective. There are some instances, however, when they can work. For the average person, diets are useful if they meet the following conditions:
1. They don't last more than a month in the restrictive phase. (This phase can help you to clean out your system and empty your pantry of the junk.)
2. They don't involve drugs or potentially dangerous supplements.
3. They don't deprive you of vital nutrients.
4. After the first month, you should be on a healthy, normal eating program, such as that on MyFitnessTrainer.com.
5. Time should be allowed for each muscle to heal between workouts.
That said, I do believe that at times a short, one-month diet may be helpful. It can be a nice, attainable goal to help you to make some big changes in your eating habits. It's basically the equivalent of jumping into the cold pool instead of slowly wading in.
So, I've written a diet plan that is a bit stricter than the requirements of the MyFitnessTrainer.com program. If you follow this plan for a month, it will make following MyFitnessTrainer.com a piece of salmon by comparison. (What, you thought you'd catch me using the term "a piece of cake?")
Of course, if you're more of a wading person, just disregard this diet. Better yet, enjoy the new recipes as part of your sensible meal plan.
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