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If you’ve been following along for a while now or have known me for a while you know I’m all about living a healthy and sustainable life - so I want to share some things that I did in the past that completely wasted my time and energy. In college, I minored in dance and had to maintain what I now consider to be a totally unhealthy weight, and as an adult living and working in the health, fitness, and wellness business I’ve deliberately tried all the fad diets to see what they do...when done correctly.
By sharing these, I hope I can help you avoid the same mistakes I made!
1) ZERO/LOW CARB DIETS - Nobody wants to be around me when I haven’t had any carbs, that’s my big take away. Secondly, my autoimmune disorder went bananas. I was in my early 20s at the time and it was terrible. I felt awful!
I thought trying this diet might help me lose body fat and help me maintain a body size that I wasn’t meant to have and in the end, I think I lasted about 45-60 days.
In reality, I caused more harm than good by eating very little carbs. Yes - I ate vegetables and fruits (those where my main sources of carbs) and it wasn’t sustainable. We need carbs to function, they are our main energy source and it isn't that easy of a process as the diets make you think to convert fat into energy. So did I lose or gain? I often gained anywhere from 5-10 pounds!
2) 2-A-DAY-WORKOUTS - After college and somewhere in my late 20s and early 30s I decided I should workout multiple times a day again and that if it worked for athletes and me back in the college and high school years, it would be fine and totally a great way to burn excess calories but all it did was make me hungrier.
I was definitely on a 2500 calorie diet and as 5’3 and a half female, that’s quite a bit of eating! It did other things too, I was always sore from overtraining, tired all the time and suffered a lot of minor injuries. Overtraining is one of the most common causes of the injuries I suffered (torn meniscus, tendonitis, back pain). If you are thinking I must have gained weight on with this plan...you'd be right, 10-15 pounds.
3) IF IT FITS YOUR MACROS - this was definitely one of the fad diets that was easiest to maintain, basically, the premise is that as long as you are within your macros (carbs, proteins, fat) whatever the food is 100% acceptable. I gained about 10-15lbs. And it wasn’t all muscle mass...YIKES... I don’t have a sweet tooth either, so it wasn’t like I was eating candy bars b/c I had excess carb calories to consume! I was eating healthy carbs, lean proteins, and tons of veggies and fruit. But again, instead of losing weight, I gained it! Another 15-20 pounds!
I do this because…I want to see first hand what fad diets and exercise programs do to me. Most of the time they don’t work at all for me and it’s because they aren’t intended for sustainability. Most fads are designed to be short term fixes but they don’t help people learn new habits and how to incorporate the foods that are “off-limits” thereby becoming a realistic diet anyone can sustain.
That's why I'm always trying to help my clients find a sustainable health and wellness program that works for them. What diet works for one person isn't always replicable person to person.
Now, it's your turn! What things have you done to try and lose weight?
Share in the comments!
