Fad dieting.....

     If you want to get to get rich, write a dieting book. The other day I was in a bookstore looking for some inspiration and there they were, a whole bunch of dieting books cluttering and cramping my space. These were dieting books from how to lose 10 lbs in 12 days, low carb diets, high protein diets, blah blah blah. It was actually superfluous. Anyways, to make a long story short, I pulled out my blackberry bold and read a message from my fellow trainer, Alfredo. Alfredo was telling me to write a blog about fad diets. Given these two simultaneous situations, I am writing about fad dieting.     
      In terms of over all health and wellness, I am not a certified dietician, I am a Personal Trainer with a degree in human kinetics and I am  going to ask three bold questions. Why are you dieting? What is your goal? Where will you be in two years?    
      Made you think huh? Well, to be honest I do not believe in fad dieting. I firmly believe that we work each day in trying to balance our lives and our lifestyles change constantly. Trendy dieting patterns tend to lead to excess weight gain when you abandon your diet anyways. Let me explain.....    
      John A wants to lose 10 lbs. John, who doesn't really know how he is going to lose 10 lbs says he's going to hit the gym like some buddies do at work. So, John starts working out BEFORE making changes to his dietary intake. Then, two weeks into his costly gym membership, John A is only down 1 lb. So, John A takes a trip to the local bookstore, purchases a dieting book because it was a "best seller" and starts taking things out of his diet. John A starts restricting his caloric intake, thus his energy level decreases substantially as his nutrition levels dip. However, three weeks later John A has lost a total of 15 lb. John A is happy with that and it is now a vacation week so he stops his diet, goes back to eating his regular foods, misses his gym workouts and puts 5 lbs back on within a week. He gets discouraged, upset and now work has become stressful and there was a tragedy in the family. So John A abandons his diet and workout program and puts all his weight back on and an added 2lbs within two more weeks.  
   Sound somewhat familiar? Well, this is life. Life throws things at us and everyday could become a struggle due to extrinsic stressors in our lives. However, dieting or hoping on the latest fad diet is not the answer. We must try to continue our trips to the gym regularly (or our outdoor exercise bouts), incorporate good, healthy foods into our daily intake and THEN goal set accordingly and balance our body weight goals. You can lose weight effectively over time without hoping on a short term fix. Strive for balance within your life and daily routines first, then figure out the how, when, why, and what changes you are going to make to become a healthier individual.  Smart and effective planning can bridge big picture thinking and take you very far in improving your over all health and wellness down the road.

 Ryan Fahey
 B.A Human Kinetics
 CPTN Canada
Canfitpro
 NCCP