Give Me A Diet Plan
- Vishrutha Thulasiram
- Sep 25, 2021
- 3 min read
This is the first thing people say when they find out that I’m studying nutrition. When I ask why they want a diet plan, they tell me that they want to lose weight. This is the answer I get EVERY time. I’m not even kidding.
And when I tell them that in the last four years of being in this field, I’ve never been on a diet myself (or ever in my whole life for that matter!). Their expressions are proof that there is so much work that needs to be done. So much education, conversation and empowerment is needed. Why?
Well, there are a multitude of reasons:
Our obsession with weight
Our idea of a “normal” physique
Our understanding of a healthy life
Our reluctance to healing cravings
Our resistance to acknowledging the fact that family and friend’s comments and attitude towards our food habits affect our weight goals
Our desire to lose weight fast – even if it means further worsening our unhealthy relationship with food and our bodies
It’s extremely easy to draw up a diet plan (take several hours to several days) and force it on our clients and blame them for not following through. I’m not saying diet plans don’t work at all. What I am trying to say is quite the opposite really. Specialized diet plans are crucial and even life saving for hospitalized patients and people living with other complex conditions. It has to be noted that even in these cases the diets are closely monitored by a whole health care team and the diets are constantly changed and modified to suit the individual. However other diets that classify as ‘fad diets’ are doomed to fail. I mean you will get the results they promise but it comes at a steep price.
What is that price, you ask? There are so many that I made a list for you.
Extremely restricting food plans causing you to often dislike what you are eating.
The diets are often not well balanced and cause many problems including micronutrient deficiencies, overeating on ‘cheat days’, fatigue, loss of interest in daily tasks, hair loss, etc.
Lowered self esteem and self confidence.
Increased feeling of self loathing and guilt every time you make even a small mistake in following the diet.
Avoidance of social events that involve food/meals.
Further damages your relationship with food, your body and self image.
In severe cases, it can even result in hospitalization when done over prolonged periods of time and without professional supervision.
And even result in orthorexia nervosa*
These are just a few of the problems caused by the endless cycle of trying ‘diet trends’. And I think it goes without saying that lowered quality of life and overall sense of happiness and gratification are also adversely affected.
Now you must be wondering what is the other option? What are the alternatives available? Is weight loss a bad thing? How do I know if I’m actually healthy? Will I ever be satisfied with the way I look? How do I heal my relationship with food?
I will be answering these questions and many more in the upcoming blog posts. So make sure to follow @smileoverspilledmilk on WordPress and Instagram. Thank you for reading so far.
Come along as we #growwiththeflow🌈
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