Why every diet works

            “If we only knew now what we knew then.”

                                                                        -Unknown

            So you’ve been on a diet. Or two. Or three. Or maybe you’ve been on all of the diets! At this point you’re probably saying “Nothing works for me! I have tried every single diet, and at this point, I’m ready to give up!” The biggest problem I find with some diets these days is the fact that people have to make it so complicated (That includes training too, which I will talk about later). You’ve tried the Paleo diet, you’ve tried the vegan diet, you’ve tried the juice diet, the twinky diet, etc. The list goes on and on, but in the end, when you’re trying to get exact with your macronutrients by the end of the day, how long will it be until you just break and give up? In this chapter, I’d like to address the fundamentals of why every diet works (evening just by eating portions), and what kind of habits you can implement to begin improving your lifestyle today rather than tomorrow.

Everyone is different

            Everyone is unique in their own physiological and psychological ways (Some could use some work). Maybe you want to look like Tom Hardy, Hugh Jackman, or Christian Bale (I would include the Rock, but ‘roid raging doesn’t count). If you’re a woman, maybe you want to look like Jessica Biel, Kate Beckinsale, or Jamie Eason. Just as everyone has their own special conditions in which they can’t eat certain foods. This could range from nuts, grains, dairy, etc. The fact of the matter is all diets work, but some of them don’t work for others because they either have a certain condition, or maybe because the person lacks the intrinsic motivation to not eat certain foods. A study in 2005 comparing the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone diets showed that, overall, everyone in a controlled environment had similar weight loss results(Dansinger, Gleason, Griffith, Selker, & Schaefer, 2005).

            If you want a successful journey through fat loss (Or addition of muscle mass depending on your goals), choosing a diet plan to adhere to is only one step in the process of successfully completing it. You need to constitute in every other aspect of the process. Set your goals properly, get a fitness program, a diet, find some social support, and go do what you want to get done! Just don’t constantly change your plan because it’s “Not working”. Take into account the following equation stated below:

Energy in= Energy out + Change in Body Energy stores

            This is, in its simplest form, the laws of thermodynamics (In bodily terms, that is). People today have the mentality that doing nothing will get them something. Let me ask you this question: If you shot your best friend in the foot because you were angry at him, do you think he would just sit there and do nothing about it? Unless your best friend is a volleyball with blood smears on it (See what I did there?), then I would assume that your friend is going to respond unkindly. Simply stated, with every action there is an equal or exceeding reaction. If you want the body of your dreams, this isn’t the welfare line folks: You have to put in some work.

            Let me make this clear: While the moderation diet may be working for you, it may not work for someone else. Giving someone a one size fits all sort of program does not work for everyone. I understand that. This is where making a choice comes in. I will give my insight into my recommendations for everyone who is reading this right now. You can choose what I tell you, or if you feel like doing some more digging, I will provide you with resources to many diets you will find in Appendix A.

Dieting for Muscle Growth

            Maybe your goal isn’t trying to lose fat. Maybe you’re trying to try to get back instead (In a good way that is). Going off of the energy equation above, the same principles apply. If you want to gain muscle mass, there is two things that will help you achieve this goal: The appropriate volume and intensity in your weight training program, and a calorie surplus. I know you’re probably saying “But I don’t want to get fat!” You’re going to have to come to the realization that if you want to gain muscle, you may have to put a little fat on with that. Putting on muscle doesn’t come from consuming excess fat. It comes from consuming excess calories. I highly recommend focusing on only one goal at a time though. Unless you’re below ~15% bodyfat (Or ~19% bodyfat for females) I would not recommend mass gain until you achieve cutting down to the appropriate composition first, as this could cause many different issues (High blood pressure  being one of them). It’s your body though. You don’t have to take my word for it.

            One other thing is people putting on mass think this is the time to go all out and eat whatever they want. While I’m not going to say to not do this, as it does work for many people, this is not recommended as the word moderation tends to be thrown out the window when people begin a bulking diet. I will discuss appropriate bulking rules and some good methods of doing so in the coming chapters.

Social Support: Your Success multiplier

            It has been one of the most observable things in not only stressful changes, but also in trying to achieve fitness-related goals. Social support is a must if you hope to achieve long term success in reaching the body of your dreams. A study was conducted on couples in relationships and their rate of success in achieving their goals. Let’s just say that the numbers speak for themselves (Brunstein, Dangelmayer, & Schultheiss, 1996). Now I know you may be thinking that you aren’t in a relationship, and the only people you can depend on are your friends, but as long as there is a mutual end goal, then you will multiply your bouts of objective-oriented success to your goals, fitness or not.

            Making these kinds of changes is the ones that put stress on are in life, because the amount of change that we are experiencing at times can seem detrimental to our life’s progress. You’ve most likely been in a stringent situation in your life where decisions had to be made quickly. As this was going to induce change, you didn’t know if it were for the better or worse of your well being, you just knew that things should be happening another day, just not today! Am I right or am I right? Many people, believe it or not, tend to see change as something greater than death to them. I would say just think of it as if you were the phoenix. You’ll rise from the ashes again, greater than before (Bugental & Bugental, 1984).

Your Lack of Patience and obsession with the scale

            If there is anything that will kill your progress quicker than binge drinking every night on the weekend, it is obsessing over those numbers on the scale. It’s understandable that you want to lose 30 pounds, but have you set your goals? If you want to lose more than one or two pounds a week, then you’re really pushing the limits. “I weighed myself after the first week though and it said I lost five pounds! Explain that!” Two words: Water weight. Whether it was from the little bit of fat you lost, or because you have nearly depleted your glycogen stores because your body isn’t used to metabolizing its energy this quickly, water weight is your number one answer. If you weigh 400 pounds and lost that much, that may be a different story. As you lose more fat and get down to that area of “lean” (Depending on your definition of the word), yes things will get more difficult, but when you lost no weight during the week, you need to assess why. “Did I have enough of a calorie deficit?” If yes, wait another week or two, and if you stay consistent, I guarantee you there’ll be a massive drop of between 3-6 pounds (Depending on you).

           

            As for the scale, sure it can be somewhat reliable, but how does your body look? If the progress is visible in the mirror, but not on the scale, then there is really no necessity to worry about such silly things. You’re making progress! Are you getting compliments? Do you feel lighter? The simplest things to observe are many times the most reliable. Who knew?

These Foods are the only ones you should eat

            Let’s make this clear: While whole wheat bread may be “Better” for you, it doesn’t mean you should completely eliminate bagels or French bread from your diet that is refined. While they may not be the best to be eating all the time, you’re not going to potentially die from high blood pressure unless it’s your breakfast every morning (Maybe you won’t, but it’s the trend these days). Ladies who have a fascination with ice cream (Or gelatos. Or frozen yogurt (I prefer cheesecake to be honest)), guess what? You don’t have to give up ice cream to get six pack abs. However this does not mean I’m telling you to go get a tub of ice cream and eat half of it. I’m saying if you learn to moderate your intake of it, but still adhere to eating more whole foods, you will be off to a good start of your fat loss journey.

            While I do believe everyone has a freedom of choice in what they eat during their fat loss journey, I still advise against a few things that should be limited to only a couple times per week (If you cut them out altogether, great). I only have a few but here they are: Excessively sugary junk, partially or fully hydrogenated oils (Which includes fried foods, most cookies and crackers, etc) and Nutella (As you hide the empty Nutella bottle next to you as you read this). One thing you still need to make sure to consume daily though is vegetables. I don’t care how much you don’t like eating your vegetables. I’ll tell you some creative ways to eat them in some of the recipes I offer later on in this book.

Change is good… when you can moderate it

            Many people that go on a diet can just pull through and do it without any issues. The thing about these people though is the fact that they were most likely already made certain changes to make their fitness journey easier. This is where many other people fail to realize that just jumping into the swing of a diet is not an overnight thing. You need to condition yourself to go through this diet successfully.

            How do you do this? Simple. Start with some small changes. We all know habits are hard to break. That is why some people can’t just cut themselves one day from eating top ramen, taco bell, and mcdonalds one day to eating all Paleo the next day. You have to make small changes to influence a bigger change in the long run.

            So you eat white bread right now? Change to wheat bread one day. You eat cookies right now? Resort to the cookies that lack hydrogenated oils. You eat processed meat? Start cooking real meat (A George Foreman grill is great for those people who are in a time crunch). You don’t eat vegetables? Eat more vegetables. Resort from Hamburger helper and have some chicken and sweet potato instead. As you make these changes, you will feel much more comfortable doing so.

Don’t make it a quick fix… make it a lifestyle

            This goes along with my last section. If it’s not something you can’t adhere to in the long term, then what is your purpose of trying to lose fat in the first place? Take it one step at a time, and after a few months, you will come to realize that you’re doing a lot better making a few small changes gradually rather than making one big change. You don’t have to give up drinking with your buddies on the weekend, but if you want to make progress, you have to implement change. The end. Also, keep it simple as I said before. We’re not trying to figure out the Pythagorean Thereom, people.

           

Conclusion

            If you want to succeed, keep it simple. More food on the days you work out, less on the days you don’t. Then again, you don’t even have to do that! You could just eat the same every day and still witness similar results! Keep the changes small, but gradual. Hopefully this has helped you learn a little about how to successfully thrive in the long term.

           

Brunstein, J. C., Dangelmayer, G., & Schultheiss, O. C. (1996). Personal goals and social support in close relationships: Effects on relationship mood and marital satisfaction. Journal of personality and social psychology, 71(5), 1006.

Bugental, J. F., & Bugental, E. K. (1984). A fate worse than death: The fear of changing. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 21(4), 543.

Dansinger, M. L., Gleason, J. A., Griffith, J. L., Selker, H. P., & Schaefer, E. J. (2005). Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets for weight loss and heart disease risk reduction. JaMa: the Journal of the american Medical association, 293(1), 43-53.