My Least Favorite Word

I really don’t like to use the word hate: it is a strong word that can really do serious damage.  However, let me also tell you that I feel that it is very appropriate for me to use while writing this post.

There is one thing that I truly dislike (really, the only one). I really don’t like the word diet when used incorrectly.  I love the word when it is used properly, used as it was supposed to be used, but it is seldom used in context as its true definition.

The word diet once meant the colorful array of food and drinks that one consumed.  Throughout time the word has been destroyed.  The word diet now represents hopes of a better life, hopes that someday you will like who you are, what you look like, and how people view you.  The word diet means restriction, bore, and self-control or more often, lack there of.

The sentence, “I’m going to start a diet tomorrow,” is spoken all too often.  There is no such thing as a successful diet; rather the proper term for a successful diet is a lifestyle change.

The word diet once meant the colorful array of food and drink that one consumed.  Now however, we’ve destroyed it, well, throughout time it’s been destroyed.  The word diet now represents hopes of a better life, hopes that someday you will like who you are, what you look like, and how people view you.  The word diet means restriction, bore, and self-control or more often, lack there of.

The most painful thing anyone can say to me is, “I’m going to start a diet tomorrow.”  I honestly believe that in every dictionary, beside the word diet, the word failure should be written.  There is no such thing as a successful diet, rather the proper term for a successful diet is a lifestyle change.

“I’m dieting for spring break” is a popular phrase among college towns.  I understand wanting to shed a few pounds for the summer or dropping some added winter weight, as we all do, but this will never happen through a diet: it will however happen through a lifestyle change.

Over the summer, we went on vacation with Dustin’s parents and my mother-in-law told me that that trip was the first time she had ever lost weight while on a vacation.  At this time, she began to understand that just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean it’s a free pass to eat until your jeans button pops.  Who wants to go home feeling like that?  Not only is your vacation over, but your five pounds heavier too?  Sounds pretty terrible, right? Hello Monday! You can still enjoy your favorite vacation treats even with your health in mind.

One day, when I am working in the field, I will never tell my clients that any sort of diet can fix their problems or change their lives.  Health involves every decision you make in your life and if you are serious about your health than the answers are obvious.  Walking rather than being dropped off at the door, home cooked meals rather than convenience “foods,” etc., all of these small decisions can lead to a life changed forever.

When people tell me they are on a “low-carb diet” it honestly hurts my ears. However, I’m not the type person to give someone advise unless they ask for it and really want my honest opinion.  I don’t know anyone to date that has ever lived their entire life on a “low-carb diet;” I’m sure they are out there and would beg to differ but it was the carbohydrates in your mother’s belly that you grew and lived on as a fetus.  So, no, you haven’t always been on a “low-carb” diet.

Diets are quick fixes: you may lose the weight initially, however you have taught yourself (and your body) nothing but deprivation. Eventually your body can’t do it anymore; remember that our bodies are much smarter than we think. When we deprive it of something that it wants, it’s as if it has a temper and releases it’s anger by binge eating, now that wasn’t the point of the diet.  If it’s not something that we can do or sustain forever, why put ourselves through the misery temporarily? 

I can understand lowing your CHO intake in order to find balance and comfort within yourself, hey, you know your body best, but that’s a lifestyle change not a diet.  Understanding what your body needs and when it needs it, is through knowledge of your body, not a quick-fix diet.

Moderation is always best when it comes to your (real definition) diet, therefore no extreme measure can fix your problem forever.

I’ll admit it, I used to be a true sucker for the quick fix schemes: diet pills, grapefruits (now I love grapefruits for the nutritional powerhouses that they are, not because they “promise” to eat away body fat), extremely low caloric intake, low-carb, ect. I fell victim to it all and that’s the media’s exact point: to sell a product, an idea, or a thought.  It all circles back around to our money.  Thankfully I can now see that no product, nor “diet,” can ever give me my health.  The only thing that can is a true lifestyle change.

I encourage you to consider the things that you put into your body as part of your lifestyle, just another part of your normal routine, not something you see and want today, that will only harm you tomorrow.

Years ago (probably 8 years or so), my mom left me and all of my siblings a little note in our rooms that she had to memorize as a child.  This exact note hangs on my refrigerator today and I thought it might be appropriate to share with you.  It’s about the lifestyle that you chose to live each and every day.  Here ya go!

You Tell On Yourself

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek,

By the very manner in which you speak.

By the way you use your leisure time,

By the way you spend each dollar and dime.

You tell what you are by the things you wear,

By the sort of things about which you care.

By the kind of things that make you laugh,

By the records you play on your phonograph :-).

You tell what you are by the way you walk,

By the things of which you like to talk.

By the manner in which you take defeat,

And especially by the way in which you eat.

By the books you choose from the well filled shelf,

In thousands of ways you tell on yourself!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pictures from google images, I’m so creative, right? Not!