Why use a restrictive dieting plan...

meerkat70

My doctors agree with me on the whole everything is moderation is an excuse to keep eating junk food. My doctors have also told me if they had more patients that they would have to write a lot less prescriptions, but people don't want to give up the junk and fast food so therefore they have to keep writing prescriptions in ridiculous numbers.

You're aware though, that unless you're dealing with someone very specialist, most doctors (particularly GPs) have next to no training in nutrition... ?

I am dealing with my General Practioner who is Paleo, my metabolic Endocringologist and a Naturopathic M.D. who is also Paleo.

So, only one specialist and 2 regular doctors and everyone of them are clean eaters that abandoned any form of junk foods.

So... two people who have bought into a fad diet craze, which has no particular empirical basis (it may or may not work, there's minimal science either way), and a hormone specialist... You don't seem to have told me much I don't already know with that info. Who do you see as having specialist knowledge in nutrition?

And which one is telling you about 'carb addiction'? :-)


Grokette, you might also want to consider 'The Truth' and 'Your Truth' might not be entirely the same thing.

castadiva

I COMPLETELY agree. When people begin cutting things out completely is when you see people fail on their diets. It is all about moderation and giving yourself a "cheat day" every now and then. I loooove food and I loooove to eat! If I go over here or there, big deal. My tummy is happy and so is my mind

Just my opinion

Its none of you business though. And most people don't fail when they restrict, especially when there are reasons they are restricting.

Good for you that your body can so called "handle" everything in moderation, most others can't.

Personally I think the whole "in moderation" is a bunch of excuses not to make permanent lifestyle changes. I am sorry, but eating the same things you were eating that made you fat in the first place and then switching to just eating less of those things is not a lifestyle change.

So, it's not OK for someone to criticise the choices of people who do use restrictive plans, for reasons other than medical necessity, but it is OK to criticise those whose choice is to eat the things they like in smaller portions and with less frequency?

Choosing to eat 90% healthy foods and 10% less-healthy, but enjoyable, things is certainly a lifestyle change if your previous levels were 50-50, or 90-10 in reverse. Everyone has to find the way that works for them. For me, a restrictive diet is not feasible long-term. I like food - some of my favourites are less-healthy than others, and feeling deprived, and consequently depressed, is the quickest way for me to end up bingeing, or eating compulsively. I travel a lot, so what is available to me to eat is not always entirely within my control. Many people do fail precisely because they are overly-restrictive, with no serious reason to be. A lifestyle change, unlike a diet, has to be something you can maintain long-term. Not everyone will fail with a restrictive plan, certainly, but there is a reason the diet industry is worth so many millions - the hundreds of thousands of people who choose diets, rather than lifestyles, that they cannot maintain.

If you're cutting something out for a good reason - medical or emotional - then please go right ahead; do what you need to do for you. If you're cutting it out because a diet plan says you should, and you have no other reason to do so, a lot of the time, you are setting yourself up for falling off that wagon. Whether or not you can get back on will depend on your individual character and situation.

Also, it is not criticizing. Just speaking the truth.

Every single person would be much healthier without junk food and fake processed foods. As I previously mentioned, my Doctors agree with me and the state of the U.S. shows how much people really care..................if people cared there wouldn't be a 60% obesity rate in this country.

Actually, I think you'll find that speaking judgementally about someone's personal choices would be defined as criticism in any dictionary you care to name. An opinion may contain elements of truth, but it remains an opinion - in this case a critical one.

Yes, people might be physically healthier without any "junk and fake processed foods" in their diets, but would they be able to stick to it, and would they be happier? My personal philosophy is that life is too short to do without things I enjoy completely, such as good-quality chocolate, nice cheeses, red wine and a macaroon every now and then. These are things I can easily fit into my goals, and enjoy in small quantities. They make my life more enjoyable, and make me more inclined to stick to the straight and narrow the other 90% of the time. Don't forget, at base, it is not the specific, individual foods one eats that makes one fat, it is how much one eats. If calories in are massively higher than calories out, one will gain weight, whether those calories come from pizza and Burger King, or from lean meat and vegetables.

Reporting what your doctor says does not constitute incontrovertible evidence - Doctors also have varying opinions, at least partially based on their own choices and proclivities. My doctor, for example, is very supportive of and pleased with my 90-10 lifestyle - she sees this as a sustainable plan to lose weight, and to maintain a healthy lifestyle in the long run. Her own choices are somewhat different to mine - she's a vegetarian who runs marathons in her spare time - but she recognises that the important thing is my finding an overall healthy lifestyle that I can live with, long-term. Your choices, and your mindset may be very different to mine or hers, but the fact that our choices are different makes them no less valid.

castadiva

My doctors agree with me on the whole everything is moderation is an excuse to keep eating junk food. My doctors have also told me if they had more patients that they would have to write a lot less prescriptions, but people don't want to give up the junk and fast food so therefore they have to keep writing prescriptions in ridiculous numbers.

You're aware though, that unless you're dealing with someone very specialist, most doctors (particularly GPs) have next to no training in nutrition... ?

I am dealing with my General Practioner who is Paleo, my metabolic Endocringologist and a Naturopathic M.D. who is also Paleo.

So, only one specialist and 2 regular doctors and everyone of them are clean eaters that abandoned any form of junk foods.

An Endocrinologist deals with hormones and disorders associated with them, including metabolic disorders, a GP is a general practitioner (by definition, a generalist, rather than a specialist), and a Naturopath (who is not a doctor of medicine) has no business dispensing medical advice, unless they are also medically trained and qualified. Their personal food choices do not make them experts on nutrition. They may have informed, or otherwise, opinions or theories about how certain foods affect their particular field, but none of those listed has specific specialist nutritional knowledge, or training, unless they have other qualifications you have not included in this list. As Einstein said "Question everything" - just because someone is a doctor does not mean they are always, or entirely right.

Dragonwolf

Some people have reasons for it, such as a medical need or their personality is an "all or nothing" type, but I agree that a lot more people go on "don't eat any of this type of food, ever again" type of diets for no reason other than that's the diet of the month, and their personality doesn't match it.

It's one thing to cut out certain foods for medical reasons (and really, why does everyone jump on the "well, there's medical reasons for X behavior" right away? It's one thing to point it out, it's another thing to assume that everyone who does X behavior does so for medical reasons, and assuming that everyone does something for medical reasons is just as wrong as assuming everyone does it for no other reason than everyone does it), it's a completely different matter to do so just because your diet of the month says to.

I have a friend who will do things like "eat completely vegetarian for a month," or "no red meat for a month." It works for her to help her cut back on whatever it was she was trying to cut back on. That month is a challenge to get creative about food alternatives. It breaks habits for her and helps her forge new ones. It works for her, and that's great. It doesn't work so well for me, as I work better on the "everything in moderation" style.

Cutting out certain foods does have it's benefits, though. It can help you determine if something you're eating is sapping, or augmenting, your energy, so you can see what's best for you. Even then, though, that's likely going to be more controlled than just "cut out all carbs."

Dragonwolf

My doctors agree with me on the whole everything is moderation is an excuse to keep eating junk food. My doctors have also told me if they had more patients that they would have to write a lot less prescriptions, but people don't want to give up the junk and fast food so therefore they have to keep writing prescriptions in ridiculous numbers.

You're aware though, that unless you're dealing with someone very specialist, most doctors (particularly GPs) have next to no training in nutrition... ?

I am dealing with my General Practioner who is Paleo, my metabolic Endocringologist and a Naturopathic M.D. who is also Paleo.

So, only one specialist and 2 regular doctors and everyone of them are clean eaters that abandoned any form of junk foods.

Since you want to attempt to appeal to authority, my nutritionist supports the "everything in moderation" way for eating habits.

badbull69

Im on a carb restricting diet. Im only eating 100g or less of carbs per day. When your competeing, you dont want alot of carbs, especially in the last month. Process foods are a big no no, they contain unhealthy foods. Your body can only process so many carbs per day. When you eat excessive carbs in one meal, when your liver is filled and no more carbs can get process by it, the carbs attach to fat cells, making them bigger.

Now, my 100g is pretty extreme, and does take a while to get use to eating this way. But we are trainable. I only do this for 1 month, max 6 wks.

I have seen huge changed in my bodyfat loss, using this style of eating.

Reinventing_Me

I follow the "everything in moderation" rule.

HOWEVER I am an advocate of clean eating. I make the majority of my foods from scratch now. Homemade pizza with lean meat and fresh veggies is as nutritious as it is delicious (making your own crust is easy); I make my own dressings and sauces, fries, etc. You can definitely have "taboo" foods and live a healthy clean-eating lifestyle. A lot of people don't realize that eating clean is not ONLY about eating fruits and veggies. It's about eliminating the refined and processed foods... foods laden with chemicals that we can't pronounce. Food should not be created in a laboratory. It should be from as close to its natural source as we can get it. Whole grains, fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, lean meats and seafoods are the way to go. One should know that no matter how clean or healthy one eats, it's still very possible to over-indulge and eat way too much, which brings me back to everything in moderation.

That being said, I will occasionally eat something that is not considered clean or even healthy for that matter (potato chips comes to mind). Do I worry about it? No. Do I eat the whole bag? No. Do I want to? Sometimes, but I don't. I'm aware that the lifestyle change that I'm here to begin has as much to do with controlling how much and I how often I put something in my mouth as it does WHAT I put in my mouth. It's about making decisions that fit my life and goals on any particular day, one day at a time. My lifestyle change means finding ways to incorporate foods my family and I love, whether it be revamping an enitre dish or building a huge green salad to go along side a slice or two hot cheesy pizza. My lifestyle change is about moderation and movement. For someone else, it may be about restriction. Whatever it is, it's personal and we must make and deal with our own decisions regarding our meals and activity levels.

ninerbuff

I'm shaking my head on why people restrict foods out of their diets. There's a post of a member not eating pizza. Ok pizza isn't the healthiest choice out there but why cut it out all together? I'm not saying its ok to eat a large pizza by yourself but moderation is the point, its being sensible about the amounts you consume.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, I'm just trying to understand. Restrictive diets to me seem like they fail more often than not because people crave the things they no longer have. Cut back on those things rather than eliminating them altogether. Weight loss is just like weight gain, it doesn't happen overnight.

:drinker:

Good for you. Years I go I used to put my clients on restrictive diets so they could get results. It worked for them to get to goal, but maybe out of every 100 people, maybe a couple would keep eating that way. The majority gained the weight back after having foods they missed and like to eat. So I changed my philosophy and decided not to restrict their diets, but their calorie intake instead. Since that change over, my clients now aren't gaining weight back and are continuing to have a better relationship with food. I consider this a much more successful program than one that just gets them to goal and hope they stay there.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

I'm shaking my head on why people restrict foods out of their diets. There's a post of a member not eating pizza. Ok pizza isn't the healthiest choice out there but why cut it out all together? I'm not saying its ok to eat a large pizza by yourself but moderation is the point, its being sensible about the amounts you consume.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, I'm just trying to understand. Restrictive diets to me seem like they fail more often than not because people crave the things they no longer have. Cut back on those things rather than eliminating them altogether. Weight loss is just like weight gain, it doesn't happen overnight.

:drinker:

You have to remember there are people out there who may be under professional medical advice to have a restrictive food-related lifestyle.

And Im just gonna come out here and be blunt, but you are so very misinformed with your "Restrictive diets to me seem like they fail more often than not because people crave the things they no longer have"....

I do not crave the foods I cant have anymore. For me, I took the time to get educated by medical professionals to learn more about my chemistry and makeup, Didnt cost alot of money to do but I learned about having a metabolic related disorder that the doctors cant even label with a damn name... And I have other medical afflictions.

Ive dropped almost 70 lbs as a result of being properly educated and having a team of physicians working with me.... That pizza you mentioned, I medically cannot have - I cannot digest the bread, most sauces used contain high amounts of added sugars....

Moderation for people like me, will never apply no matter what because most foods, will actually KILL me: no exaggeration. Even motivated me to have to vent it out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/cramernh?month=201201


I know of people who have chosen low-carbohydrate methods because these people have recognized they are truly addicted to pasta, rice, breads, potatoes, etc... to the point that these foods do in fact create problems, digestively, and health-wise.... And they are doing it very sound and very safe. And, are having positive health results...

Low carb diets by the way - are not painful.... not unless you are doing it appropriately, and in some cases under the advisement of registered dieticians or physicians with said training..

I don't think he's misinformed at all. He's right when he says that restrictive diets for many actually will work temporarily. Your case isn't average. You have a disorder that most people who need to lose a few pounds don't, so to say his misinformed is inaccurate. Good that you lost the weight you have, but it's due to having medically supervised dieting which is much different than people just restricting caloric intake.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

vjrose

Some folks are mistakenly restricting themselves from their favorite foods. However, most I believe are like my hubby, some foods they just cannot control their intake. If I bring a pizza into the house, he can inhale the entire thing even though a 1/4 would be a lot. So he made the sad decision that unless he is somewhere he can buy a "slice" he is giving up pizza. Chips and salsa are the same way. Everyone knows their trigger foods, there are certain types of chocolate I had to never buy anymore because of that, but mostly I can abide by a single serving, makes my hubby so jealous, lol.

EQHanks

I'm shaking my head on why people restrict foods out of their diets. There's a post of a member not eating pizza. Ok pizza isn't the healthiest choice out there but why cut it out all together? I'm not saying its ok to eat a large pizza by yourself but moderation is the point, its being sensible about the amounts you consume.


I agree..I have restricted myself in the past and it has always failed because I crave those foods.

ninerbuff

I'm shaking my head on why people restrict foods out of their diets. There's a post of a member not eating pizza. Ok pizza isn't the healthiest choice out there but why cut it out all together? I'm not saying its ok to eat a large pizza by yourself but moderation is the point, its being sensible about the amounts you consume.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, I'm just trying to understand. Restrictive diets to me seem like they fail more often than not because people crave the things they no longer have. Cut back on those things rather than eliminating them altogether. Weight loss is just like weight gain, it doesn't happen overnight.

:drinker:

Ok, this is from my own perspective and experience...........

Eating in "moderation" isn't for everyone, just like restriction isn't for everyone else either...........We are all different.

Many people that have health conditions such as Celiacs Disease, Chron's Disease, Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, etc should not have things like pizza.

Many people are emotional eaters and having a "trigger" food will cause an all out binge, so it is just best to stay away from it. No different than an alcoholic or a drug addict.

There are many reasons that a restrictive eating plan is needed and warranted.

Don't be so quick to judge. Until you have walked a mile in someone else's shoes, there is no reason to judge. You do you and I will continue to do me.

Yes, this is a thorn in my side because it is none of no one else's business what the next person does or doesn't do.

I don't think he was judging. I believe he was looking at it as I do. There's a difference between people that really do have to restrict due to disease or disorder and those that do it just to lose weight. So I don't think he was saying ALL people who do this are wrong.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

Personally I think the whole "in moderation" is a bunch of excuses not to make permanent lifestyle changes. I am sorry, but eating the same things you were eating that made you fat in the first place and then switching to just eating less of those things is not a lifestyle change.

Gotta disagree here. If you're eating maintenance calories rather than surplus calories, you don't gain weight. That is a SIGNIFICANT lifestyle change.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

castadiva

I follow the "everything in moderation" rule.

HOWEVER I am an advocate of clean eating. I make the majority of my foods from scratch now. Homemade pizza with lean meat and fresh veggies is as nutritious as it is delicious (making your own crust is easy); I make my own dressings and sauces, fries, etc. You can definitely have "taboo" foods and live a healthy clean-eating lifestyle. A lot of people don't realize that eating clean is not ONLY about eating fruits and veggies. It's about eliminating the refined and processed foods... foods laden with chemicals that we can't pronounce. Food should not be created in a laboratory. It should be from as close to its natural source as we can get it. Whole grains, fresh or frozen fruits and veggies, lean meats and seafoods are the way to go. One should know that no matter how clean or healthy one eats, it's still very possible to over-indulge and eat way too much, which brings me back to everything in moderation.

That being said, I will occasionally eat something that is not considered clean or even healthy for that matter (potato chips comes to mind). Do I worry about it? No. Do I eat the whole bag? No. Do I want to? Sometimes, but I don't. I'm aware that the lifestyle change that I'm here to begin has as much to do with controlling how much and I how often I put something in my mouth as it does WHAT I put in my mouth. It's about making decisions that fit my life and goals on any particular day, one day at a time. My lifestyle change means finding ways to incorporate foods my family and I love, whether it be revamping an enitre dish or building a huge green salad to go along side a slice or two hot cheesy pizza. My lifestyle change is about moderation and movement. For someone else, it may be about restriction. Whatever it is, it's personal and we must make and deal with our own decisions regarding our meals and activity levels.

Beautifully said! :flowerforyou:

cgrout78

Personally I think the whole "in moderation" is a bunch of excuses not to make permanent lifestyle changes. I am sorry, but eating the same things you were eating that made you fat in the first place and then switching to just eating less of those things is not a lifestyle change.

Gotta disagree here. If you're eating maintenance calories rather than surplus calories, you don't gain weight. That is a SIGNIFICANT lifestyle change.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

^^like

ninerbuff

My doctors agree with me on the whole everything is moderation is an excuse to keep eating junk food. My doctors have also told me if they had more patients that they would have to write a lot less prescriptions, but people don't want to give up the junk and fast food so therefore they have to keep writing prescriptions in ridiculous numbers.

What's ironic is that many medical professionals have just as bad eating habits and weight issues as the people they treat.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

castadiva

Can I also point out that there's a clear difference between 'addicted' and 'habituated'. There's a lazy usage that involves assigning all habits (however engrained) the term 'addiction' - and they're not in fact addictions at all.

Smiles happily - thank you!:happy:

christinal83

I COMPLETELY agree. When people begin cutting things out completely is when you see people fail on their diets. It is all about moderation and giving yourself a "cheat day" every now and then. I loooove food and I loooove to eat! If I go over here or there, big deal. My tummy is happy and so is my mind

Just my opinion

Its none of you business though. And most people don't fail when they restrict, especially when there are reasons they are restricting.

Good for you that your body can so called "handle" everything in moderation, most others can't.

Personally I think the whole "in moderation" is a bunch of excuses not to make permanent lifestyle changes. I am sorry, but eating the same things you were eating that made you fat in the first place and then switching to just eating less of those things is not a lifestyle change.

So basically, going from eating junk three times a day, every day to only eating it once a while is not a life style change? Cause to me, thats what it sounds like.

When I was in college, I ate junk everyday.. whole boxes of mac and cheese in one sitting.. whole packages of crescent rolls in one sitting.

Now I eat fruit, lean meats, a serving size of mac and cheese, 1 roll instead of a package... and you're trying to tell me thats not a lifestyle to change? Cause to me it is..

Get off you're clean eating high horse and realize that not everyone is like you.. and that it's none of you're business to tell us what a lifestyle change is and isn't.

I think it is a lifestyle change, good for you!

ninerbuff

I am dealing with my General Practioner who is Paleo, my metabolic Endocringologist and a Naturopathic M.D. who is also Paleo.

So, only one specialist and 2 regular doctors and everyone of them are clean eaters that abandoned any form of junk foods.

Doesn't mean that they are healthier or more fit than others that have junk in their diets though. Michael Phelps is a world class athlete and one of the fittest people. He eats junk food regularly.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

castadiva

I'm shaking my head on why people restrict foods out of their diets. There's a post of a member not eating pizza. Ok pizza isn't the healthiest choice out there but why cut it out all together? I'm not saying its ok to eat a large pizza by yourself but moderation is the point, its being sensible about the amounts you consume.

I'm not trying to start a heated debate, I'm just trying to understand. Restrictive diets to me seem like they fail more often than not because people crave the things they no longer have. Cut back on those things rather than eliminating them altogether. Weight loss is just like weight gain, it doesn't happen overnight.

:drinker:

Good for you. Years I go I used to put my clients on restrictive diets so they could get results. It worked for them to get to goal, but maybe out of every 100 people, maybe a couple would keep eating that way. The majority gained the weight back after having foods they missed and like to eat. So I changed my philosophy and decided not to restrict their diets, but their calorie intake instead. Since that change over, my clients now aren't gaining weight back and are continuing to have a better relationship with food. I consider this a much more successful program than one that just gets them to goal and hope they stay there.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I like your new approach - for the vast majority of people, as you have seen in your practice, this is a much more maintainable way of living than a severely restricted set of foods. Certainly, some people need to make the commitment to a restricted diet, for medical reasons, or, at least temporarily, because certain food provoke certain emotional or uncontrollable-hunger responses in them personally - we all have our own demons! - but the majority of the population does better, and crucially, stays better, under the sort of program you are describing.