Are Fad diets Really Worth it?

Everyone does it. And there are so many out there now. South Beach, Keto, Atkins, Whole 30, Paleo, low carb, low fat, etc, etc, etc. They are endless. But do they really work?

Sure they do. Haven’t you seen the before’s and afters? Do you ever wonder if these photos are ever doctored? I sure do. But many of the photos are real.

So, sure they work. For a time. Until they don’t.  I mean honestly are you going to eat Whole 30 for the rest of your life? What kind of medical problems are you going to face if you continue a Keto diet for the rest of your life? That’s the key. The only way these diets will truly work is if you completely change your eating habits FOREVER! So that means no more baked goods, no more pizza (I mean real pizza, not the wanna be pizzas in all these diets), no more sugar, no more breads, no more________________(Insert your own).

What fad diets have you tried?

My husband and I did the Whole 30 last year. We did it as a reset and to see if there were any foods that our bodies truly did not like. I went into it completely skeptical. Everything I read said that people lost weight on this as long as you followed it to the T. So there was that added benefit I was really looking forward to. I am proud to say that we conquered the full 30+ days! It was not easy. Actually it is not something I will ever go through again. The book was right, at one point you feel as if you are going to rip each other’s heads off. You become grouchy and untouchable. Can you believe FOOD can do this to a human! Or the lack there of! We were detoxing BAD!

See we don’t eat a lot of bad food to begin with, but during the school year we tend to eat a lot more fast food than we normally do. We have 3 teenagers who are all involved in something, so we are constantly going. The Whole 30 did teach us that no matter how busy we are, we still have time, sometime in the week, to make healthy food for our family. Yes, family. Our kids pretty much had to participate in this too. At least for dinner. Breakfast and lunch they were on their own, eating their normal fare.

We learned a lot doing this diet. It was extremely tough. I wanted to throw in the towel many times. My husband’s negative attitude towards it throughout the whole month did not make it any easier. He didn’t tell me that he also quit smoking at the beginning of this. So I was extremely proud and appreciative of him for going through this with me and I am happy to say he has not smoked since then!

What we did learn from this is that we are both much more strong willed than we ever thought. That we both can accomplish something we put our minds to. The only foods I had any issue with was an excess of cheese (go figure as it’s one of my favorite foods and my family hails from Wisconsin!). We also have pretty much avoided fast food since then and both feel much better for it. I did lose about 6 pounds while on this. My husband didn’t track his weight. I was very tired throughout the entire month. My energy never came back like the book promised. So I found that my body requires carbs to help keep me energized. Well that makes sense, since it is an important part of our daily nutrition pyramid!

So are fad diets worth it? I surely don’t think so. I think the secret to living a healthy and nutritionally satisfied life is to just watch your food intake and eat as many healthy, natural foods as you can. It really is a no brainer! And it isn’t that hard either. It does take planning and a little bit of will power, but I guarantee everyone CAN do it!