Today I'm beginning a weekly weight loss series about losing weight the nourishing way. Thank you to everyone who inspired me by answering the recent survey!
It seems like every month name-brand magazines come out with a "new" diet that’s supposed make losing weight easier and healthier. But really, these diets are just the same old things regurgitated over and over with new faces. This month I have Women’s Day magazine in front of me, whose cover boasts of a "Get Real Diet." The word "real" got me wondering, so I dug a little deeper and this is what I found:
The first few paragraphs are dedicated to convincing the reader that this diet is different. It says this diet is realistic, doesn’t require drastic calorie-cutting, and includes your favorite treats. The article also emphasizes not to feel guilty about mistakes, to avoid processed foods, and says it will teach you how to "redefine your relationship with healthy foods." Sounds promising? Maybe so, and reading this made me wonder if this diet was in fact going to be different than what I’ve seen a thousand times before.It really wasn’t. And here’s why:
Mistake #1
First the diet tells us to focus on foods that keep us full: water, protein and fiber. I agree that protein, fruits and veggies are good for you, but there is a huge missing ingredient here: fat! Natural fats slow digestion and lower a meal’s glycemic index way more than just protein and fiber. Eating plenty of healthy fats also helps with carb cravings, which means you won’t have so many "oops" moments to feel guilty about in the first place.
Mistake #2
Then we learn we shouldn’t be afraid of carbs and fats, just focus on the healthy ones. Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it? However, the diet says canola oil is a healthy fat (have you read this article about canola oil?), and says saturated fats are "treats" only. Sorry, but how’s the body going to utilize nutrients from all that produce we’re supposed to be eating without any saturated fat? Not to mention that saturated fat itself is chock full of nutrients and important fatty acids we can’t get from other sources.
Mistake #3
Although the "get real" diet isn’t supposed to require severe calorie-cutting, the calorie suggestions are between 1,400 and 1,700 per day. Maybe an improvement from 800-calorie grapefruit diets of the past, but for many of us even these levels can slow down the metabolism and put a strain on the thyroid. Remember, the WHO (World Health Organization) describes starvation levels as under 1,800 calories per day for women, or 2,100 for men. So, by WHO standards this diet requires starvation to lose weight. Read more about how I feel about low calorie diets here.
Mistake #4
The diet suggests eating 4-5 times a day. Books like Eay Fat, Lose Fat tell us eating more than three times a day forces the body to spend its energy digesting food all day, instead of focusing on other important tasks like healing and detoxification. Two meals a day may be even more helpful if you have trouble losing weight.
Mistake #5
"The Get Real Diet" supplies a handy list of "Get Real Kitchen Staples." Some are good, like olive oil, fresh produce, and eggs (one of my personal nutrient-dense favorites). However, suggestions take a turn for the worse after that: whole wheat or regular pasta (one is hard to digest, the other is nutritionally worthless and both will shoot your blood sugar up to the sky), low-fat and skim dairy (which contain oxidized cholesterol in the form of powdered milk - dangerous stuff), and lean proteins are recommended instead of their nutrient-dense counterparts.
The diet does offer some sound advice, like eat fresh foods, write down what you eat, and don’t blow your whole diet over one bad choice. And overall the diet stays away from excess polyunsaturated fats (read more about those here). But to me, the emphasis on staying away from saturated fats is too harmful to ignore.
The verdict? While not the worst diet I’ve seen, "The Get Real Diet" just isn’t real enough for me. Include ample servings of whole raw milk, whole-fat yogurt, real butter and coconut oil, and then you’ll be off to a much better start. And throw out the canola oil, please.
Remember, a healthy body loses more fat weight than a deprived one.
