Dieting pet peeve # 100

Welcome to the diet world where half of the USA is on a diet and the other half is making money off of them. That is not my pet peeve, well it is one of them but my biggest pet peeve is what people really think about dieting. What is the first thing they do to diet? They restrict the food they normally eat. Yes, restricting is the means by which everyone decides is the key factor to losing weight. So what is the first thing that happens when a person restricts? They crave that food or desire more food. It is all they can think of, when will they get to eat next, what will it be? Not more of the same vegetables that are raw, not even cooked in a sauce or butter. Have you ever tried to cut out just one food from your diet? I know a common diet that everyone tries, the low carb diet. so now breads are not allowed. So what do you think happens to your body when you restrict breads? I could get into a whole biochemical effect however I am talking about mentally, what happens to us? Don't we miss the nice yeasty aroma of bread. It tastes so good, it is so satisfying to the body, it's a comfort food for some people. There is nothing better than fresh baked bread. We start to crave this bread we have denied ourselves all for losing weight. So how long will this last? For some strong willed people, mostly men, it can last for months and they do lose weight, which is usually water and muscle mass to keep our blood sugars at a normal level. Now when they go back to their normal diet, guess what happens? opps, the weight starts coming back on....The same goes for other diets on the market, once we go off of them, we go back to our diet and we start to gain the weight back. It is such a bummer, you have worked so hard at losing that weight, avoiding all your favorite foods, munching on carrots until you feel like you have grown rabbit ears so no wonder we go back to our normal diet habits That is what we know and enjoy so the weight loss cycle continues. we lose some and then we gain it back. Restriction is not a method to lose weight, eating well is a method of losing weight. but that is so much easier said then done. When you think of eating well, what comes to your mind? salads, low fat ice cream, low fat potato chips- oh man, there is another pet peeve- low fat products= ok, so the foods have lower calories and they can be taste-less but you think they are good for you, right? did you know that when you start eating non- processed foods, you can eat a whole lot more? Are you aware that if you eat more often, it will increase your metabolism and give you more energy? Have you ever tried those two techniques? Here is your challenge from me- for two weeks, I want you to eat 4-6 small meals a day and avoid processed foods, such as low fat foods, sugar free, just eat real foods. Drink your water- either 4-16 oz bottles a day or 50% of your body weight in ounces. Let me know how you do.