“Is This Diet Right For Me?”
March 9, 2018 // Nutrition
Every year, without failure, a new diet series emerges, with promises and claims more ground-breaking than anything prior. With diets, any variable there is to manipulate is seemingly extracted and exploited in this never-ending contiuum of good marketing and poor applicability. It’s no wonder why most people have gone through, and quit, multiple diets in their lifetime.
Magazines, TV shows, books, articles, social media posts, celebrities, medical professionals, athletes, and even nutritionists endorse one diet that, they claim, is superior to all others. If you step back and look at the results of every diet, you find one common theme:
They all work.
Yes, they work.
The cookie diet can yield weight loss if followed correctly and consistently.
Whole 30 can certainly reduce inches from your waist.
A keto diet can trigger fat burning.
These claims are valid, if applied as instructed.
The problem is not the diet’s strategy; the issue is the fact that most people commit to a diet that is not appropriate for them specifically.
Choosing the right diet involves understanding yourself and your individual needs.
To do this, I have put together a list of questions for you to use when considering a dietary pursuit.
The Questions
Are you sure this is for you?
- How different is this diet from your current eating style?
- The bigger the difference, the less likely you’ll be able to stick to the diet
- Opt to find a diet that closely resembles your default eating habits
- Is this diet meant to satisfy a particular goal?
- Are you trying to see weight loss results? If so, this diet needs to be lower in calories.
- Are you looking to improve health markers (lipids, cholesterol, etc.)? Maybe you should pass on a ketogenic diet.
- What happens when this diet ends?
- Is this meant to be a temporary, quick-fix or something lasting? Sustainable dietary improvements don’t follow numbers or timelines (i.e. 21-Day Cleanse; Whole 30, etc.)
- Are you ready for this?
- Are you willing to say “no thank you” to certain things (foods, outings, parties, traditions)?
- Do you feel comfortable being uncomfortable? Every dietary change has a learning curve, especially if the idea is to make it permanent.
The Take-Away: These questions will filter out most of the fad and fluff, and expose the value of the diet with you at the center (and not the other way around).
Strengthen Your Core and Shoulders In One Calisthenic Movement
This is not me. But I’m all for this movement.
Introducing: The Shoulder Plank (aka The Push-Up Position)In a recent Self article, I spoke about why I love this movement, and why it has such value for anyone:
“The move works practically every muscle group in your body, including your serratus anterior (the region around your rib cage that helps your core hold still), trapezius (a major muscle in your upper back and neck), triceps, glute medius (a hip adductor muscle on the outer side of the pelvis), obliques (muscles on both sides of your core) and erector spinae (a set of muscles in your lower back)” NYC-based certified strength and conditioning specialist Mike Clancy tells SELF.
“It’s especially great for stabilizing multiple areas of your shoulder, including your rotator cuff and scapula [aka shoulder blade],” he adds. “Having strong, stabilized shoulders is important for doing many movements in the gym (like bench presses and push-ups) as well as everyday life (like pulling a heavy suitcase out of an overhead compartment) effectively and safely.”
“Your shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, but also the most easily injured,” Clancy says. “The more stabilized your scapula is, the less likely you are to injure it.”
All About Intermittent Fasting
Some experts claim short fasts can improve your health and help you lose fat faster. So we spent 6 months testing the most popular Intermittent Fasting (IF) protocols ourselves. Find out what IF is, whether you should do it, and if so — how.