This document discusses different dieting approaches including typical diets that lead to yo-yo weight fluctuations, flexible dieting which allows for occasional indulgences, and reverse dieting and periodization which aim to gradually increase calorie intake over time. It also questions the role of sugar and promotes a website for customizing diets.
Introduction to the dieting crazy that has swept North America. Going into “Typical diets”, why they fail, the basics of dieting, and three important aspects of a proper diet.
The typical North American diet consists of long periods of over eating, then short periods of severe under eating and over exercising. Additionally focusing on the exclusion of particular food groups food, rather than portion control.
Diets that fall under these categories:
- The “Clean eating” diet (which is yet to be defined)
- Atkins Diet
- Paleo Diet
- Raw Food Diet
These particular diets pose major problems in similar ways (they all focus on exclusion of food, rather than portion control) and food shaming (which has major mental/psychological problems associated).
These ‘typical’ diets focus on the exclusion and ‘shaming’ of particular food groups, rather than portion control.
Research has provided strong evidence that these type of diets do not work long-term. Moreover, participants of this typical diet regime, more often than not,
gain more weight once they have stopped dieting than they previously had before.
Moreover, there is no fundamental evidence that excluding a food group will produce better fat loss results. A diet should focus on how to limit specific high calorie foods (such as pizza or cake), while meeting daily requirements for Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Fiber, and Vitamins and Minerals, through portion control.
Some major points to consider when starting a diet.
- The only scientific evidence associated with weight loss is a caloric deficit.
- Understanding your basal metabolic rate (the amount of calories required to maintain your current weight).
Dropping calories is not the only factor for losing weight.
Understanding how to Include food groups into a diet, rather than force them out and feel bad for eating them.
Understanding how to accurately count your calorie intake.
There is a major assumption that eating less and exercising more will produce the best results for weight loss.
While it maybe be true that you will lose weight doing this, it is a very inefficient process that will eventually lead to severe metabolic “damage” or adaptation (the inability to lose weight regardless of how little you are eating or exercising).
Weight loss has to be done gradually, overtime. Your body in incapable of maintaining fat loss continuously (forever). You have to periodize your weight loss regiment.
An example of this would be:
- 3-4 months of fat loss
- 3-4 months of fat maintenance (or even slight fat gain)
- Repeat.
During a fat maintenance phase, one should implement a reverse diet (which we will talk about a little later).
What I deem to be the 3 most important factors to a healthy, realistic fat loss regime.
Flexible dieting is a framework for dieting, it is not in itself a diet.
The principles of flexible dieting are:
- Understanding your basal metabolic rate.
Appropriately allocating percentages for Carbs, Fats, Protein, and Fiber based on your basal metabolic rate
Focusing on meeting calorie requirements (percentages of Carbs, Fats, Protein, Fiber) rather than excluding foods
Focusing on a realistic long-term diet, rather than a short-term “torture” diet.
Once you have hit specific calorie requirements, if you still have calories left over in your plan, then you can have a cookie or pop tart without feeling ashamed to eat it.
One of the most important factors when dieting is to understand everything in moderation.
Sugar is not an evil entity that will try and consume your soul, or “eat you from the inside out”
Sugar is the most ‘shamed’ of all the food groups and, at the same time, the most misunderstood.
There is no scientific evidence showing that a high sugar diet, coupled with adequate calories, protein, fibre, and vitamins and minerals, had any negative health implications in healthy individuals.
All the study’s conducted on sugar, that show negative health implications, include high fat, high sugar, low fibre, low protein, excessive calorie consumption, and inadequate vitamin and minerals.
Foods that are high in sugar, such as cake, can absolutely be included in ones diet, while maintain fat loss. As long as all other factors are accounted for.
Once a diet is complete, the participant, more often than not, gains all the weight back (and usually more due to metabolic “damage”) because they start eating the way they did previously.
The lack of preparation after a diet is complete is the biggest failure for most diet programs.
Studies have shown, once a diet is complete, it takes just as long (or longer) to recover from a diet, then it did to diet in the first place.
For example, if you dieted for 4 months, it will take 4 months for metabolism recover from that diet.
This is were reverse dieting comes into play.
The concept of reverse dieting:
Once you complete a diet, then you need to slowly add calories back into to recover the metabolism.
For example, if you lose 15 lbs over 4 months.
Your calories decrease from 3,000/day to 2,000/day
In order to recover with minimal to no fat gain, you will need to increase your calories slowly overtime.
For example,
50 – 100 calories per week or so (depending on the person)
Diets have to be periodized.
This means, you can not consistently be in a fat loss phase forever.
After a long period of time goes by, you body will eventually adapt to whatever calorie intake you are consuming,
be it 3,000 calories or 300 calories.
Usually, after a 4 month period, it is time to reverse diet.
Typical Yearly Periodized Routine:
4 months of fat loss
4 – 6 months of metabolic recovery, fat maintaince, and increase muscle mass
3 months of maintaince (new body fat set point – homoeostasis)
Repeat
