DO YOU HAVE A BAD DIET?

Do you have a bad diet? Every day you have a choice. You can eat for your cravings, eat for your feelings, eat for your habits, eat for your addiction, eat for your socialization, or, you can eat for your life, your health and your well-being.

Whether you are skinny, average or overweight, most people make the wrong choices. Some are clearly wrong, some appear to be right but, one day their health tells them otherwise.

So, yes, there is a good and a bad, a right and a wrong when it comes to food choices. If your present and future well-being, and the well-being of your loved ones are important to you, read on.

For a common perspective, diet simply refers to an eating regimen, not nutritional changes for weight loss. These regimens, as discussed, are not taking special medical needs or regional restrictions or foodstuff availability into consideration, they are simply based on the food choices studied.

BAD DIETS
Nutritionally one would speak of a poor diet, and not bad diet. A poor diet is commonly considered as directly contributing to illness and death.

However, I once heard a prominent dietician, from a family which is internationally known for food manufacturing, imply that any diet which sustains life long enough for reproduction, and well enough for a pregnancy to come to term, is a good diet as it ensures the survival of the species.

I hate to differ, but for my loved ones and myself the “survival of the specie” is too low a bar to accept.
A bad/poor life diet would:

• Entirely eliminate natural food groups such as, Proteins, Complex carbohydrates, Vegetables, Healthy oils, fiber, fruits, herbs, nuts seeds and/or grains

• Have insufficient proteins, fiber, micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and water

• Overly impose the use of one food group at the extreme restriction of another

• Encourage large meals and excessive calories

• Have insufficient calories

• Utilize processed foods including fast foods

• Include heavy simple carbohydrates (sugars and flours)
If you are wondering about WEIGHT LOSS DIETS, the following can be added:

• THE PROGRAM IS OVERLY CONVENIENT. Unless you plan to have the convenience of prepackaged foods, or limited food choices follow you all your days, and with all the travels and occasions in your life, super convenient plans are simply a crutch, shielding you from developing great eating habits, skills, and choosing abilities in your life, regardless of your schedule, and all have over a 90% chance of rebounding.

• AVOIDING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. There are diets which discourage exercising. Yes, EXERCISE IS LOW IN THE TREATMENT CHAIN FOR WEIGHT LOSS, and the mindset believing otherwise is often highly disruptive to nutritional goals. However there are dozens of reasons why exercise is invaluable for health and wellness, and even reinforces the total wellness mindset. Education and the availability of coaching can help establish a balance.

• DOES NOT OFFER OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS. Any complete nutritional program, weight loss or otherwise, should be primarily concerned with improving the health outcomes of its members, from healthy skin, to mind, organs, muscles, rest, systems and more, not only weight loss.

• YOU HAVE NO PATH OF DINING WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Even if you are controlling your intake you should be able to find a best fit for a meal or two or the occasional special occasion. A proper diet should be the beginning of a new lifestyle and therefore be sustainable.

MAKE GOOD CHOICES
To live fully, healthily, as pain free for as long as possible, avoid these lifestyle choices, and avoid diet programs which have the above characteristics.

Make good choices, stop spending on sickness, giving your money to people who are happy getting wealthy on your barest survival as a member of the species, people who will never eat what they are selling you.

We live in a glorious time, where food choices once un-imagined by Emperors are within a 30-minute journey of the average person. Knowledge, planning, support and discipline is all that separates you from you best chances of well-being.

Start today, change is worth the effort. Let this be the beginning of a whole new journey for you, filled with new findings, flavor, fun and fitness.