Text by Isabella Saporito
Illustration by Holly Kirkman
Many times when someone starts a new diet, they think to themselves, “This time it will work! I mean I can control myself, its just food right?” Well, no, it’s more than that. You cannot just start a diet without mental preparation and certainly if you are not will to go through a slow process with a well balanced diet. Instead our generation leans towards quick fixes that garner fast results, for example fad diets highly recommended by celebrity nutritionists and panned by doctors across the country. In our obsession we miss one important fact, that fad diets are merely a temporary and popular fix that bear no long-term effects. One major problem with these diets is that the weight doesn’t always stay off especially once we regress to our normal habits. And many of these fad diets can be detrimental to not only our physical but mental health.
But this hasn’t affected their popularity by any means. Fad Diets, in their own right, have become a lifestyle even a subculture. They also happen to be lucrative businesses for the many willing to cash out on peoples gullibility and insecurity. It is not to say that all of these diets are horrible and do not promote healthiness. The Paleo Diet, for example, is meaningless in its practice if you do not have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity but does promote a healthier lifestyle. The only problem with using this diet is that we do not receive sufficient and necessary vitamins. Another Fad diet that has been increasingly popular since its inception in the early 20th century and its resurgence in the early 2000’s is the Hay Diet. This diet was a hit among the flappers of the late 1920’s but what originally created to treat medical conditions. The diet restricts the consumption of both starches and proteins in the same meal. Although it has been proven that is may lead weight loss, it is highly criticized by many physicians who believe it is ineffective. So, although some fad diets may be harmless, none promote lifelong healthy eating habits or a good body image.
Diets usually start because people are unhappy with their bodies, are insecure due extreme pressure from their environment to be fit. Honestly, it’s usually both. But what you must know is that before you start a diet of any type, is that first you must accept your body how it is now, know that weight loss is not an easy or ending process, and that you must be happy and positive throughout it. If you really want to change your lifestyle, body and mindset, a fad diet is not the way to go.
Instead opt for routine exercise, hydration and a well balanced diet. In the end we must equate the work we put into our body with the same level of our results. Work hard and consistently and your results will be consistent and successful. Work lazily and fuel your body incorrectly and you will get a makeshift and temporary weight loss and an even higher level of pressure when the weight returns.