Thursday, March 15, 2012

Why do we like to reinvent the weight loss wheel?

***This post was featured at Everyday Polish. Just thought I would share it with my WIOGs in case you missed it.***

Why do we continuously try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to losing weight and getting fit?

It doesn't make any sense at all. By this time, if you are anything like me, you can admit to trying a new diet...having success on the diet... falling off the band wagon... and then having the nerve to wonder why that diet doesn't work for you. Just think about it for one quick second. You tried a diet and even had success on it. But then you fell of the band wagon and honestly wondered why you stopped seeing progress?

My point is that there are millions of diets out there. We see the commercials and all of the success stories. We buy the books, listen to the podcasts, rally our girlfriends and test them all out. But, I really and truly believe that we forget about the fundamentals of whatever the diet is that we are trying out. And the root of the problem stems from being such busy EP ladies! Not only are we busy, but sometimes we are too intelligent for our own good. Once we feel that we have down the basics, we begin to improvise and incorporate our own ideas into the pre-existing fool proof plan... thus making it no longer fool proof.

Let's look at Weight Watchers, since that is one of the most popular systems out there. There is a point value assigned to every food that you eat. When you sign up, it comes with a book with some of the most popular and general foods out there that can usually get you through most of your common meals. Or if you register online, you have access to their online database. My first question to anyone on WW is "Do you have measuring cups?" If you do not have measuring cups, than you are most likely not able to accurately determine the amount of food that you are eating AND therefore consuming more points than you assumed you were. Or after you've been on the plan for a month, you feel that you can "estimate" how many points something is by adding the approximate point values for all of the food in the dish AND you are probably not using the measuring cups as much as you were in the beginning. Success on WW will not come like that.

The same can be said for Atkins. If you start reintroducing carbohydrates into the body faster and in larger quantities than suggested, you will not have the success that you are aiming for.  The creator of Atkins created stages for that reason; you cannot go 2 weeks without a piece of bread in your body and then jump to having a cup of rice at dinner and expecting your body to adjust so quickly.

Why do we continuously try to reinvent the weight loss wheel? Especially after we shell out the big bucks to start the diet prepared with all of the fool-proof tools and recipes that are suggested? If you are going to try out a diet I have four words for you.

Stick to the rules. 

Those rules were put in place by someone whose full time job is to make sure the diet works and make it easy for you to follow and see success. Now, I am not saying that every diet works for every person, but if you are going to give one a go, give it a fair shot by following the rules for a full month, if not more. And if it has stages, like Atkins, then you should really make an effort to stick to the guidelines. ***And of course, I must say, if your doctor makes certain changes, adhere to those as well.*** If you fall off the plan for a day, then jump back on after the mistake that you made. There is no need to wait until the new week rolls around or even the next day. 

We are too busy, too fabulous, and too intelligent to waste time trying to find a way around the rules of the diet. So just follow it. As written and focus your energy onto other things that need tweaking. 

Thanks for reading! And see you in 2 weeks!

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