I am about to read two books:
1) South beach diet
2) Volumetrics eating plan
I am currently not on a diet and never intend to pick up a book in order to follow the steps to lose weight. Believe me, I have read countless articles and have seen many infomercials on weight loss, but a diet is just not in my vocabulary. However, I'm very interested to read the thoughts and guidelines from the authors of these books.
It's been about 7 or 8 years since I have purchased a "diet" book. When I started my eating healthy journey to be a healthier vegetarian I was reading every and any nutrition-related book I could find. However, in my quest to get healthy, I found that I was ever-so NOT healthy. I was simply trying to maintain my lifestyle of school and competitive college swimming alongside drastically reducing calories and controlling what I put in my mouth. One would say that at the time I had an eating disorder but in my eyes, I was simply doing what the books told me to do. I was just following the plan just like the author told me to do. I was eating my good foods and not eating the bad ones.
Times have changed in the last 5 years but there is no shortage of diet and nutrition books. There is a diet for everyone out there but sadly, diets don't work. There is no quick weight loss solution just like you can't train for a marathon in a week. Losing weight is a journey and maintaining weight is a lifelong process.
I recently passed the American Dietetic Association Adult Weight Management certification and I can not tell you how much I learned from the certification course in Denver. More so, studying intensely for the certification, for the past two weeks, really enlightened me on how people view weight loss.
I can't say that I struggle with my weight like others but I do focus on my health on an every day basis. It is a struggle to learn exactly what your body needs on a daily basis in order to lose or maintain weight but once you learn to have a good and healthy relationship with food, your life will seem so much easier. There is never an Off-day for me when it comes to my health, nutrition and exercise. Even if I eat a cookie one day or not exercise on another day, I am still taking my lifestyle habits very seriously.
The only books I have purchased in the last 11 years have been school-related. Luckily, I picked a great field to learn about and my collection/library of nutrition and exercise physiology-related textbooks is quite big. Although I don't want to think about the thousands of dollars I have spent on my textbooks I believe a lot of my nutrition and exercise related philosophy's are based on the research taught to me in school. I do feel lucky that I can apply my extensive education to myself and help others but at the same time, I always make an effort to understand the nutrition and exercise-related information (right or wrong) given to consumers. Considering that exercise-related information is pretty low in the media during this time of the year (generally, it is the new year that hypes up exercise and the benefits) I feel bombarded with nutrition-related information.
On my certification exam there were two questions related to the South Beach diet and to the Volumetrics eating plan. I wanted to look into these diets because a lot of the information is similar to how I live my life of healthy eating. As I mentioned, I have not purchased a book on how to eat healthy but I am assuming that the some of the information (written by a PhD and MD) in the books are based on scientific information. That is not saying that all books are based on science but I am hoping that when I read the books I will read information that I learned in my education.
I was just wondering if:
you have read these books?
if you have tried these diets?
if you currently live your life by these diet books?
or, do you have anything else you'd like to share about other diet books?
I like to keep an open mind about nutrition and I always try to relate to others. I hate the word diet, I try very hard to never use the words Fat or Skinny (I don't like either word) and I want people to know that I do not judge others. Of course, heading into the dietetics field makes me a target at parties and anything related to food. For some reason, people think that dietitians always judge others when they eat and I am worried that I might lose friends when I become a Registered Dietitian. I promise, I don't judge!
I have mentioned in the past that I feel lucky to be an endurance athlete and help others with sports nutrition because I can relate to many experiences in the world of multisports. I can't wait til the day I can put that RD behind my name and work in a clinical setting helping others.
Just wanted to share with you the opening paragraph in the South Beach Diet plan. The marketing department is just brilliant for telling the weight-loss seeker exactly what he/she wants to hear. Be sure to pay close attention when you see an ad, commercial or book regarding weight loss. When you truly value your health and recognize how to balance food with your exercise and lifestyle routine, you will feel like life is too good to be true. Seriously, if a diet plan was that easy, we would have no trouble with our weight and obese wouldn't be a common word in the American vocabulary.
From the Southbeachdiet.com website.
"Phase 1, the shortest Phase, lasts for just two weeks and is designed to eliminate cravings for sugar and refined starches - and to jump-start your weight loss. The purpose of Phase 1 is to stabilize blood sugar (which minimizes cravings), making it ideal for people who are prediabetic or diabetic, as well as for those who need to lose a lot of weight.
12 comments:
marni-
i have never excluded breads and such from my diet, or gone to great lengths to lose weight. i eliminated sugar for 1.5 years when i quit smoking, when my metabolism needed to figure itself out. i believe in obtaining a high metabolism so your body is always burning calories. i believe in having lean muscle mass and lifting weights consistantly. the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. people don't get that. i also believe in allowing one day a week for some bad food. healthy eating and an active lifestyle = happy.
Marni,
I was always very active and slim, eating well and living a very healthy lifestyle.
but then,
Up and down on the weight scale, more so in the last twenty years when I was involved with a very sedentary, unhealthy and poor dietary eating person.
The past / last ten years (when I became single again upon my own accord) I have been back to being very active and conscious of what I eat.
Last September I became a veggie again and I always look forward to your recipes.
Congrat's Marni, and Thanks,
I always look forward to your postings...
I haven't read either book, but hear lots about them and other "diets" from our customers at the stores. I try not to talk about diet like "being on a diet", instead diet as in how I eat...my "diet". I believe that most these diet books have something in them that can benefit people. Every body is different and every body responds differently. The problem always arises for me when they make it sound like with their diet, losing weight will be easy. Being healthy isn't always easy. It requires work. I wish the media/marketing people would find a way to make THAT sexy!!
I think Volumetrics looks like a book of recipes (to me) and South Beach I have perused but I don't think it addresses the problem of obesity. It may be a book that could jump start someone with mild dietary issues but I don't think it is a lifestyle change tool.
With obesity there are mental obstacles that need to be identified in order to overcome them. Also it can be just one or two irrational behaviors that are sinking the ship like eating chips and Swiss Rolls after school while sitting around some more. Do that 3 times a week and over 30 weeks you could add 10-20 pounds.
I think mostly all diet books miss the mark. You have to be able to stop in the moment when your hand is heading for the chips and stop and think of the repercussions of that action and then in that moment ignore the impulse and return to rational behavior. This is what the books miss and I think is the crux of the obesity problem.
We have so many opportunities to indulge each and every day with constant media bombardment to do so and it can easily become a habit that we lose sight of the significance of those seemingly small irrational actions.
And actually the culture that frowns on obesity also supports it (indulging). If you eat within a well designed healthy framework that allows you to have good sustained energy throughout the day and a favorable body composition you are likely to be looked upon as excessive or even odd and many people would consider this to be outside of the realm for themselves or their abilities. In other words, it's just too hard to do so why bother to even attempt it (making healthy choices most of the time) which leads down the path to 'I don't want to'.
I have been able to lose 65 pounds and keep it off for 5 years but I have to stay mentally vigilant and not allow errant behaviors to creep back in. When I find myself standing in the ice cream isle at the market staring at ice cream on sale for $2 my irrational thought is 'What a great deal' and in that moment of reaching for the ice cream I have to stop and think and return to rational thinking and head for the yogurt or produce sections....FAST :)
I can vouch for your statement that you don't judge people, Marni. When we worked together, I thought you might be the type of dietician to offer unsolicited advice or to come off as a know it all, but you're not like that. I thought you would give me the evil eye when I loaded up on protein (meat and eggs) every morning, but I'm pretty sure you didn't - other than as a vegetarian, you were more likely grossed out by the roast beef :-)
I lost 60 pounds twice on Atkins/South Beach. I say twice because I gained some back when I got pregnant. I still try to avoid carbs because once I start, it's really hard for me to stop. I'm no dietician but for me it seems like it's a chemical thing; the sugar cravings. I feel awful (physically) after eating carbs, but as a bread lover, I'm sure you can agree that sometimes it's just worth it, darn it.
Feel free to reach out with questions or insight. Take care, Jen
I have read South Beach Diet. The concept is good, better than others. For people who have willpower to make it through the first few phases, it's a pretty do-able thing, but if you don't have it...forget it. You have to cut a lot of stuff out.
Wow! Thanks for the individual points-of-view!!! I have lots to think about from a "public" perspective of diets/nutrition. Thank you again for your feedback! I really appreciate it!
-marni
Congratulations on passing the certification!
Yes - congratulations on your certification! That's great. I haven't read those books (but know plenty of people who have read/tried South Beach). For me - having spent 20+ years recovering from an eating disorder - having a list of food I "can't" eat leads to famine thinking which sets up bingeing. I've learned to work it from the other side and now search for foods that fuel me (which I eat most of the time) or that bring me so much joy that a few bites are all that I need. Little by little my nutrition/eating is getting better! Blogs like yours help a lot! :D
I am interested in the book Thrive - by a vegan athlete. Have you read or studied it?
I have heard of Thrive and actually, he spoke at Native Sun near us. I wasn't able to make it to the talk but I have checked out his webpage. Because he has no formal education in nutrition and exercise, I am just interested to hear his philosophy and not so much pull info from his book and instruct others. However, I keep an open mind and I do enjoy hearing others views, especially when it comes to breaking the mold of sports nutrition (since he is a vegan). Thanks for sharing!
-marni
I love the blog as well, and I use a lot of the tips (I have been mixing my cereal for the kids). I have the South Beach book. It is pretty strict, but it did help me gain an appreciation of how sugar truly affects your body. I think it is helpful to learn about the Glycemic Index, but I also know that I need good carbs for endurance events. Good luck with the research!
I didn't lose friends, but I can say, I had friends at first that did not want to eat around me:) haha, but that changed. You will be GREAT dietitian!
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