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.