Is there a perfect diet?
A few weeks ago, I happened to run into a colleague whom I had not seen in some time. As we chatted, catching up, she excitedly told me that she had written a book on weight loss. She pointed out that through research she and her partner had formulated the perfect plan (my words) for fast weight loss. The plan was realistic and not complicated. The testimony to this was that she had easily maintained her weight loss over four years. I was duly impressed. She looked great and explained to me that she had reduced 10 sizes, going from a size 14 to a size 4.
Wow.
I was excited for her. Both she and her partner looked terrific and it was obvious they were on to something. After our convention ended, I went home and immediately bought the e-book, reading it in one sitting. I breezed through many of the introductory chapters, due to my long study of nutrition, most of the topics were familiar to me. I raced to the diet, waiting to be enlightened on this easy, no-work-outs-needed weight loss. After all, I was ready to start tonight!
Size 2, here I come!
Page after page, I read, becoming steadily more sullen as I recognized the framework of failure which had plagued me over the years. As a former vegetarian, salad lover and food allergy sufferer, I had already given up many of the off-limits foods. Plate loads of fresh green, yellow, orange and red veggies were part of my normal fare just about every day. No soda? No problem. Cut out fruit juice and dairy? That’s easy. I never had a taste for juices, only drinking orange juice regularly when I was pregnant and then never again. Dairy and I have had a love/hate relationship for at least 20 years. I forgive and forget at the holidays and then do the ‘post-holiday weight gain’ walk of shame and banish it from my life once again.
None of this is horrible or even unexpected.
Yummy powder, where have you been all my life?
But what I just can’t wrap my mind around is WHY do all these plans seem to include what I think of as “fake food”. Like protein shakes and smoothies. Now before you protest, let me say that I think shakes and smoothies have a place in weight loss and maintenance and are a great way to promote wellness. I am a big advocate of supplementation, in fact I am starting on a protocol for dental health that includes a powder that I will be putting in a shake. But I don’t find meal replacements satisfying. I don’t want to drink two powdery shakes a day for the rest of my life.
The other red flag for me is the avoidance of healthy carbs, like fruit, in favor of protein and protein powders. I will have to admit, I am normally NOT a big fruit eater, so this is not me craving sugar. One piece of fruit a day will satisfy me and I usually like that at breakfast.
So here’s where I go off the protein rail. Why should I make and drink a protein shake when I am satisfied with a 100 calorie apple? Why should I juggle around powders and frozen (and sometimes tasteless) fruit and ingest more calories than if I just ate something that is natural and God created? (After all Adam and Eve were tempted by the fruit of knowledge, not the protein smoothie of knowledge.)
And actually, I know the answer to this conundrum. I know that research shows that people who have a high protein intake at breakfast lose weight easier and experience less craving throughout the day and into the evening. But does this work for everyone?
Have you ever had a smoothie for breakfast and then were hungry a little while later?
I can’t be the only one!
So what do you do next? You eat a healthy snack, right? Like an apple.
For years I tortured myself with this popular way of looking at weight loss. You can’t eat carbs and lose, they said. Protein burns fat! You must avoid too many fruits and nuts. High starch vegetables like potatoes, beets and carrots are totally off-limits. Eighty six the beans and stay away from fats like olives and avocados. I did all this and my weight steadily increased.
Then last year I saw a plan that made sense for me.
I knew that I had been the most healthy in my life when I followed a low protein, vegetarian diet. So I began to strictly follow a modified vegan program. I added back in the beans and small amounts of nuts every day. I shaved fresh beets over and my salads and sprinkled them with dried fruit (only an ounce or two) and the weight and inches came off. I still eat some meat and breakdown and eat bad carbs (like chips) but my weight has maintained and what’s more important is that I am satisfied. I am off the yo-yo dieting that started by me forcing myself to eat foods that I didn’t like (like eggs) and didn’t find satisfying.
What about you? Have you found the perfect diet for you?