Wanna Get Fit and Trim? Stop Dieting and Let your Body Take Over! (And Follow These 5 Guidelines)

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Often we think we know better than our own bodies. We are guided by self-gratification that is ruled by our sensory instincts that more often than not, take precedence over good old fashioned common sense. When it comes to what we should eat, we want to consume what looks and tastes good without considering what our bodies need for optimum health, longevity and performance. And following what appeals to us, this means consuming man made chemical laden processed foods that taste good and look good but are devoid of nutrients that poison our bodies instead of feeding them what they really need. And after years of eating this way, when we finally hear our bodies tell us: “Enough is enough!”, it’s often too late because obesity , cancer, diabetes and heart disease are the end result and the price we pay for not listening to what these magnificent temples of organic matter we inhabit have been crying out for all these years.

When it comes to dieting, we tend to think the same way. We want to lose weight to feel and look good, but we are still more interested in what tastes good and is pleasing to the eyes rather than what our bodies really need. As a result, we fall into the diet trap.

   WHY DIETS ARE DECEIVING

Diets fail for 3 reasons:

  1. They restrict nutrients the body needs to permanently and safely lose weight by manipulating our ratio of the macronutrients the body needs.
  2. They trick the dieter into thinking the diet plan knows better than his/her body.
  3. Most fad diets that are popular today promise us we can still consume fatty foods and sweets as long as we follow their controlled plan.

The latter is something dieters do not take into consideration when diving into the latest fad diet popularized by a bestselling book or celebrity. Many diet plans today- a number of them endorsed by celebrities, promise we can eat whatever we want and still lose weight. Often we see them on commercials with before and after pictures showing dramatic weight loss. What they do not tell you is this:

  • The weight loss is temporary. Why? Because in order to keep the weight off, you have to follow their diet plan and eat their arranged foods (or food products) in the portions they prescribe, so the dieter is chained to their diet plan. Once off the diet, the dieter starts eating normally again and not only gains the weight back but also gains back more weight than they originally had before they went on the diet!
  • Their meal plans are “controlled” portions which restrict calories and often this means you are restricting nutrients.To make their “menu” appealing, they include deserts and fatty foods often loaded with sugar, but they are in “controlled” portions so it’s “all right” to eat.

       DON’T DIET, JUST ADD

A better method than getting trapped into these diets is to just add in good foods as Nutritionist and Wellness expert David Wolfe advises. This eventually crowds out the bad foods we have been consuming and according to David, makes everything very simple. This is very wise advice. When we forget about “dieting” and instead focus on adding- adding good foods that our bodies were meant to ingest to receive all the specific nutrients it needs for health, growth and vitality, something amazing happens: We do not need to count calories anymore! Why? Because we are feeding ourselves so well on a cellular level that a natural phenomenon takes place within the body: the phenomena of self-regulation.

    WHAT IS SELF REGULATION?

When the cells are fed and the body receives all the nutrients it needs, it self regulates its weight. What this means is that the body will lose what it doesn’t need, and it will keep what it does. Often, we tend to do just the opposite: we strive to get down to what we think is an ideal weight, counting calories, and letting a fad diet manipulate our calorie intake and nutrients. In the end, this just spells failure, because we are trying to do the job our bodies were designed to do.

     LET YOUR BODY BE THE BOSS

Our internal systems know how many calories it needs, what type of foods it requires and what our ideal weight should be. Let your body run the show when it comes to weight loss. If we give our bodies the specific nutrients the cells need, our bodies will take it from there and lose the weight for us. And you will never have to count calories or use a scale again, and you will look and feel fabulous. All that is required on our part is to give the body what it has been crying out for, and that is to be fed on a cellular level.

LET’S START ADDING IN THE GOOD STUFF!

Start adding in these healthy choices to feed the cells.

  •  Fresh fruits and vegetables (buy organic whenever you can).
  • Antibiotic and Hormone free meat from grass fed cattle.
  • Organic milk, yogurt and cheese.
  • Eat healthy fats- Flax, Hemp, Chia seeds, avocados. Raw almonds, Pecans and Brazil nuts are all excellent choices for healthy fats. Cold water Salmon is another excellent healthy fat which delivers the essential Omega 3’s.
  • Healthy low-glycemic carbs such as Yams, oatmeal, barley and spelt. Don’t be afraid of carbs, just choose them correctly. Grains, if chosen correctly are wonderful for health, and are what we call “Live food” especially when made into flourless bread (If you happen to be gluten sensitive, there are many healthy grain foods that are gluten free).

FOLLOW THESE 5 GUIDELINES.

Going off the foods listed above, follow these 5 rules:

  1. Don’t count calories. Remember, now that we are feeding our bodies the specific nutrients it needs, calorie counting is not necessary.
  2. Eat until you are comfortably satiated. Once again, because we are feeding our bodies the nutrients it needs, your internal system will let you know when you have had enough. Because you are eating clean, after one to two weeks, cravings for caffeine, breads, sugar and other processed man made foods should lessen and eventually disappear.
  3. Eat fresh natural organic foods containing all the macronutrients. You need carbohydrates, fats and proteins every day.
  4. Get on a reasonable exercise program exercising 3 -4 times a week. Jogging, Swimming and weight resistance training are all excellent.
  5. If you feel hungry before bedtime, go ahead and eat. Since you are eating clean “super foods” now, this is your body’s internal triggers telling you it needs to be fed and your body will make good use of the nutrients while you sleep without converting excess calories to body fat.

When we start feeding ourselves on a cellular level, we will not have to worry about counting calories, carbs, proteins or fats because the body will self-regulate its weight. All that is required on our part is to input the foods the body needs. Give the body what it is crying out for. It will do all the work and will lose the pounds for you. Before long, you will look and feel so good, you will toss those fad diet books and plans right into the garbage!

Sources:

James Colquhoun, C. L. (Director). (2012). Hungry for Change [Motion Picture].

 

Satter, Ellyn. “What is Normal Eating?” 13 November 2013. The Fat Nutritionist. http://www.fatnutritionist.com/index.php/why-diets-dont-work/. 17 Feburary 2015.

 

 

James Torro
James A. Torro is a former certified fitness instructor and is currently a nutrition major. He earned his MBA from the University of Scranton and lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two children.