What’s for breakfast? Produce from my backyard. Food that is local, fresh, whole, and not sprayed with pesticides is the best kind for the body. However, just eating real whole food will get many people to a much better health status. This is a key tenet of my health coaching approach.
I recently went to a local book store. During my visit I had to see what titles were making it to the health/ fitness/ and nutrition section of a brick and mortar store. The biggest section of the health book section is still DIET BOOKS. Ugh. Keto diet books and intermittent fasting are the flavors of the year (maybe 2 years now).
Diet books have been popular for decades. They have been very prevalent during the era of mass health decline and weight gain which we are currently still in. Diet books and weight loss diet programs are a huge part of the $72 Billion weight loss/ diet market.
$72 Billion a year spent on weight loss and diet programs? What a waste of money. Health decline and obesity are getting worse, not better. Diet books and diet changes do not produce lasting weight loss 90% of the time. Diet books have a low return for investment. In other words, diet books don’t work.
Here is my proposal: people need to STOP trying to lose weight through diet books and fad diets.
Diets like keto, veganism, the whole 30, paleo, etc, are merely tools or methods that can be used on a person’s weight loss journey. Used as a sole method, diet changes rarely produce lasting results.
When a person is motivated, here is how he or she can actually lose weight and keep it off.
Step One: Awareness
People need to become aware of how they are eating. Awareness is the first key to change. If people do not know the effects and amounts of what they eat nothing will change for them.
Step Two: Change at Your Pace
Change needs to be made at a pace that works for an individual. Is change hard? Yes, but change is also rewarding and life giving. By finding a good pace, anyone can succeed.
Step Three: A Guide is Needed (like a Health Coach)
If you have NOT lost weight and kept if off, guess what? You need a coach. The majority of people waste so much time, money, and effort trying to lose weight on their own. Losing weight permanently is difficult. Having a guide makes losing weight much more possible. A health coach can act as a guide. (Would you attempt to climb up a mountain in the deep wilderness without a guide? How about cutting your own hair with a mirror and scissors?) Remember that some of the most disciplined people in the world (like Olympic Athletes) seek the help of coaches (several at once in fact) to achieve their goals.
Step Four: Finding Your Lifestyle Diet
Do you know how many people who lose weight keep it off after 2 years? About 10%. Why such the low number? A major reason is that people never find a sustainable diet that works for their body and one that they are also happy with. This takes times (and occasionally people have to mature in their relationship with food), but once formed people can continue to enjoy a their new diet for life.
Are you ready to finally lose weight and keep it off? Contact Jason Cornish, Medical Fitness Specialist, Personal Trainer, and Health Coach in Auburn, AL today at 402-521-0314 or email at jason.a.cornish@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor before you begin any exercise program. The content of this blog is for educational purposes only. You are responsible for the outcomes for the use, misuse, or lack of use of the information presented in this blog.