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Diet wars - blah blah blah
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Eat fresh fruit
If you are like me, the whole diet debate is tiresome, frustrating and let's face it, never ending. When this editorial topic came around this month I found my self rolling my eyes. I mean, if the doctors who write diet books and the scientists who study diets can’t agree then where does that leave us?
I’ll tell you right now.
Actually, I’ll tell you in a second. First, I want to say that just because there are conflicting theories on what works and what doesn’t, that is not an excuse to avoid a healthy diet and it’s not an excuse to avoid losing unwanted pounds. Know that.
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Eat fresh vegetables
So here is what most everybody can agree on:
- Count calories – figure out how many calories you need to eat per day to drop a certain number of pounds in a certain period of time and stick to that number.
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables – the closer to their natural state, the better. In other words, strawberry jam is at the “worst” end of the spectrum – fresh strawberries are towards the “best” end of the spectrum.
- Eat whole grains – this is against the Zone and Atkins and they tend to be high in calories so choose carefully. They do fill you up so if you are limiting calories, grains are helpful. (Whole grains can often taste like bird seed mixed with Styrofoam so it can take lots of experimentation to find something that works. Be kind to yourself - don’t force yourself to eat wood chips just to get your whole grains in.)
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Eat good fats. By this I am not saying “eat yummy, m-m-good fats.” Nope, I’m saying eat fats that are good for you. Focus on fats high in Omega-3 which can be found in fish (such as salmon, tuna, and halibut), avocadoes, and nuts and nut oils.
- Eat lean meat and fish
- Avoid refined carbohydrates (“bad carbs”) such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour and white rice. This category is where we find cookies, cakes, candy, etc. These are bad, bad, bad and we all know it!
- Choose fat free, 1% and low fat diary foods. If you are drinking milk (like with whole grain cereal) this is fine. If you are selecting dairy foods with sugar mixed in - sometimes called “ice cream” – then low fat and fat free options are pretty yucky. And as discussed above, the full fat options are refined carbohydrates and are bad bad bad – so you end up avoiding these foods altogether and that’s a good thing.
- Exercise! Move! Do something! You knew this was coming. I know this can be hard and the voices in your head supply you with so many REALLY GOOD reasons not to exercise but find something. Grab your ipod and walk or run, cycle, join a gym, hire a trainer, find a pool, get on the treadmill while watching your favorite TV show, dance, get a yoga DVD, anything. Move a little – move a lot – just move.
There is no doubt the diet debate will continue, this we know. But there is a general consensus regarding what I’ve listed above. It’s not really a diet. It’s a way of eating. It’s a way of being. Be that healthy fit person you want to be. You’ll see results.
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