I’m not a huge fan of absolute statements. They generally make me very nervous (see what I did there?).
That being said, these next couple blog posts are going to delve into absolute truth-facts in the world of diet, nutrition, and you. Yep. I’m going to make bold, absolute claims directly related to you and your attempts at dieting.
I may not even know you, but these tenants will still be upheld regardless of race, gender, age, or ethnicity.
1. The simplest, most well thought out, easiest to follow diet in the world is absolutely useless…unless actually followed.
Our first tenant is the tenant of adherence: the simple matter of whether you ever actually start a style of eating and, if you do, how likely you are to adhere to it.
“Adherence (noun ad·her·ence \-ˈhir-ən(t)s\) : 2. steady or faithful attachment”
— Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 2 June 2017.
As for the rule of thumb? Again it’s rather simple. Find the style of eating (i.e. diet) which best suits your needs and fits your lifestyle and stick. to. it.
Action #1: Make a commitment to yourself to start a diet–any diet–and build some accountability to keep with it.
For some of you reading this, the Summer Kick-off Nutrition Challenge gave you the accountability necessary to pick something and stick with it. Others of you haven’t made up your mind which direction to go. The solution? Literally choose a diet which will illicit positive health benefits, and stick with it for 4-6 weeks.
“There’s not a single diet on this earth that works if you don’t do it, and most diets work at least pretty well if you stick to them.”
— Understanding Healthy Eating, Renaissance Periodization
Not haphazardly, not here and there, not only when it’s convenient. Create and commit to the daily habits.
What about when you fall short of your expectations? What then?
2. Dieting for health is a cumulative venture: deterioration as well as improvement are seen over long periods of time.
What separates those who succeed on the long term from those who don’t isn’t just adherence to a diet, but when they find themselves falling off the bandwagon they dust themselves off and hop right back on. Quickly.
“Resilience (noun re·sil·ience \ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s\) : 2. an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change”
— Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 2 June 2017.
We’re in the midst of a nutrition challenge here at CFN. Some folks are wholeheartedly on that bandwagon. Some are off and back on. Some are defiantly off. Others never got on in the first place.
And yet we all have something in common.
We’re all human. Which means (as a general rule of thumb; remember that absolutes thing) we make mistakes. Similar to other mistakes we make in life, it isn’t about the mishap itself but how we respond to it which defines our resilience.
Action #2: If you’ve fallen off the wagon, make the commitment to get back on. Next meal. Make the decision and stick with it.
Combine this with Action #1 and you have a recipe (pun!) for overcoming two of the largest obstacles faced in dieting: starting and sticking to a diet (adherence) and spending as little time between
What’s next?
We’d recommend starting with this blog post for a simple guide on how to set up a diet geared towards improving your health. Once you’ve grasped the basic principles, put Actions #1 and #2 into practice.
In Part 2 we’ll examine the other two tenants of dieting strategy.
For more information about the above concepts please see the inspiration behind this post, Understand Healthy Eating: A Science-Based Guide To How Your Diet Affects Your Health by Israetel, Case, and Pfaendtner (Renassaince Periodization).