Diets don’t work

Just In Time Personal Training So just what is “healthy eating”? Diets don’t work! It is with ever-increasing debate on just what constitutes “healthy eating”. Who do you believe? Do we follow the ketogenic diet, eat paleo, LCHF (low carb, high fat), low GI, low carbohydrate, Atkins, etc. The list goes on and sadly the majority of Australians constantly chase “the ideal diet”. I hate to tell you but there isn’t one. There never has and never will. Why? We are all very different. We process food differently, some of us are highly stressed, overworked and/or don’t get enough sleep which in turn raises our cortisol levels. We are either male or female, active or inactive, have varying health conditions and have different heights and weights. It is for this very reason that there simply cannot be one diet that works for us all. Statistics show that the majority of people who diet put on all weight lost and add some more! What is healthy eating? There are many critics of the “healthy eating pyramid” that we have all seen over the years. People blame the actual guidelines for our spiralling rates of overweight and obese Australians, not to mention increased heart disease and diabetes. But sadly, the reason that the healthy eating pyramid guidelines are blamed is because hardly anyone actually follows them, instead electing to follow (as stated above) unsuccessful diets. A recent study found that just five per cent of Australians consume the daily recommended “two fruit, five veg”! Perhaps it is time that you revisit the recently revised “healthy eating pyramid” and see how your eating habits stack up. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to healthy eating As a personal trainer of now more than 25 years with much experience in working with clients to help make better dietary choices and by educating them to plan their healthy eating as well as developing long-term eating behavioral changes, it is ever-apparent that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to helping people improve their eating habits. The key is working with people to know and understand what they are consuming, educate them to read and understand food labels, plan their daily and weekly eating and therefore be pro-active rather than re-active to what they choose to consume. I often get clients to complete a seven-day diet diary (over as many weeks as it takes to guide them to a better understanding of themselves), have them rate their weekly diet from one to 10 and then I sit down and go over it with them and give them a rating from one to 10 to compare. Over time the two figures get closer, and we strive to always rate between a six and eight out of 10. That then is sustainable and allows for living a happy, fun, sociable and healthy life and if weight loss is the aim (which it is for so many) then this allows for a safe and healthy weight loss in the range of between half a kilogram and one kilogram a week. We share an 80-minute highly informative and educational nutrition video with all of our clients and if you would like me to send you the link, send me an email and I will happily share it with you! In concluding, everyone is different and a paleo diet that may work for “slightly nutty” chef Pete Evans may not work for the next seven people! We are all different. Find what works for you but try and stay closer to the nutritional guidelines and you will be a greater chance of being where you want to be with respect to health and your ideal weight and/or size. For more information, exercise guidance or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me by heading to justintimept.com •