Your diet is working, but this is why you need to change it.

Since I have a certification in fitness nutrition, and published a diet book, and a healthy dessert cookbook, people tell me what they eat, or what their diets consist of. Just because a diet is working, i.e. they are losing weight, and maybe their cholesterol and blood sugar is down, doesn’t mean their diet is healthy. Whenever calories are reduced, weight loss and numbers typically go down, but being healthy is more than just pant size and scores.

A certified fitness trainer told me about her high protein, low-calorie, low-carb diet. She gave me the amount of calories, total number of carbs, and total grams of protein she was told to eat on her new diet to see what I thought about it; I was shocked, because the proportions were totally out of whack. For her size, the protein (all from animal sources) was much too high, and the amount of carbs was much too low. I told her that much protein will increase her cholesterol, and tax her kidneys. I suggested she lower total overall protein, and to make sure some of that protein was from non-animal sources.

The amount of carbohydrates she was told to eat was also off; it was way too low for the type and amount of exercise she did daily. Extremely low carbs, usually means low energy since food is fuel. After a few months on that high-protein, low-carb diet, she looked leaner. She lost body fat and people were complementing her, but she felt terrible. Sometimes she had so little energy, that she couldn’t exercise at all. Her weight loss stopped too. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with extremely high cholesterol, and was told that her kidneys were not functioning as well as they could. She finally stopped eating so much animal protein, cut out red meat, and increased her carbs, but it took a doctor’s lab work before she made the changes.

A bodybuilder with bodyfat in the single digits, (that’s really low, which is why he has an 8-pack) told me that he eats ground beef, rice, ice cream, milk and chicken breast, that’s it. While he looks really fit and healthy, he admitted that he has to take energy drinks to get through his day, and fiber in order to have a bowel movement. I told him he needs to swap out the rice and dairy with fruit and vegetables instead, but he’s sticking to his diet because it’s “working.”

Your diet is NOT working if you are tired, grumpy, hungry all the time, have trouble sleeping, are breaking out with blemishes, and/or are constipated. A good weight-loss diet doesn’t require supplements, energy drinks, fat burners, or fiber pills. You shouldn’t eat the same foods every day. A diet shouldn’t be limiting, and should include a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

My seemingly endless amounts of energy isn’t hereditary, neither is my clear skin (I don’t even wear foundation). I have lots of energy, and my skin is clear because I eat fruit and vegetables every day, sleep 7-8 hours each night, and am always trying new recipes with different ingredients.

Diets have a negative connotation because there are so many terrible ones out there, but you don’t need to starve yourself, or eat a restrictive diet to lose weight. Nutritional deficiencies from inadequate diets cause disease. Just because a diet is working, doesn’t mean it will keep you healthy.

P.S. For my diet plan, my favorite recipes, and everything you need to know about nutrition for healthy, sustained weight-loss, order your copy of my paperback book from www.thehighfivediet.com

Photo: me