Did reading that heading immediately make you see a lot of green, non-delicious, cardboard tasting food? If it did, then you should continue reading.
After speaking to 2 qualified dieticians from a district hospital, we came to the conclusion that most people consider the word diet as a unpleasant weight-loss period district hospital, we came to the conclusion that most people consider the word diet as a unpleasant weight-loss period where out throw out everything in your cardboard and replace it with a fruit and veggie city! Let’s go through the following 5 points to try and correct this manner of thinking.
What is a diet?
Although loosely referred to as a special course of food to which a person restricts themselves either to lose weight or for medical reasons, a diet is fundamentally the kinds of food that a person, animal or community habitually engages.
English Oxford living Dictionary
So guess what? Even a burger with 2 patties, fries with cheese sauce and a large soda can be considered as a diet!
We therefore need to describe the kind of diet we are embarking on:
- A weight loss diet?
- A weight gain diet?
- A weight maintenance diet?
- A diabetic diet?
- A healthy heart diet?
- A religious diet?
The list is continuous and it is up to the individual to make an informed decision about which diet to follow.
Is it good for me to go on a diet?
According to Ms.D.Modumaela (BDietitics.UKZN) going on a diet is not the problem, the problem then comes in when “crash diets” are engaged. These diets are mostly unsustained, back door methods of gaining rapid results. Think of your body as a system, there is always an, input-process-output. Whatever you put into the system is going to be processed and there will be an output. Due to the lack of research on these diets people end up going diet hopping and eventually the system will crash! However, good on a well maintained balanced diet will yield good and healthy results and this kind of diet is advised.
Who goes on a diet?
This depends highly on why you need to go on a diet? Is it for medical reasons? a special event perhaps, sports reasons, weight gain or do you just want to maintain your current weight
What kind of diet if good for me?
To simplify this answer we will use the SMART method:
Is your diet: Specific.Measurable.Achieveable.Realistic.Timed
The final checklist
- Why am I going on a diet?
- What kind of a diet am I going on?
- Is my diet SMART?
- Should I rather consider a healthy eating lifestyle?
*A healthy eating lifestyle is discussed in the following article.