Does Crash Dieting Work..

Being in the industry for over 20 years, I am often approached with the question about crash dieting and will it work?  The answer is both yes and no.  A crash diet is defined as any diet that restricts or limits. This can be a caloric restriction or limiting or even elimination a certain food group all together. The thing about crash dieting is that it is only meant to be done for a short amount of time. And there can be so many negative consequences. The time after is perhaps the most crucial because if you immediately go back to adding a surplus of calories or add back the food that was limited in large quantities, you will end up gaining all the weight back that you lost and perhaps even more. So when is a crash diet good? There are some cases for higher level athletes during training when crash dieting may serve them in a sport. For the average person, wanting to shed weight, it is not always the best choice. It can also lead to a bigger binge period once you feel like you are off if it. Any time you are telling yourself a food is good or bad eventually you will give in to the bad food. The physical and mental toll this takes on our bodies does not create sustainable results. You can also walk away from a crash diet, missing key nutrients that you need 

I think so many people feel like they want results now, immediately like I am ready to start so all of this weight should fall off. This is why crash diets can be so appealing, they play onto our insecurities, lose 10lbs in 2 weeks, get your mom bod back…. We are flooded with these adds, the before and after pictures, only a small portion of the real story. And we are thinking yes please, I need to lose 10lbs now…Ill do it, but at what price? So we read the rules of the diet and see that we can have protein and veggies for example for 12 weeks, we try it for a few days, get a headache or have low energy or go out with co workers after work and it's over. When our system is adequately fed, we have cravings or headaches, or our sleep can be disrupted. Can you feel hungry on a diet, sure, is that ok bc we care creating a deficit, sure.. The thing is that we did not put on the weight overnight so we can’t just get rid of it overnight. And the habits that we have created, can be really hard to break. Here are some things you can do to begin a weightless journey that is sustainable. 

1. Track everything you are currently doing. Trying to do this without any changes or judgements, this way we have an accurate starting point. If you log for 5-7 days and notice that you are taking in 1800 calories a day on average this gives you a place to start. This way we can create a small deficit, instead of a crash going from 1800 to 1200, what happens is that at some point 1200 will be your new set point, you will plateau and there is not much lower we can take the cals safely or sustainably.

2. Create one staple in the day, choose one meal or snack that you know you can eat most to everyday this can be having the same breakfast or lunch every day.  

3. Plan, plan, plan. This its where I see the most success stories and also the most challenges..Planning ahead for every meal, event and night out can take time and can also set you up for success. Taking time the day before or even week before to see what you have going on. Do you have a busy day where you may not have time to cook, is there a dinner out where you can look at the menu and plan ahead? All of these things will set you up for success, instead of walking into the day or dinner, unprepared.

4. Take notice of patterns or habits..every time I am sad, I reach for the ___, you fill it in. Whenever I am with my family, I tend to over eat….When I am drinking I tend to lose ambition and choose unhealthy food. When we are referring to unhealthy food these are typically highly processed, lower nutrient dense foods. 

4. Begin to incorporate whole foods, if you are not already doing so, this can be adding one color to each meal or just one color to each day and then slowly increase that number. Choose high quality proteins and carbs, high quality means the least amount of steps or ingredients to get to you or to get from the earth to your plate. Think less process foods. 

5. Start to move away from the idea that there are good and bad foods. Yes there are higher quality and lower quality foods. Creating words that are good or bad creates a feeling about a food. If we can start to shift our thoughts from good or bad to how the food makes us feel we will naturally start choosing foods that we know make us feel good and be aware of things that we don’t feel good after we eat.

6. Stay within your target at least 5/6 days a week, one day a 100 or so off won’t kill your progress, but 3 days off will. We can’t be in or on 55% and expect results, think closer to 80/90. Are you going to be perfect all of the time?, probably not. And remember, lack of sleep, lack of hydration, hormones and mood can all play a role in our food choices and some days we are just not into it. 

7.  Start adding more movement to your day, it can be taking 5000 or 10000 steps, it can be going for a walk after dinner, it can be going to a gym or taking a class, adding movement.

Losing weight can be a long, challenging journey.  If we do it in a way that is sustainable, we can put crash diets in the past, learn new ways of eating that make us feel good and create new habits for our lives, without restriction, binging or yo-yo dieting.

From Heartbreak to Healing

Heartbreak is defined as overwhelming distress. It’s a part of life. Some of us

experience many heartbreaks and heart breaking moments through the course of

our lives. The break lines are proof that we are living with love and an open

heart. Even though these are facts, it doesn’t lessen the pain when feel when our

heart is broken. Most of the time it’s time that will heal the pain. Sometimes it

take more, seeing someone, a healer, a mental health professional etc. There

are some little things that we can do during this time our heart is broken that can

let a little light shine in. I will share a little of my story, some things I did and

hopefully some things you can try. I am by no means a professional but I have

experienced heartbreak and I have healed my heart.

How I healed my broken heart? For me, my heartbreak was loss. There was

actual loss, a loss of hope

After being married for a few months, Jimmy and I were anxious to start a family.

We started trying and I was pregnant right away. We were so excited. We got

into the doctor and had our first sonogram, which at 8 weeks, was showing to be

a little smaller and less developed. This meant we were scheduled to come back

in two weeks for an update. The Sunday before that appointment, I knew

something wasn’t right. When we went to the appointment, no heartbeat, sorry

for the bad news, it’s more common than you think, just bad luck…we believed

most of these, found comfort in them and each other and moved forward with

optimistic. To keep it short, I’ll do the cliff notes for the rest..It happened two more

times. So 2018 was a year fuil of heartbreak from the losses, from the loss of

hope, the sadness in my partner. Something shifted in me, I was sad, I was tired,

I didn’t want to workout, something I had used as my stress relief for years, I

didn’t want to see anyone, yet, I have to be around and in front of people daily. I

took a little time off after the second; however, even if your heart is broken life is

still going on… For months at work, I was just going through the motions. I set

my feeling aside and showed up everyday for the people I needed to show up

for. Sometimes we have to do what is needed. I spent my time outside of work

healing….

How did I begin to heal…First, I rested when I was tired. Mentally that was hard

for me, physically I needed it. I stopped putting pressure to have to go to the gym

and I found new ways to move my body. I did yoga, and not the physical practice.

I got quiet, I self reflected. I hugged my dog..I saw a therapist. I went to

acupuncture. I talked about it. I asked for help. I let my team know I was

struggling and that I needed help. I allowed my self space to heal. I spent time

outside. I found a group of people who love working out as much maybe more

then me. A tribe. I gave myself the grace and space to heal at my pace, doing the things that would fill my heart. 

If you are dealing with a heartbreak or a loss, I hope you can find the same grace for yourself. Listen to what your heart needs to heal and give yourself space and time to do those things.