It’s now 2016. Gyms are filled with hopefuls trying to get their dream body this year and health food stores are filled with people who are simply trying to diet their way to a skinnier self. And although dieting and exercise can both be effective methods of losing weight, things like strict diets aren’t always realistic, especially for long periods of time. If you’re trying to lose some weight or just change your eating habits, skip the diet and choose to the art of eating right instead. Read on to learn more.

Diets Are Temporary
The great and terrible thing about diets is that they are temporary. By going on extreme diet or cleanse where you drastically cut down your calories and food options, it’s not something that is realistic to sustain for a long time. And although you might lose a few pounds while on this said diet or cleanse, you are sure to gain it back in less time than it took you to lose the weight.

Instead, choose the art of eating right. For instance, rather than eating a dessert every night, choose to eat a light greek yogurt or some fresh fruit instead. Or instead of choosing to eat a sandwich everyday for lunch, opt for a salad that has chicken, turkey, beans or another large form of protein in it. By making these simple changes to your diet, you will see more drastic results that will last you a lifetime.

Diets Aren’t Effective
According to a study done at UCLA, diets are not effective. The study concluded that many of the participants who were studied ended up gaining back more weight than they started with. Let’s think about it: the more you deprive your body of things like carbohydrates, fats, and sugars, the more your body is going to crave it. Rather than cutting these things out of your diet altogether, it would make more sense to replace your carbohydrates with whole grains, your fats with good fats like avocado and nuts, and to limit the amount of sugar you consume on a daily basis.

To learn more about the art of healthy eating, contact our office today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do strict diets usually fail over the long term?

Extreme diets and cleanses cut calories and food options so drastically that they are unrealistic to sustain. Once the diet ends, old habits return and the lost weight often comes back quickly.

What does eating right mean compared to dieting?

Eating right is a permanent shift toward balanced, whole-food choices you can maintain indefinitely, rather than a temporary restriction. It focuses on building habits instead of counting down to an end date.

Will I lose weight more slowly by changing habits instead of dieting?

Often the scale moves more gradually, but the results are more likely to last. Slow, steady loss driven by sustainable habits avoids the rebound weight gain that follows most crash diets.

How can Thin MD help me build sustainable eating habits?

Our Jacksonville team offers medically guided weight management that looks at your lifestyle, preferences, and health history, then builds an eating approach you can actually live with long term.