Diets are Bullshit!

Diets are bullshit.

Yes, that's right. I said it, and I'll continue saying it.

As an over-weight woman with auto-immune disease and metabolic issues, that's continuing to lose weight, I'll still say it.

Diets are bullshit.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have nothing against being plus sized. If you're happy with your body, health, and the weight you're at live and let live! Shine on. But if you're unhappy and trying to shed some pounds, dieting is not the answer.

This is how Google defines a diet:

Diet is all about restriction. People that are over weight are thought to have no self-control.

Here's the thing, we want what we can't have. It's part of our psyche. The more we can't have something the more we want it. Diets are all about beating your head against a wall of basic human instinct.

It sucks, and it doesn't work.

"But Trisha, my sisters uncle's boyfriends third-cousin's hair dresser did the no-carb diet and lost like two-hundred pounds and she's hawt!"

As the south would say, bless her heart. If she enjoys carbs, and she does or it wouldn't be a diet, she suffered like all hell doing it. And at some point she's going to break. Her diet's going to stop, and that weight is going to come back. She spent who knows how long tormenting herself, feeling like she's missing out to shed some pounds that she's ultimately going to pound back on the second she hits her goal and feels released of her diet's restrictions.

I've seen it happen, a lot. Dieting, especially extreme dieting only reinforces eating disorders. I mean if you're really good at your diet you become damn near obsessive. There's a thin line between obsessive dieting and anorexia in my opinion. It can become a nasty cycle of binge-eating and anorexia-like habits. It's not healthy.

I've been saying this for a long time, but it seems even doctors and the media are starting to catch on to just how unhealthy this 'dieting' trend is. I've seen many articles in the media lately about certain weight loss TV shows. The eating disorders contestants developed as a result of the show, the hell they put their bodies through to lose the weight, and ultimately almost all of them put it back on again.

You want to know the big magic secret to losing weight?

Losing weight requires burning more calories than you take in.

That's it. Seriously.

Now don't get me wrong I know all about the bagillion different factors that can complicate this process.

Metabolic issues, movement disorders, breathing disorders, poor access to healthy foods, I mean really the list goes on and on. At the end of the day though, the only way you will lose weight is if you burn more calories than you consume. Breaking your barriers that prevent that is the key.

I never said it would always be easy, but the concept is simple.

There will be times you may be uncomfortable, sore, hungry, tired, out of breath, or many other things. Gaining weight is much easier than working it off. Your body wants those extra pounds. Hello insulation and stocking up for the dry season! Nothing worth having comes easy though.

You need to have the tough conversation with yourself. How did the weight get there? Something in your lifestyle is causing a greater intake of calories than you're burning in a day.

Depending on the cause(s) this is where tough changes may need to happen. These changes need to be permanent though. No diet, no I'll start next Monday or cheat on weekends. You need to make a lifestyle change to fix the cause(s). 

Your reason for your weight gain that you've identified can either be a hurdle or an excuse.

Once you cross that hurdle though and change how you live your life the rest is easy. You won't need to restrict yourself from that piece of cheesecake, or from that carb-loaded meal at Olive Garden because you'll be living your life in such a way that indulgences are not going to break you.

You'll drop the weight in a healthy fashion, without having to obsess over not putting any carbs or sugars into your mouth.

It sounds easy enough, but it's not all rainbows and unicorns. You have to want to change and be a better person. You have to want better for your body, and have some tough conversations with yourself. Unlike a diet though, this is about want, change, and health.

It's about learning enough about your food to know that 70 calories from a brownie is different than 70 calories from an apple. It's about knowing you can have both if you damn well want to, but then you need to put out some sweat to make up for it.

Because of my auto-immune diseases my doctors have had me on steroids as high as 1,000mgs a day. Hello, appetite! After a long battle trying to taper off of them I learned I have developed Addison's Disease and will most likely remain steroid dependent the rest of my life. Steroids make my metabolism slower than a stoned snail, and I pack weight on at awkward places. No, body, the back of my neck and abdomen really aren't cool places to store that for a rainy day.

I've lost almost 60 pounds this year so far - and I had cake for breakfast today.

So how am I doing it? I changed my lifestyle. I looked at my problem areas (my shoulders and abdomen) and found exercises that target them that are easy to do at home when I feel up to it. My diseases make it hard and painful for me to move some days, but I've found ways to work around it. I stay active. Whether it's playing with and taking care of my pets, fishing, gardening, exercising, cooking, or just taking a walk I keep my body moving. It helps keep my joints from flaring up, it keeps my risk of recurring clots down, and it burns calories.

Granted, some days I move less than others. I adjust what I eat during the day accordingly. Food is fuel, and you should treat it as so. Eat when you're hungry, not when you're bored. If you feel hungry, drink something first. The majority of the time we think we're hungry our body is actually thirsty. You're not denying your body food. You're teaching your body to look at and use food properly.

The three meals a day rule is bullshit too. Do not feed your body just because a clock says you should. Yes, breakfast is important. You should start out your day with food. You wouldn't run a car without fuel would you? All of our bodies, metabolisms, and needs are different though. While some days my prednisone fueled appetite might start growling again by noon if I'm very active, other days I may not get hungry again until late in the evening. And that's okay. Listen to what your body needs.

Don't be afraid of a growling stomach. It's not going to kill you. It's your body's way of telling you that it is actually now time to eat again and congratulations you burned some calories! If your stomach doesn't growl at least twice in a day chances are you're in taking more than you're burning.

Examine what you're drinking. I was taking in so many empty calories drinking soda as my primary source of fluid (don't even get me started on diet soda). I changed things up. I'm not active enough to burn off soda all day long. I drink more fruit juice now. If I want a soda though, I damn well drink one. Fruit juice, tea, coffee; none of them are sugar or calorie free, but I enjoy and like them. Are they healthier than soda? Hell yeah, and I don't feel the least bit deprived. Just that small change alone cut hundreds of calories out of my day which ultimately add up to pounds.

One of the most important changes to my lifestyle was cooking from scratch. Fast food is terrible for you, prepared frozen meals are terrible for you. They're full of empty preservatives and fat. When you feel like shit every day it is so much easier to just grab a combo-meal or a frozen dinner. I get it. Trust me I do, but your body will thank you if you don't. It's honestly one of the biggest changes in our lifestyles since the obesity epidemic, along with video gaming and a lack of activity.

Eat what you want, but cook it your damn self. And like I said, this is a lifestyle change. Splurging and exceptions to this are not going to ruin you. Yes we eat out occasionally. But it is the exception, not the rule. You're much less likely to fill your body with junk when you have to go through the effort of preparing it.

Making your meal from scratch is work. You're burning calories just cooking it, and probably even more cleaning up from it. On top of that you will know what is in your food. We get as many fresh ingredients as we can. Hell, sometimes we even catch our own fish! We get our eggs from a local chicken coop (they're insanely more delicious, nutritious, and ethical). You can find tons of awesome recipe inspiration online. I used the video posted below to make a delicious meal the other night. You know how much fat was on that pork shoulder? And yeah, still losing weight.

Most importantly, be happy and love yourself in the now. Don't say "I'll be happy when...". You're an ever evolving work in progress. Be happy with yourself now. Your body knows the difference.

Say no to diets, and yes to healthy lifestyles.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or nutritionist. The points made in this blog post are based upon my personal experience. Please discuss lifestyle changes with your doctor.