Today a woman asked me how she should determine which diet is right for her.
She said Keto is popular, fasting is popular, weight watchers has been around forever...how does she know which one is the right one.
My answer was this:
There are 2 very important truths about nutrition that we should all know.
#1: Whole foods are always nutritionally superior to processed foods.
So if some diet is telling you to eat this or that way but that requires a bunch of processed foods, then be wary.
The more whole foods you eat, the healthier you will be. That is a fact. So before going to some fancy diet, how about just eating whole foods for a few weeks? See what happens.
#2: There is NO one diet that is right for everyone.
It simply does not exist. What you need is different from any other person in the world.
You are unique!!
Embrace it.
Pay attention to how you feel after you eat.
It’s okay to try new diets. Generally my attitude is that the less restrictive the diet is, the better overall it will be for your health (providing you’re eating mostly whole foods and of course if there are food allergies those should be honored).
If you are interested in a diet, give it a try and just observe how your body does with it.
Take this quiz to find out where to start in finding a diet that’s right for YOU.
There are 6 key factors you should look at when observing your body.
- Mood
- Mental Clarity
- Energy
- Hunger
- Cravings
- GI health
If you are eating a new way and you feel tired all the time or you have lots of cravings...something is off. Maybe you need to tweak it or maybe that diet is just not for you.
I am on a campaign to end dietary dogma.
Stop listening to gurus and start listening to your body.
Your body will tell you what’s working and what’s not working.
Ideal functioning is as follows:
- Even tempered, peaceful, calm mood
- Good mental focus and clarity
- Plenty of calm energy throughout the day
- Hungry every 4-5 hours or more
- Little to no cravings
- Healthy bowel movements: that’s 2 or more BMs per day that are soft and easy to pass. There should be no pain, nausea, gas, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea. And you should have a healthy appetite.
This is ideal. I’m not saying you have to perfect but this is what true health looks like and what many of us are striving for.
Any diet that brings you one or more improvements in these areas means you’re probably on to something.
Any diet that makes one or more of these areas worse means you have to tweak or stop.
Listen to your body. It is speaking to you.
