Diets have been around for as long as we can remember. The Atkins Diet, Weight Watchers, The South Beach Diet, Jenny Craig, The Blood Type Diet, The Macrobiotic Diet…the list goes on. The diet industry brings in millions each year as people cling on to new hope as a means to finally losing and keeping weight off. There is one problem though – deprivation is never a motivator. Once we remove something, our desire to have it usually takes over. We deprive ourselves which leads to cravings and we eventually crack, leading to more food than we would have had to begin with. Telling us “no” means filling someone’s lives with restrictions and rules. We have enough rules to follow in our lives without having food rules as well, especially when they come from a place of deprivation. Once we tell ourselves “no” for long enough, at some point we just want to say yes.
What if we predominantly ate natural, fresh, whole foods? What if we truly listened to our body and trusted its guidance? Could it be that easy? The diet industry sure hopes this isn’t so…
If you’ve been dieting for years, try to shift your attention to fresh, whole foods. Focus on plant based meals and whole grains. This will gently detoxify your diet, reduce cravings by balancing blood sugar levels and remove your need to “diet”. Remove your idea of deprivation and replace it with an abundance of whole foods.
