There is so much NOISE surrounding what is the best diet to follow to feel your best. I have tried them all over the years…well at least quite a few of them. The problem with most diets is that eventually we forget our main reason for starting it. We unwittingly become part of a club, click or dare I say “cult” type mentality. We get trapped in this diet dogma. I get it, everyone wants to be part of a group, share their like minded opinions, recipes, experiences, get advice…I think that is perfectly normal and great as long as you are getting advice that is good for YOU.
A SAD Diet
I’m sure pretty much every diet out there has some benefit for certain people, but not ALL people. Sometimes we try different WOE (ways of eating) and then we get pulled into the ‘diet dogma’ and stop listening to our bodies. If you’re eating the typical SAD (Standard American Diet) or the CACD (Crap-Ass Canadian Diet as I like to call it), then you switch to any other “diet” out there, you’re going to feel pretty damn good at first. Unless of course you go on the all fast food diet, but let’s face it, that is pretty much the SAD/CACD we have been following for years. This WOE is causing a very unhealthy population.
The Diet Ideology
My issue with diet dogma is that we start a new diet and we’re feeling fantastic, for a bit, then once we start to feel ‘not so great‘ we ignore that feeling. We figure there has to be a different reason, it can’t be my diet, it is working for everyone else. We are all very unique, what works for someone else will not ultimately work for you long term. We feel so strongly that is should be working that we ignore the obvious signs when it isn’t.
The M-asses
I witnessed people continuing to eat a specific diet because their new BFF’s, their ‘click’ would banish them if they dare eat anything that is not on the approved list of foods. I’m not talking about people who eat a certain way for religious beliefs, I’m talking about the majority of us who are searching for an answer to help with our health issue and we lose focus of that fact and our health takes a back seat once again as we follow the masses. I always liked that saying “Be Careful When You Follow The Masses, sometimes the “M” is Silent”.
Everything Will Kill You!
The first ‘masses’ we followed are the government guide lines; the “Food Pyramid” or “My Plate”. UGH, what a joke! Then we have the media taking every half-assed, so called “study” and making it “Breaking News”. “This just in, new study proves EVERYTHING you eat causes cancer“… (at least it does this week, we will get back to you after a new study comes out next week).
Who Should You Listen To?
I think we need to shut out all the noise and start listening to the only one that truly knows whats best for us…who could I be talking about? Who is this wonderful, all knowing, great mind of all time that I speak of?? It’s ME…listen to ME…lol, just kidding, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!! You know better than any medical doctor, nutritionalist, guru, cult, group or club out there how YOU are feeling. If the advice you are receiving from anyone does not seem to be producing the results you were hoping for, keep searching and keep tweaking your diet!
Be Patient
Obviously you will need to give any new way of eating some time, you will go through an adjustment stage, or withdrawal in some cases, which is a good thing. This is simply your body cleaning out the garbage. If you have been slowly poisoning yourself for many years, you are not going to suddenly wake up tomorrow feeling like a new person because you didn’t eat crap the day before.
Ultimate Results
All that being said, you still have to learn to listen to your body. If it is screaming at you for help and you continue to ignore it by stuffing it full of foods it does not like or by depriving it of nutrients/proteins/healthy fats it truly needs simply because your ‘masses’ may disapprove, that is a mistake, you might as well stick with the food guidelines from the government because the ultimate results will be the same. Don’t get sucked into diet dogma!
Avoid The Processed CRAP
Be smart, do your own research, see what truly makes sense to you, ignore all the noise. Whether you are suffering from an illness that falls under the autoimmune umbrella, arthritis of any sort, diabetes, heart disease, skin diseases, cancer, depression, anxiety or any other mood disorder, gut issues, fatty liver, gall stones, ovarian cysts, infertility, ED etc etc etc be aware of the foods you are putting into your mouth. If you truly want to cut back or even get off some medications, start first by cleaning up your diet. Regardless what your health issue is, if you stop eating processed crap, sugar and seed oils you will make drastic changes to your health. Don’t let diet dogma dictate your health.
Whole Foods and Healthy Fats
Focus on whole foods at first, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, the highest quality meats you can afford and healthy fats. Once you have that down start tweaking it a little to help improve your symptoms. You will be more in tune with your body and you will learn pretty quick when it does not like something. You can’t go wrong with adding in some highly nutritious microgreens.
Get Moving
Do your best to get exercise of some sort. If you have mobility issues, try some sitting exercises. If you are short on time, try SIT (Sprint Interval Training) it’s super fast and effective.
Calm Down
Quiet your mind. Work on some stress relief options. Meditate, listen to calming music before bed, listen to inspirational affirmations while you sleep, there are a ton of options.
Pace Yourself
You don’t have to do everything at once, just start somewhere and don’t get all caught up in the dogma. You do you and be the best version of you by paying attention to what YOU are feeling.