http://realfoodrealfatloss.com
New year, new me? As another year quickly passes by, the holiday season of Christmas and New Year’s is often a time for personal reflection and self-evaluation. Did I do enough with my time in 2014? Did I improve on my finances like I wanted to? Most importantly, the end of the year means that it is time to think up the dreaded New Year’s resolutions.
Losing weight and eating healthier have consistently topped the list of popular resolutions. As a nutrition major with food and health constantly enthusing my mind, the time around New Year’s is even unbearable for a food fanatic like myself. Since this topic is heavily on my brain, it’s only fitting that Lori Lieberman’s blog, Drop it and Eat: Drop the Diet, Manage Your Weight, quickly came to my attention.
Lori Lieberman’s spirit towards nutrition and wellness perfectly captured my attitude towards the subject and then some. Her blunt and honest approach involving real-life anecdotes was refreshing to read. In a world telling me that kale smoothies and quinoa salads are the answers to everything, it is hard for me as a cheesy-crunchy-salty lover to accept that is the only solution. I believe that food deprivation and settling for anything less than delicious is unacceptable. It is not about the sacrifices we have to make in our diet, but the compromises when we experiment with health and flavor. A life without Doritos is a life not worth living.
We live in a society where people do not like to change. Even worse than that, people do not like being told to change. As an aspiring dietitian, it is important to get into the mindset of each and every one of the future clients that walk into the door. Due to the fact that dietitians are experts in the field and have mastered the ins and outs of human nutrition, it is easy to forget how easier said than done it is for the clients. Sitting down with elderly members of the community and telling them that they need to change how they have been doing things for the past 60 years will not produce any progress. Telling an obese man that he needs to cut out everything he usually eats and follow a strict diet will only lead to no improvement. Which improvement is all we want, right?
Why do so many people fail to follow through on their New Year’s resolution to get fit and create a healthier lifestyle? Many people get inspired to better themselves and cut off junk food all together. Junk food is not the enemy. Eating an entire box of Twinkies in one sitting is a different story. Moderation is the key to it all. We should learn to give and take and gradually progress into a healthier lifestyle, rather than a quick diet fad that will not see the light of day in 2016.
Some might argue that this is condoning unhealthy eating habits. I simply believe that it is acceptable, even recommended to allow ourselves to indulge. If not, it will only lead to driving ourselves mad and that is an ice-cream binge waiting to happen. So as the saying goes, “Let them eat cake,” and enjoy life’s simple food pleasures.
Link to the Blog: http://www.dropitandeat.blogspot.com