Is your diet a fad? (supplements, systems, doctors, clinic)

[Diesel350z]

If a given diet has one or more of these characteristics, consider it a fad diet. If your favorite diet happens to qualify, keep calm and don't get mad.

1. Lack of consistent and compelling scientific evidence
2. Lack of options to allow individual preference of food choice and macronutrient distribution.
3. Universally issues mandatory foods to consume and avoid.
4. Extremes in macronutrient restriction without objective clinical justification.
5. Heavy reliance on user testimonies and appeals to emotion instead of research data
6. Heavy reliance on appeals to authority (doctors, celebrities, authorities, chiropractors)
7. Promises ease and simplicity, but lacks sustainability
8. Promises quick results, doesn't mention risks or caveats
9. Incomplete provision of essential nutrition
10. Requires the purchase of special/proprietary products of supplements

[eaton53]

11. Way too much thinking.

I lost 70 lbs doing what I'm doing.

22:2 IF to create a caloric deficit - or stay even currently, because I already lost the weight.
Low carb to keep blood sugars in check.
Regular HIIT workouts.

That's it. Uncomplicated and easy to stick to because carbs are easy to count and everything else is more or less on a schedule.
IMO, structure is highly underrated.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by eaton53

11. Way too much thinking.

I lost 70 lbs doing what I'm doing.

22:2 IF to create a caloric deficit - or stay even currently, because I already lost the weight.
Low carb to keep blood sugars in check.
Regular HIIT workouts.

That's it. Uncomplicated and easy to stick to because carbs are easy to count and everything else is more or less on a schedule.
IMO, structure is highly underrated.

never told you congrats on your loss! 70 lbs for me too...been three years and counting.

back to the topic,

people underrate the need for "individual preference of food choice and macro distribution". If weight loss and management is supposed to be for life that needs to be taken into consideration. that is why any diet that restricts my ability to choose from a variety of food groups won't work for me.

there is no such thing as "effortless weight loss". Undergoing a lifestyle change - regardless of which diet you choose - ISN'T effortless. Each diet is going to essentially reprogram you. You have to decide how you'd like to be reprogrammed. For me, my body had to become accustomed to smaller portions and less garbage.

Also, all diets require patience and adherence.

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by riaelise

never told you congrats on your loss! 70 lbs for me too...been three years and counting.

Thanks, riaelise!
I'm taking after you by making exercise a cornerstone of my maintenance plan. I'm a big time believer!
The more I stick to my workout schedule, the easier it is to keep my weight constant.
Every workout is a class, so they're 100% scheduled. If a class is on the schedule, I never miss it.

Like I said above, structure is another very important component of my plan.
Eat here, sleep here, work here, exercise here. That's my life five days a week.
My classes are treated like like doctor's appointments.
I will not have a doctor's appointment on a day that I have a class. Monday and Wednesday only.

[KaraG]

Originally Posted by riaelise

never told you congrats on your loss! 70 lbs for me too...been three years and counting.

Congrats to BOTH of you!!! I love reading the different ways people have success staying healthy and losing weight, especially maintaining those losses.

[royalmike]

Originally Posted by Diesel350z

If a given diet has one or more of these characteristics, consider it a fad diet. If your favorite diet happens to qualify, keep calm and don't get mad.

1. Lack of consistent and compelling scientific evidence
2. Lack of options to allow individual preference of food choice and macronutrient distribution.
3. Universally issues mandatory foods to consume and avoid.
4. Extremes in macronutrient restriction without objective clinical justification.
5. Heavy reliance on user testimonies and appeals to emotion instead of research data
6. Heavy reliance on appeals to authority (doctors, celebrities, authorities, chiropractors)
7. Promises ease and simplicity, but lacks sustainability
8. Promises quick results, doesn't mention risks or caveats
9. Incomplete provision of essential nutrition
10. Requires the purchase of special/proprietary products of supplements

Yes 99% of diets fit into one off those ten points, way of the world humans looking for a quick easy answer. People can get very defensive about their diet cult like.

[royalmike]

One other point, made necessary to mention due to almost by-the-minute posts in this forum; "keto" diets and "Intermittent Fasting" have no benefit in regard to fat loss over a consistent, simple calorie deficit. Both can work to help reduce body fat, but that's only because they present just another way to limit calorie intake. There's no need to use some exclusionary eating plan, or restrict your meals to some specific "eating window."

[eaton53]

Originally Posted by royalmike

Both can work to help reduce body fat, but that's only because they present just another way to limit calorie intake. There's no need to use some exclusionary eating plan, or restrict your meals to some specific "eating window."

It's a lot easier to limit intake when you don't have much time to do it.

I have two hours.
One of the things I do almost every day is make myself a mega salad.
It won't fit in a regular bowl, so it goes in a large mixing bowl.

Needless to say, it takes a LONG time to eat this thing. That's all it takes to make about half my time go poof.
It's a ridiculously simple concept, but it works. The "One Bowl" method in another thread, that's also very simple.
Use a smaller plate... that's very simple too. Another simple thing that works.

The principle of KISS applies to a lot of things not just Engineering.

The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design, and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

In technical terms, a diet is really nothing more than another system that requires managing. See above.

1. Lack of consistent and compelling scientific evidence
2. Lack of options to allow individual preference of food choice and macronutrient distribution.
3. Universally issues mandatory foods to consume and avoid.
4. Extremes in macronutrient restriction without objective clinical justification.
5. Heavy reliance on user testimonies and appeals to emotion instead of research data
6. Heavy reliance on appeals to authority (doctors, celebrities, authorities, chiropractors)
7. Promises ease and simplicity, but lacks sustainability
8. Promises quick results, doesn't mention risks or caveats
9. Incomplete provision of essential nutrition
10. Requires the purchase of special/proprietary products of supplements

There's a term for this too.... Analysis Paralysis.

Analysis paralysis is the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome.

[tickyul]

16/8 and keto'ish, that is what currently works best for me.

I am open minded and willing to switch diets when one gets old.......but all the other ways of eating definitely do not work as well for me as my current fad, YMMV!!!!

[Diesel350z]

Originally Posted by eaton53

It's a lot easier to limit intake when you don't have much time to do it.


There's a term for this too.... Analysis Paralysis.

I think this infographic probably sums it up best