Dietary 180

Dietary 180?

by Jerome K Brown

From time to time people will show me an eating plan that completely upends what they are eating, doing what I call a “dietary 180”. These plans will require buying all sorts of foods(and super foods) that they have never eaten and meals that require a significant amount of time and effort to prepare. If this works for you then that’s great. But more often than not the diet ends in a few weeks after a lot of frustration and tiring of foods they don’t like(a dietary 360?)

One of the biggest problems with this, aside from being required to eat foods that are not enjoyable, is that there are too many new things being introduced at once. In addition to this, it’s new shopping habits, new food preparation techniques and very often different meal times. Most experts suggest changing one habit at a time while some say a maximum of three small changes can be made at once. I’ve identified four changes above and the list is not exhaustive (oh! social support or family buy-in. That’s five!).

Instead of doing a “dietary 180”, I encourage people to make small changes to what they’re eating and adjust portion sizes. Most people find that a few small adjustments make a big difference in achieving weight loss goals. In most cases, a food log will quickly make clear what can be changed/adjusted.

First keep a food diary for a week without making any changes. Choose one or two things to change. Make this change for a week. Once you’ve become accustomed to the changes, you can make one or two more changes. If you’re having trouble selecting something to change, we can work on this together.

I believe that your way of eating should be something that you can do for the rest of your life. This is the only way to avoid the frustration and weight fluctuations that come with diets that can’t be sustained.

Have a great day!