DIETS VS. LIFESTYLES

DIETS VS LIFESTYLES…INTERMITTENT FASTING

HOW OFTEN TO YOU FAST…?

“So, how often do you do it?”

“How often do I do what?”

“How often are you on the intermittent fasting diet?”

I get asked this question a lot…and I do mean a lot. And, the response is always the same – “Always.”

You see, intermittent fasting is not a “diet.”

Intermittent Fasting is either a tool or, and more importantly for me, a way of life.

Sounds dramatic no?

If it doesn’t to you then congrats, you’re not in the norm because when I tell most people it is my way of life they typically follow with, “Intermittent Fasting is a way of life….I mean come on, it’s not like it’s that serious right?”

Well, it is like, it is that serious, at least for me anyways.

You see, healthy living is a way of life – hell, unhealthy living is a way of life. Being a vegan or a vegetarian is also a way of life no? Therefore Intermittent Fasting is my way of life.

AND, BECAUSE IT’S MY WAY OF LIFE INTERMITTENT FASTING IS NOT A DIET AT ALL BUT, INSTEAD, MY WAY OF LIFE (i.e., MY LIFESTYLE).

I don’t believe in diets!

I don’t believe in the word “Diet” as we are taught in school nor in mainstream America. I especially do not believe in the word “Diet” as established in the commercialized American Health and Fitness Industry.

For the most part, in American society we are taught to believe that a “diet” is a “caloric restriction, and or sustaining from certain foods, for some set period of time”….and that’s simply not 100% true let alone sustainable.

A few years ago I was okay with using the word “Diet.” I mean for me, a “Diet” simply meant the types of foods one eats on a regular basis.

Yeah, I knew, and know, that a “Diet” could also mean a “plan to restrict oneself of certain foods for health or personally reasons,” but over the years, as more and more people started unsustainable-fad diets I started realizing the word “Diet” had morphed into a curse word that was either hard to listen to or literally cursed the “Dieter” to fail at their objective once getting off the “diet” and back to their regular “diet.”

The more and more I thought about it the more and more I decided to never call an eating plan/approach/style/etc. a “Diet” again.

You see, over the years I have noticed that people who refer to an “eating plan” to get fit and/or change their life (be it lose weight, gain muscle, fight high cholesterol or diabetes or whatever) as a “diet” seem to fail in the long run.

PEOPLE FAIL BECAUSE THEY CONSIDER THEIR EATING PLAN A “DIET” NOT A LIFESTYLE!!!!

SUCCESSFUL EATING PLAN = HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

It’s a lot more easily said than done, but the fact of the matter is that if we can find an eating plan, NOT A “DIET”, that works you’ll never have to “DIET” AGAIN!!!

Sounds like a dream no? Let’s repeat it one more time, “you’ll never have to “DIET” again!”

It sounds too good to be true, but I assure you it’s not. Just think about it for a second and it’ll make perfect sense.

First of all, half the people in America would lose weight if we simply went on a “diet” of eating less of their existing “diet”…makes perfect sense right? Seriously though, instead of thinking we’re on a diet think about it as simply changing our lifestyle…I mean what could be simpler.

For example, lets assume we are an average overweight American person. Now, let’s think about “dieting” in terms of an “eating plan” instead of a “diet.” In our eating plan we will simply eat 1/3 – ½ of the foods we already eat.

SAY WHAT, WE GET TO EAT THE SAME FOODS AND LOSE WEIGHT…?

Well, assuming we have no other health issues and are at a steady weight (i.e., not currently losing or gaining weight), then we get to eat the same foods.

Now, because we get to eat the same foods we already love to eat, instead of thinking we are going on a “diet” (i.e., restricting ourselves of things we want), lets think we are changing our eating style via a new eating plan that will eliminate what we don’t need, get us the results we want, and change our lifestyles for the better.

It has been my experience that people who look at calorie restriction as a “plan” versus a “DIET” succeed more often than not while the “dieters” that consider their “eating plans” “diets” fail more often than not…WHILE THE PEOPLE THAT CONSIDER IT A “LIFESTYLE CHANGE” SUCCEED…FOR LIFE!!!

The reason for success is because once we’ve changed our lifestyle our “eating plan” becomes our new “diet” (“diet” meaning the food we normally eat not “diet” the curse word meaning things we can’t eat)…and the day everyone starts a new lifestyle eating plan instead of a “diet” we might be able to start saying “Diet” again without the negative connotation!

In summation,