Why Diets are Killing Us

The average person has several diets in their lifetime. Over 45 million Americans start a diet each year according to an article by Linda Searing in the Washington Post. 45 million!

According to Express, the average person tries 55 diets in their lifetime. These numbers are staggering.

Shockingly, rather than people losing weight, or better yet, getting to their optimal weight, our society is becoming fatter by the day. There are more children dealing with obesity issues than ever before. With this, come all the diseases that used to be reserved for a small percentage of the adult population.

According to the United Health Foundation's annual report regarding health in the United States found that there was a 5 percent increase in obesity rates among American adults in 2018, from the 29.9 obesity percentage in 2017 to 31.3 percent in 2018.

All indications are this number will continue to rise. When you add up all the costs to the healthcare system, lost productivity, sick days, and general low self esteem that often becomes part of someone’s life in dealing with unhealthy weight, something dramatic needs to happen. But it’s not another diet.

How Many Diets?

How many diets have you tried? Some diets are scientifically researched; some are just plain crazy! There’s the all-egg diet, the lemonade cleanse, the oatmeal diet, low fat, high fat, low
carb, all carb, no sugar… the list of crazy diets is endless. We all want to know what the perfect diet is and what foods will help us have trim and healthy bodies. But there is not one single diet that fills this bill… until now!

Just as each person’s fingerprints are different, so are each person’s nutritional needs and solutions. You have your own unique health issues, and foods that are healing and health building for one person can cause another person great distress, such as pain, inflammation, bloating, weight problems, allergies, and even disease. Whether you are overweight, underweight, or lacking energy, your relationship with food is personal and unique to you.

The word diet is one of the most misused words in our language today. It is associated with restriction, starvation, dread, pain, and suffering, yet is what we think we must endure to be the thin, willowy figures society paints for us as pictures of happiness and fulfillment. It’s used like a swear word. The D-word conjures the dreadful act of self-deprivation and stress that 108 million Americans attempt four or five times each year. The diet industry currently rakes in over $66 billion a year.

You’ve seen the success testimonies that accompany diet programs that have come down the pike. At the end of every TV diet commercial or magazine ad featuring a skinny model prancing around half naked in a bikini, is the tiny statement *Results Not Typical.

Typical diet programs are based on restrictions – some that are just crazy and dangerous. They usually limit the dieter to tiny portions; restrict calories, carbohydrates, sugar, and/or fat; and regulate specific foods. It’s a mindset of all or nothing: When you are not dieting, you can eat all that you want; when you are on a diet, you can eat “nothing.”

This is where the term “yoyo dieting” comes from. You might go on a strict diet to lose weight for a wedding, a class reunion, or to look good in a swimsuit while on vacation and gain the weight back right afterward. You might get good results from a diet once but fail miserably the next time you try it. Why is that?

The main reason people fail at diets is they see a diet as a quick fix. They try to fix a long-term situation with a short-term solution.

One reason I wrote The Food Codes is to help people develop a healthy relationship with food. A relationship they feel good about. A relationship that will last a lifetime.

I am not a proponent of fad diets. I am an advocate for healthy eating. With The Food Codes, you learn what your body needs, wants and craves in a healthy way. To learn more, go to https://amzn.to/2ymXzza

Think of how great you will feel when you eat in a way that supports a healthy lifestyle. Think of the activities you will want to participate in when you have the energy. Think of how great everyone in your family will feel when a family outing is something you can all do together that brings you closer together.