CHAPTER TWO – STUPID DIETS I HAVE TRIED

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Lifestyle | Nutrition Tips | Uncategorized

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November 6, 2018

Before becoming a Coach I tried quite a few diets and crazy exercise regimes; I’ve decided to share these experiences with you…

The Soup Diet

My brother told me he had found an amazing new diet that was going to change his life and help him lose a heap of weight. At this stage I had never dieted before but this one claimed I could lose at least a couple of kilos in a week – I was in!

Initially I thought that 5 days of soup containing just vegetables and vegetable stock sounded pretty healthy and not too hard. However……

Day 2: My stomach was churning and I was really hungry.
Day 3: I no longer had bowel movements which seemed odd, but I was on a mission and persisted as I thought losing weight required great sacrifice.
Day 4: No one wanted to be around me as I was grumpy and tired.
Day 5: I was miserable and felt very lethargic.

But then there was a turning point on day 6, I was allowed to eat as much chicken as I liked, I was so excited. The catch was that you could only microwave the chicken and not add anything to it. The chicken was dry and plain, but I was so desperate I didn’t care.

Did I lose weight? I sure did, I dropped about 1.5kg and although I had bags under my eyes and was looking slightly pale (yes it is possible for me to be paler than I already am).

THEN, the following week I ate normally, my energy levels started to increase and I slept better. By the end of that week I had put the 1.5kg back on.

WHAT!!!! How was that possible?

At the time I had no idea what was happening to my body. I went from being really happy to really angry and frustrated.

So what actually had happened to my body that week?

The diet severely reduced my calorie intake. Too severely. My body responded by trying to conserve energy. I felt tired and grumpy.
I was eating little to no essential fats and muscle conserving proteins. As a result, my weight loss was mostly a result of water and muscle loss.
To make matters worse, once you start eating again the weight piles back on as your body tries to restore a healthy metabolism.
With a sudden vegetable only diet, I ate more fibre than normal, this gave me constipation.

While I wouldn’t recommend this kind of dieting to anyone, I’m glad I can now tell you this story from the perspective of someone who now knows firsthand why these kinds of dieting fads can be damaging and a waste of time.

If you want to lose weight, keep in mind that a small daily consistent, sustainable and healthy reduction in calorie intake can help you avoid these horrible diet experiences. The path to healthy habits is often less complicated than we tend to make it.

Stay tuned for more Stupid Diet & Exercise Gimmick stories and find out why these things don’t or do work…..

Coach Ange Gawthorne