This is Not a Diet and Your Weight is Not a Goal
Have you done that thing where you hear about a diet, it sounds good, one of your friends lost 10lbs doing it and you decided to give it a go? It worked for a while, you felt better for a while, maybe you reached your goal weight but as quickly as it came it went. When you hit your goal you loosened the reins a little bit. You started having cheat meals once in a while and then the cheat meals somehow ended up being the norm again?
You too or just me?
This is different. (And not in a “this time it will be different” sort of way that it never seems to be different.)
Yes, you may need to change your diet. I mean the Standard American Diet is nowhere near healthy, by any stretch of the imagination. But I am not asking you to go on a diet. I am asking you to change your lifestyle.
Yes, you will document your weight but only because it is a quick and easy trend to follow and not because it is the greatest marker for health. Your weight is not a goal, your habits are the goal. Developing a healthy lifestyle is the goal.
What You Eat
My ultimate hope is that we move the needle from the left to the right. Some people may choose a whole food plant-based diet (WFPB). Awesome! Studies show that this is the best diet for improving cholesterol and A1C. Others might want to stick to a whole food plant-predominant diet allowing for some meat or dairy. Having some meat in your diet is fine in my book, as long as it isn’t the focus of every meal and you are maximizing plant-based foods and limiting processed food. You may find that this is a good starting off point, but that you want to try a complete WFPB diet for health reasons in the future. Any movement away from the standard American diet is progress.
So now you get to decide, are you an “all in” sort of person or a “little by little” sort of person? What has worked for you in the past? Do you like to sign up for challenges or does too much all at once inhibit you?
Strategies to move the needle:
4-week Whole Food Plant-Based Jumpstart
- Spend some time looking up recipes you want to try
- Find some quick and easy plant-based snacks that you want to incorporate
- Clean out your cupboards of processed food and animal-based products
- Go shopping and fill your kitchen with real food!
- Enjoy getting healthy
Whether or not you stick to a plant-based diet after the jumpstart will be up to you. But it will allow you to experience the whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet. You can use this time to experiment and to collect lists of recipes you really like. It can allow your taste buds to adjust to a new, healthier, way of eating that isn’t full of salt, sugar and fat. And in the end, see how you feel. Do you feel lighter? Is your gut happier? Do you have more energy or less pain?
Slow Roll
- Spend some time looking up recipes you want to try
- Find some quick and easy plant-based snacks that you want to incorporate
- Clean out your cupboards of processed food and any meat, dairy or eggs that you wish to cut out
- Go shopping and fill your kitchen with real food!
- Make a goal that works for you. For example: I will eat a plant-based meal once a day for the next week. Or I will have two days this week that are strictly WFPB. Or even just, I am going to try two new recipes this week. Pick the goal and make it happen.
- Next week work towards a little bit more.
What You Weigh
Weight-loss is not the goal, but it is often a byproduct of a healthy lifestyle. We track weight merely because it is an easily trackable point on the chart that will help you see progress. I recommend tracking your weight either daily or weekly, although the frequency is up to you. Either way, get used to the fluctuations. Weight loss is not a straight slide down. It is a bumpy ride. That is normal. When you have an up day, shrug it off and know that all it is is an up day. It is not a failure. It does not prove anything. It is an up day…see what the next few days bring. Keep documenting. In a few weeks take a look at the trend. In a few months look at the trend. I bet you will surprise yourself.
Until next time!
Dena DePiazza is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and is certified as a Certified Pain Management Coach. She is your personal advocate for living an energized and passionate life. She works with clients to help them create healthy lives in a way that is flexible, fun, and free of denial and unsustainable discipline. By working together, you can discover lifestyle choices that best support you. Dena helps you learn to make gradual, lifelong changes that will enable you to reach your current and future health goals.
with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Sciences. She is a Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Nutrition Coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).
Nadia enjoys providing the guidance and support people need to achieve good health and considers herself their biggest cheerleader when they decide to make their health a priority. As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Nadia works with clients one on one to help them optimize their health through holistic health practices. She helps reduce the symptoms of chronic illness through nutrition and lifestyle practices, but is not limited to helping anyone who wants to learn how to make better choices. She teaches clients basic kitchen skills, how to read labels and will even do grocery tours. As a personal trainer, Nadia works with clients of all levels, ages and in various settings. She has taught group fitness classes and worked with clients one on one. She emphasizes the importance of staying injury free and building strength to move about their day without pain.
Karissa originally attended Westmont College in beautiful Santa Barbara, and began her B.S. in Psychology, then transferred to Montreat College, in the Appalachian hills of North Carolina, graduating Cum Laude with a B.S. in Music Therapy, and a double minor in Psychology and Music Business.
