My thoughts on “Diets”

Diet. There! I said it! Diet! More like die! Nah! I am just kidding! 😂😂

So what is the truth about diets? What is the best diet out there? Why is diet so important? What happens to your body and mind when you diet? There is a lot of confusion surrounding the whole diet thing. Let’s break it down and try to understand the basics first.

So what is a Diet?

If we ask Mr Google, what he will tell us is that the word “diet” refers to the kind of foods a human, animal or community habitually consume. This happens to be the exact definition of the word diet. But when someone says the word diet, what comes to our mind first? When someone comes up to us and  says “I am going on a diet“, what do we immediately think? We are going to think, oh poor fellow, going to restrict himself/herself, not going to enjoy delicious food, going to eat tasteless and boring food, or something along those lines. Right? 

So why do we assume that way? Why do we think diets are boring? Why do we assume a diet is for a particular period of time? For a few days or weeks or months? Or till the target is achieved? Why do we assume when we follow a diet, we will have to restrict ourselves, eat only a certain amount and a certain number of calories? 🤔

Well the truth is that is what the society wants us to think. Everyone is following a particular diet, isn’t it? Whether it is Paleo, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Vegetarian, Vegan, Raw foods, Fruitarian, Standard American, Indian, Mediterranean, Pescatarian, Gluten free, etc etc., everyone is following atleast one diet in particular, if not a mix of more than one. Do you agree? I think so. Then why does everyone dread the word diet?! Think about it for a minute.

We are living in the 21st century, where nobody has time for anyone or anything, not even for themselves! We are always on the go, running all over the place, so busy, so much to do and always tend to run out of time! More often than not, we complain about how time is flying, don’t we? 😭

So in this fast paced lifestyle that we are living, if we don’t find time for ourselves, we obviously don’t find time to take a look at and appreciate what we are eating, right? I believe you are a smart and intelligent human being, and it is not rocket science to figure out how our eating patterns have changed since we have changed our lifestyle. Since we are always on the go, we tend to buy food on the go too. Since we are living this fast paced life, we obviously are choosing fast food too instead of a delicious home cooked meal, much more often than we did a few years ago. I know that nobody wants to agree and accept this, but we know very well deep down that this is the sad reality of our lives today. 😩

Alright, now think about this. A few years ago, were there as many fast food outlets then as there are now? Were there as many restaurants then as there are now? Did we go out and eat from there as often as we do now? Do we enjoy and appreciate the food we eat now as we did then? Think about it. Ask yourself questions. 

I am going to be bold and openly make this statement right here. The fast food industry had destroyed us. There! I said it! The fast food industry has ruined our eating habits, our health, the environment, the society, our social lives, our taste and appreciation for other foods, our mood, our brain, heck, even our pockets! And it is not me saying this. It is a proven fact. Go look it up!

So getting back to the topic, the fast food industry obviously is a major reason for our current eating habits, for the change in our diets in the last few years. So now, when we think of “diet” we immediately associte it with something that is NOT fast food, something that is not addictive and junky. And since our taste buds and brains are so used to and addicted to this so called “food”, we immediately dislike the idea of going on a “diet”, because that obviously means cutting down or cutting out the junk. And this is exactly where the concept of diet = restriction comes from. 🙊🙉

So now what do we do? Once we decide that we want to get rid of our addiction to junk food, we are half way there! Our body will always want what we give it. If we constantly give it junk, that’s all it will want. But if we give it real, nutritious, whole foods, then obviously, that’s what it will want. So how do we get rid of our already exist addiction to the fast food? Obviously, not rocket science, we will have to cut it out completely! Yes, there will be cravings, but we will have to deal with it. It will only be temporary though, trust me on this one!

I like to think of cravings as my body’s way of telling me that it is dumping something out of it. Say I am craving a pizza. It means my body is telling my brain, dude, I am getting rid of the last bit of this pizza, alright? Now how is my brain going to react to this? Since pizza obviously is addictive, my brain is going to go all cranky and be like bruuh! I want pizzaa! Someone give me PIZZAAA! 🍕🍕🍕

Yeah! That’s exactly how cravings work. If you don’t agree with me on this one, if you don’t believe that fast food is addictive and causes cravings, then tell me the last time you craved fruit. Or a vegetable for that matter! Keep this in mind. Food that is not addictive will not give you cravings. And that is the exact food you should be putting into your body. Not the stuff that causes cravings. Sounds logical so far?

So to sum it up, eat what your body wants and what it needs. Don’t eat something just because it is called “food”. Fast food is not food. Junk food is not food. Eat whole nutritious food from as close to nature as possible. That, my friends, is real food. And exactly that is what your diet is supposed to consist of. 🍇🍈🍉🍊🍋🍌🍍🍎🍏🍐🍑🍒🍓🍅🍆🍄🌰🍠

I am no doctor, no nutritionist and no dietitian. I am just someone who has experienced this whole diet drama firsthand. Everything I say is my own opinion, I don’t intend to demote any particular diet or anything of that sort.

All that being said, if there is one thing I want you to take from here, it is that as long as we take care of our body, it will take care of us. As long as we give our bodies real food, it will give us real health. The minute we start giving it fake food, it is only going to get sick. 🤒

Take action now! 🏃

Until next time, adios! 👋

P.S. If you have not checked my first post, please do check it out. I would really appreciate it! Also, feel free to leave a comment. It could be your opinion, a suggestion or anything else. Also, if you feel like someone you know can benefit from my post(s) or would be interested in reading it, please go ahead and share the link with them. It would mean alot. Thanks! 😀

See ya! ☺

— Nausheen