Why Your Diets Always Failed and Will Fail Again
We all know at least one person — or we are that person — that is always on a diet, or on and off from one. Sometimes they are successful, at least for a while, sometimes they are not. But often, one way or the other, everyone drops the diet.
The reason why they fail so often is pretty simple.
Think of something you dread to do, something you hate so much but you have to do every now and then. I, for example, hate cleaning my car. Yet, from time to time I have to, and it’s okay because I know once I’ve done it, I can avoid doing it for a while.
Well, a diet is like cleaning the car, but every day. There’s no end to it, because if when you finish your diet you resume your old habits, soon you’ll need another diet again.
Something you despise from the bottom of your heart, no matter how motivated you are, will at some point fail. And nobody likes diets…
There’s just no end to it…
It reminds me of a friend who quit smoking years ago. Every now and then he would smoke a cigarette, and that cigarette would lead to 2 or 3 more, for 5 or 6 days in a row. So, every time he smoked a cigarette, then he had to restrain himself from smoking for weeks, and he’d suffer through it each and every time.
So, what’s the alternative?
Not much to do for my friend unfortunately, he’ll have to quit for good, but to avoid diets there is a solution: a balanced nutrition.
If you find a good balance, you make every meal as delicious as it would be if you were eating freely. No remorse, no pain, no guilt. You also get what you need for your body and you don’t hurt it with overweight, high blood pressure, and all these other bad things that we are always warned about.
More than a nutrition plan, it’s a lifestyle. That’s what the Mediterranean Diet is. It’s routine coupled with creativity. Excitement with consistency. And it doesn’t feel like cleaning my car, at all.
The Mediterranean Diet has been selected for the 5th year in a row as the best diet by US News and World Report. It has been proven that the Mediterranean Diet can prevent and cure obesity, blood-related diseases and prolong longevity. Its benefits are still being explored while it’s clear that it serves as an optimal lifestyle.
The basics are pretty easy. Every meal you have (of course there’s cheating here too!) has to represent an equal balance of:
- 50% vegetables (for the water, the vitamins and the fibers)
- 25% proteins (often from legumes, and sometimes from poultry or meat);
- 25% carbs (Yes, you can and you should eat pasta in the Mediterranean diet — but not only!)
- On top of that, always fatty acids (like oil, but not much) and water.
That’s all you need to have all the nutrients your body needs. Of course, quantities matter too, but for now let’s set that aside.
The bowl in the picture below was my lunch last Friday. I like bowls because they represent graphically what a balanced meal should look like.
Of course, it doesn’t always have to be on one plate, and it’s not as strict. If I ate a steak with fries at lunch, maybe at dinner I can compensate by having a delicious vegetable soup…
But ideally, it should be for every meal.
The Mediterranean Diet is not as strict as the diet word might suggest. It has certain guidelines that have been proven to be effective with time, and certain foods that need to be reduced to the minimum. There are not really foods that are not allowed in the Mediterranean Diet.
It’s a lifestyle based on balanced meals and physical activity.
You can find out what types of food and with what frequency they should be eaten in this pyramid.
So stop searching for your new miracle diet, live a healthy lifestyle and never diet again.
