Looking for the perfect diet? Unfortunately, there is no single golden-bullet diet that works for every individual. Forget what you know about diets - stop counting calories and stop watching your weight. Most diets are fads that are implemented for a short period of time and then exhausted. A fad diet is a nutritional regimen, generally of an extreme nature, intended to produce results more quickly than a traditional diet-exercise combination; often of a dubious nature. Many of these diets have specific rules which tend to focus on ingesting fewer calories and/or recommend eliminating one or more essential food groups. These diets can generally carry underlying short-term and/or long-term side effects. Achieving the optimal diet will require time, trial and error, if you expect it to be valuable. Don't expect to change overnight. If you want to see real change, it must be reflected in your lifestyle habits. It is about keeping your palette consistently colorful, and loaded with nutrients the body thrives on.
A diet (like many things) is like a vector. It has components of magnitude (strength) and direction. Many people may be aware of the direction that the food they eat will take them, however those same people may not be aware of magnitude. For example, most people know that soda is bad for your health, but are not aware of the severity. Becoming aware of the severity of the situation is crucial to fixing a problem. Change must be desired, not feel obliged to do so not because it was prescribed, or it is the "right" thing to do. Be patient, it will take time to adjust, as expected, time is of the essence.
In order to make progress, you must first know where your current diet stands. It may be helpful to use a food tracker that analyzes the food that you consume. Nutritional databases such as Supertracker or MyDietAnalysis help you search and add food to view how your daily choices stack up to your food group targets and daily limits.
A diet (like many things) is like a vector. It has components of magnitude (strength) and direction. Many people may be aware of the direction that the food they eat will take them, however those same people may not be aware of magnitude. For example, most people know that soda is bad for your health, but are not aware of the severity. Becoming aware of the severity of the situation is crucial to fixing a problem. Change must be desired, not feel obliged to do so not because it was prescribed, or it is the "right" thing to do. Be patient, it will take time to adjust, as expected, time is of the essence.
In order to make progress, you must first know where your current diet stands. It may be helpful to use a food tracker that analyzes the food that you consume. Nutritional databases such as Supertracker or MyDietAnalysis help you search and add food to view how your daily choices stack up to your food group targets and daily limits.
Lifestyle Adherence
The three largest reasons that people do not adhere to a diet are:
Time is relative. Therefore, theory validates lack of time is a perception. We are individually given 24 hours in a day. What you choose to do with your time is on you. It is simply a matter of prioritizing and managing your time. For instance, taking more control or power into your life, will present more time made available. In fact, a study examined this phenomenon and concluded that an increase in the perception of available time leads people to be less stressed (Moon & Chen, 2014).
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Motivation is the desire or willingness to do something. All of the information that is provided here means nothing if you don't take action in your life. Self-motivation is an important predictor in successfully adhering to certain behaviors. Motivation is a vector, meaning that it has both direction (positive/negative) and magnitude (intensity). Motivation is complex, thus it can be broken down into extrinsic and intrinsic components. Extrinsic motivation is a behavior driven to gain some external reward (such as a trophy); it serves to enhance motivation only in the short-term and does not fuel long-term commitment. Intrinsic motivation is a behavior driven by enjoyment and to gain pleasure and satisfaction from participation; it serves as a long-term fueling process from commitment and achievement of goals. Therefore, enhancing intrinsic motivation is the key to adhering to a diet. To develop intrinsic motivation, the proper setting and assessment of goals is an important place to begin (Hoffman, 2009).
- Lack of time
- Lack of motivation
- Lack of energy
Time is relative. Therefore, theory validates lack of time is a perception. We are individually given 24 hours in a day. What you choose to do with your time is on you. It is simply a matter of prioritizing and managing your time. For instance, taking more control or power into your life, will present more time made available. In fact, a study examined this phenomenon and concluded that an increase in the perception of available time leads people to be less stressed (Moon & Chen, 2014).
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Motivation is the desire or willingness to do something. All of the information that is provided here means nothing if you don't take action in your life. Self-motivation is an important predictor in successfully adhering to certain behaviors. Motivation is a vector, meaning that it has both direction (positive/negative) and magnitude (intensity). Motivation is complex, thus it can be broken down into extrinsic and intrinsic components. Extrinsic motivation is a behavior driven to gain some external reward (such as a trophy); it serves to enhance motivation only in the short-term and does not fuel long-term commitment. Intrinsic motivation is a behavior driven by enjoyment and to gain pleasure and satisfaction from participation; it serves as a long-term fueling process from commitment and achievement of goals. Therefore, enhancing intrinsic motivation is the key to adhering to a diet. To develop intrinsic motivation, the proper setting and assessment of goals is an important place to begin (Hoffman, 2009).
In general, people perform better at moderate levels of arousal. The fatigue you may be experiencing may be caused by the food you're eating and/or lack of movement. Junk food will only end up making you feel sluggish, causing a lack of energy. It’s a vicious cycle—the lack of exercise makes you even more tired, the more tired you are, the less motivated you are to exercise. Fuel your body with healthy food so you'll be able to exercise. Exercise is a stimulant, so you’ll have more energy with even a little exercise.
Take the First Step
While there is simply not a perfect diet for everyone, I implore you to take the first step in achieving your optimal diet. Since everyone is unique, each individual's diet will vary. What works for you, may not work for someone else. Think of the steps as milestones. The pathway along these steps are not always linear. Each of these steps are dynamic, some may be more implemented than others. The following recommendations are guidelines for a balanced diet. Remember, adopting a new diet is a process. Do not expect to see results overnight; Rome was not built in a day. Always listen to your body; if something is not feeling right, balance and modify your diet.
Before you can change anything, you must be aware of what to change. Therefore, before you begin taking the steps to modify your behaviors and lifestyle (i.e., eating the right foods, in the right amounts, which causes you to thrive), it's helpful to take a step back to get the big picture. Let's first get an idea of the basics, the foundation, of the optimal diet. What does any optimal diet require?
Before you can change anything, you must be aware of what to change. Therefore, before you begin taking the steps to modify your behaviors and lifestyle (i.e., eating the right foods, in the right amounts, which causes you to thrive), it's helpful to take a step back to get the big picture. Let's first get an idea of the basics, the foundation, of the optimal diet. What does any optimal diet require?
References
Cox, R.H. (2007). Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Hoffman, S. J. (2009). Introduction to Kinesiology with web study guide - 3rd edition: Studying physical activity (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Locke, E. A., Shaw, K. N., Saari, L. M., & Latham, G. P. (1981). Goal setting and task performance, Psychological Bulletin, 90, 125-152.
Moon, A., & Chen, S. (2014). The power to control time: Power influences how much time (you think) you have. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 54, 97–101. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.04.011
Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2014). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL, United States: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Hoffman, S. J. (2009). Introduction to Kinesiology with web study guide - 3rd edition: Studying physical activity (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Locke, E. A., Shaw, K. N., Saari, L. M., & Latham, G. P. (1981). Goal setting and task performance, Psychological Bulletin, 90, 125-152.
Moon, A., & Chen, S. (2014). The power to control time: Power influences how much time (you think) you have. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 54, 97–101. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.04.011
Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2014). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL, United States: Human Kinetics Publishers.