How Do You Know Which Diet is the Right Diet?
We live in a time of tons of information at our disposal. Scroll through your feed or do a quick google search and you will find people promoting all sorts of ideas, each one of them saying their way is best. How do you sort through it?
You have to be open to the idea that there can be more than one right answer. There are no miracle diets because not everyone responds to every diet the same. Genetics and lifestyle are going to play a big role! Some runners stay lean and can eat loads of pasta and be perfectly healthy, other people seem to look at a pastry and gain weight. It sucks, but that doesn’t change the facts. People will say keto is best, low-carb is best, count your macros, just eat clean. To some degree all of them could be right. It is possible to see results from all different sorts of diets and become (or continue to be) healthy.
Before embarking on any diet you must first decide which is most realistic for you to stick to and then do your research. Understand that not all scientists are good scientists. There are some people who had biased opinions before starting a study and have manipulated information to fit what they believe to be true. Don’t just research the benefits of a diet, look up possible negatives (including how it may affect you longterm). If you decide it’s something you want to try then go for it.
From there try not to be distracted by your other options. This will have you constantly questioning if what you’re doing is right.
A lot of the stuff you read is just noise; it will keep you distracted from ever reaching your goals because you never actually give anything a consistent try. (And no, a week is not long enough to know if something is working). It’s like buying a car. There are probably lots of car options out there for you that could work for your life. But if all you do is sit in the car and you never take it for a test drive, how will you know if it’s a good car for you?
The kicker: you HAVE to be honest with yourself. You can not cling to an idea if it’s not working. And I don’t just mean weight loss; I am talking about your energy, how you’re sleeping, if you have a regular menstrual cycle, and keeping up with regular blood work. Low carb diets have worked wonders for some and have wreaked havoc on others. ‘But Chloe, carbs are BAD!’ Well… if you feel like shit all the time and you have no energy at the gym I don’t give two hoots if it worked for the guy next to you or if all the information you’ve read says carbs are going to kill you. It’s not working for you. You must be open to other ideas.