New TV Show: “My Diet is Better Than Yours”…Sigh…

So, I just saw a commercial for “My Diet is Better Than Yours”,Instantly, I had a bad feeling about this. I went to the website, and my fears were confirmed. Without giving the “diet experts” any more publicity, let’s look at their credentials, and “diet” plan principles:

Dude #1 – Cred: Psych Major/Lost a bunch of weight so now thinks he is an expert

Diet: Paleo-ish diet. – NO CARBS, but you can have butter, cheeses, and chocolate. Heaven forbid you eat some carbs, but go to town on the butter, no biggie.

Woman #1 – Cred: Registered Dietitian (nice), works as a sports dietitian with the Chicago Cubs (double nice)

Diet: NO refined sugar, NO snacking, and you can ONLY drink when you are in groups in social settings.

Bro #2 – Cred: English Major, CSCS (nice)

Diet: Plate exchange method, everything CAN fit and still work. Uses exchanges and portion control.

Lady #2 – Cred: Not Even Sure…

Diet: The “Clean Momma Plan” – Encourages 3 meals, healthy snacks (not bad), and exercise known as “taskercising”…you don’t need exercise, you can make vacuuming, cleaning, cooking and any other good housewife task your exercise…really, really?!?! No outrage over this?

Guru of the Guru’s aka Woman #3 – Cred: Got a weekend certification and took some “masters” level courses in nutrition, this one time.

Diet: “Wellness Smackdown” – anti-inflammatory, herb based, detox, vegan, only eat between 10AM and 7PM, NO SNACKING, DETOX OUT THE FAT! (no joke here)

So, in a country where over 50% of us are overweight or obese, we need ANOTHER unrealistic, unprofessional, weight loss show that will spew fad diets out faster than the tabloid section of the grocery store??

I respect the show for having ONE Registered Dietitian (not that this is the end all-be all of a nutrition expert, but it’s a nice professional, science based credential – AND the only one on the show who can technically legally give out nutrition based prescriptions), they also have a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (top credential for a trainer, but again, not the end all be all of training – and hardly anything to do with diet). Besides those two, I am scared as to what the others will preach to the millions of Americans watching, hoping, and looking for guidance.

 

Yet here we have another show preaching quick fixes, through unrealistic means, that may work for some, but most people will end up in an even worse situation than they started in.

Diets that completely outlaw food groups (carbs, refined sugar, meat, animal products) or say that you MUST eat certain foods, or ONLY eat during certain time frames, or you can NEVER snack are always ones to be weary of.

All of these diets that eliminate whole food groups, like carbs, animals, fats, or snacks, or must eat within a certain time frame etc – might work. They very well might work because you are eliminating a huge chunk of calories by eliminating entire food groups or times of eating. Remember, calories are always the king of weight loss – no matter where you cut them out.

They also have a good chance of getting you right back to where you started. The national weight control registry found that over 90% of self proclaimed dieters regained their weight after following a “diet”. Thats a 10% success rate! Something needs to change!

These fad diets, strict elimination diets, unrealistic purges of “toxins” ARE NOT WORKING! 

We need to stop promoting these quick fixes, these restrictive black and white approaches to nutrition, these shameful tv shows that punish people for “only” losing 5 pounds in a week, these unrealistic/unprofessional gurus claiming to have the “best” diet for everyone. WE NEED TO CHANGE!

We need to be looking for lifestyle changes, an eating plan that works for the individual, based off of their lifestyle and what they can accomplish through behavior change, small tweaks and changes over time, and lifestyle creating habits.

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Stay healthy my friends,