The "Best Diet" is the one that Never Ends
If you're looking for the best diet, look no further...
It's the one you can stick to for the long haul because it feels relatively easy, automated, and effortless.
Here's the caveat though...
It will take time, introspection, experimentation, and not always getting it "right."
It will mean you're not always chasing fat loss, believe it or not, you can't build a physique by chronically dieting your entire life.
Learning how to eat for *your* unique metabolism, physiology, goals, and lifestyle can take a long time, which is why most people (a past version of myself included!) jump from diet to diet, nutrition coach to nutrition coach, only to find themselves starting over time and time again.
What accompanies the stop/start cycle of dieting are things like: weight loss, weight gain, gaining even more weight than when you first started the diet--thanks metabolism, feeling obsessed with food, calories, and nutritional labels.
We forget how to eat, what makes us feel good, and what we enjoy eating when we're constantly outsourcing our nutrition to the next cleanse, detox, Macro coach, fitness competitor, or a book written by a celebrity with zero education on nutrition.
These are the short-term solutions that we keep trying to convince ourselves will work, when in the end, we end up miserable, rebound like crazy, obsessed with food, and now our metabolism is also less responsive for future endeavours.
Ugh.
I cycled through different diets and nutrition coaches for years, and that’s exactly how I felt. Every time I gained the weight back (because I always did) I felt that much more discouraged, disappointed and defeated.
Until I finally realized that, Hey, if I have to eat forever, then it's never too late to figure this whole eating thing out!
When I stopped thinking that if I could just exercise more, have better will power, or hire a better coach, that I would suddenly get lean, stay lean, and have a harmonious relationship with food, is when I stopped dieting for good.
That meant my eating had to be sustainable, not something I could only stick to for 30 days, it had to be flexible, because, life. It had to be enjoyable, I don't know about you but I want to enjoy what I'm eating, and it had to support my goals of wanting to build lean muscle mass and look athletic.
This is where your "BEST DIET" comes in.
The “best diet" for *you* will be the one that never ends.
You're asking yourself, “Could I see myself still eating like this next year? In 10 years? Forever?” Sustainability is your compass.
The "best diet" for you is one where you can make small tweaks without spiraling into diet mentality or a full blown binge. This is because when you're tending to your hunger, cravings, and making the best decision you can in that moment, you know that you're never on or off the wagon. Each eating experience is an opportunity to learn, stay mindful, and lean into your goals.
The "best diet" for you will be one where you're less focused on a short term outcome and dedicated to small actionable steps because you're in it for the long haul. The "best diet" allows for flexibility and supports your goals without extremes.
Folks who you might admire because they appear to have a healthy relationship with food and aren't constantly losing and gaining weight have spent years learning about their physiology, metabolism, and unique eating preferences, patterns, and rhythms.
The alternatives will always be there, the crash diets, Magic Meal Plans, and coaches who put you on a 1200 calorie diet--they will always be out there.
Nothing beats sustainable lifestyle changes. Not even Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP plan. insert eye roll.
xx
Alicia