Pain, Torture, Deprivation, Suffering, and Hungry……

What do all these words have in common?

Well for one, they’re all the words that most people tend to think of and associate with when they hear the word “Diet”. Hence why I refrain from using this word when creating a Nutritional Plan for any of our many clients.

Diets Don’t Work!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again and I assume I will probably continue to say it until the day I officially retire from the fitness industry – DIETS DON”T WORK!!!!! As anyone who has ever worked with me on their own Nutritional Plan will tell you, I simply do not believe in dieting. I think fad diets such as Atkins, South Beach and the Paleo diet have their place, but when it comes to sustainable weight loss, living an active lifestyle and becoming overall more fit and healthy, that place is at the bottom of my wastebasket, along with all the other fad diets that have come and gone, yet seem to make a resurgence every few years or so.

IIFYM DIET = Total Bullshit

In the past I’ve gone into great deal as to why I dislike the IIFYM Diet. In fact, last year I wrote a 3 Part Series Blog as to all the things wrong with this particular diet and why I refrain from using it when designing a customized plan for a client (which you can find in our Blogs Archive posted in the link below). But rather then sit here and rehash as to why I don’t believe in this diet or any other fad diet for that matter, I would prefer to tell you what does work.

An Enigma Wrapped in a Riddle

So what is the secret to successfully losing fat and building muscle? Is there a mystery to taking the weight off and keeping it off for life? And what exactly is this enigma that has allowed  so many of my clients to be able to continue to eat lots of great tasting foods while continuing to produce results with both their physiques and overall training performance without having to give up their social lives, count their macros and/or practically live in the gym so that they can continuously burn calories?

The Answer……DON’T DIET!!!!

Spoiler Alert

Okay, okay, I know, not the answer you were looking for and somewhat counterproductive from what we as a society have been told for decades to do if we wish to lose body fat, build muscle and improve the overall enhancement of our physiques. So let me go into greater detail as to what exactly I mean when I suggest that you don’t, refuse, and never should go on a diet:

1 – Diets are Not Sustainable – Dieting is shortsighted. Most people who follow some sort of diet will usually either cheat and/or quit within the first few weeks of beginning their ridiculous quest of abstinence and deprivation of food and enjoyment of life.

2 – Diets Cause Damage – A large percentage of the clients with whom I work with, both online and in person, have or are currently dealing with some type of thyroid and/or metabolism issue. Now in some cases, issues such as an inactive thyroid can be due to genetics, age, etc. However in most of the cases I’ve seen, peoples’ weight gain/loss issues have been caused strictly by the effects of long term extreme dieting which ultimately leads to a Dieter’s most feared health issue – Metabolic Massacre!!!

3 – Dieting Leads to Eating Disorders – I have yet to meet a person who has followed some type of diet and has come out from it without developing some type of eating disorder. In some cases the disorder might be small such as a few additional cheat meals in their weekly meal plans. In other cases the disorders I’ve witnessed have gone from a scheduled cheat meal to a occasional cheat day to an all out, uncontrollable binge eating habit that can last for weeks to months at a time.

So Now What?

Okay, so if we shouldn’t diet to lose fat, build muscle and improve upon our overall health and quality of life, then what should we do?

Check out next week’s blog and I’ll tell you. I’ve got to go eat!

Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance