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Detox diets are popular diets that claim to make you feel younger, healthier, and more energized. So is this something we should be doing on a regular basis? Let's take a look.

People will often try ANY fad diet to lose weight. A fad diet is any weight-loss plan that promises quick and easy weight loss (through what is generally an unhealthy, unbalanced diet). Many people prefer to try the quick fix instead of making the effort to lose weight through long-term changes to their eating and exercise habits, even if they know that they are difficult to follow long-term and generally do not result in long-term weight loss. Fad diets are popular because they give people the instant gratification of quick weight loss.

We need food for energy so that our bodies can function optimally. Sounds simple, right? But if it were that simple we wouldn’t have the obesity crisis that we are currently faced with. Somehow, through our lifestyles, learned habits, stress and emotions we have focused off of what our bodies need, and instead have moved toward being too busy to eat and grabbing the nearest convenience foods when we are starving. And whether this comes with a weight issue or not, people are generally tired, have energy dips later in the day, and their bodies are just not functioning at their best. Our eating habits and behaviours are important to correct if you want long term success.

One of my main goals when helping clients with their eating is to empower them get out of a fad dieting habit and learn how to eat intuitively. A fad diet is a popular weight-loss plan that promises unrealistic results such as fast weight loss and unfounded health improvements. Usually these diets are not healthy and don’t result in long-term weight loss. I find that they play havoc with people’s health, both physiologically and psychologically, and make people very weight and number focussed.

Are you unhappy with yourself? Are you thinking of going on a diet again to make yourself happier? Diet culture is everywhere. Type the word ‘diet’ into google and you’ll find enough diet options to choose from. So which one will you choose? How do you choose from the hundreds out there? Or should you even be choosing one?

What do you do when you’ve veered off from your eating plan? Do you call yourself a failure and throw in the towel? Or are you able to look at the situation objectively, learn from it and move on? We all make mistakes*, especially when it comes to food and eating. We have to learn to accept that.

What’s happening with your cravings? Are you managing to keep yourself busy and not needing food to combat the boredom, or is it so bad that you’re stopping by the kitchen every few minutes?

How many times have you found yourself going to the kitchen to look into the fridge or cupboards in these last few days of lockdown?

Did you see the headline: ‘Bad diets are responsible for more deaths than smoking’? Say what? Really, are we seriously eating so badly that smoking is seen as the lesser of two evils?

There has been a lot of negative publicity for sugar. It didn’t help matters that a study was published indicating that the sugar industry had funded research years ago to swing the blame for heart disease away from sugar and onto saturated fat. So does that mean that fat is good?

We are doing a very poor job of protecting the environment that we depend on for food and water. We need to start becoming interested in learning where food comes from, how it is grown and produced, and what this is doing to our environment. Food production system and diets play a crucial role in the issue of sustainability. Read this is you want to find out what you can do to help the planet.

Do you feel that December will ruin your hard work this year? Are there just too many parties, dinners and family gatherings that weight gain seems inevitable? It is possible to survive the Christmas season without gaining weight. Don’t fall for the myths of unavoidable holiday weight gain. You can enjoy you holiday favourites and still start the year looking slim and trim.