Do you know what the biggest problem with flexible dieting is? The way people interpret it. Honestly, some of the arguments I have seen demonstrate nothing other than the people involved have absolutely no idea what the concept really means. So, I am going to simplify it in attempt to try and educate people who may have a slightly warped view or need a little help. - To lose weight, you are looking to create a caloric deficit (burn more calories than you consume). - This concept has been demonstrated in numerous instances by people who have taken it to the extreme to prove a point. For example, the Twinkie Diet [1], McDonalds Diet [2], Curry For Breakfast Diet [3] etc who all showed large weight loss, despite their controversial food choices. - Body composition and health do not necessarily go hand in hand. Yes, you could try and fill your diet with as much crap as you want and lose weight by staying in a caloric deficit but obviously this is unlikely to be the best option in terms of physical health (note; you could argue that if someone loses a lot of weight even when eating crap that their improved health markers from weight loss outweigh the negatives of their food choices. For example, Professor Haub who followed the Twinkie Diet reported improved cholesterol markers subsequent to his weight loss). - Dietary adherence is absolutely crucial. If you are trying to lose a lot of weight on a diet it is imperative that you can adhere to the diet long enough to facilitate this. You simply cannot succeed without dietary adherence. - Therefore, the goal of flexible dieting is to allow people some flexibility to eat foods they enjoy which they would typically make off-limits. - Example; imagine telling someone who loves chocolate that they ABSOLUTELY CANNOT EAT CHOCOLATE for the next 16 weeks. What is the likelihood they can stick to that? It is quite possible that they prohibit it completely until their cravings become too much and they end up eating their body weight in chocolate cake. - If, on the other hand they are allowed to eat a small amount of chocolate on a daily basis and this helps them increase dietary adherence, it is worth it for the long term benefit of increasing adherence. - In this instance, flexible dieting would allow them to eat a small amount of chocolate and still stay within their caloric allowance rather than obliterating their caloric allowance with a huge cheat meal. - So, lets say someone eats 30g of chocolate per day and for them, this stops them wanting to eat a large cheat meal whereas if they prohibit chocolate completely they find themselves eating one huge cheat meal per week where they end up eating 500g chocolate in one go. This would be a worthwhile trade off, correct? Cliff notes: - Flexible dieting is NOT about eating as much crap as humanely possible. - Flexible dieting does NOT pretend that food quality is completely irrelevant under any circumstances. - Flexible dieting does NOT recommend someone eats their entire carbohydrate intake from Pop Tarts/ice cream/sugar etc. - Flexible dieting does NOT pretend that caloric and macronutrient intake is the only thing that matters when it comes to body composition. These are straw man arguments where the premise of flexible dieting is exaggerated to try and prove a point. - Flexible dieting IS about trying to improve dietary adherence by giving people some scope to still eat their favourite foods. - Flexible dieting IS about trying to minimise anxiety towards dieting by not making any food off limits. - Flexible dieting IS about getting away from the binge eating culture of people strictly adhering to a list of clean foods for a few days followed by a cheat meal which could feed a small country. Lastly, like any diet, flexible dieting should be viewed as a tool within the toolbox and should be used with people who benefit from it. It is not necessarily a dietary approach which should be forced upon every single client. As always, use the right tool for the right client otherwise you might try and find yourself trying to hammer a screw into a hole. References: [1] edition.cnn/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/ [2] huffingtonpost/2014/01/08/mcdonalds-diet_n_4557698.html [3] dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2861913/Thindaloo-Father-loses-TEN-STONE-year-eating-CURRY-breakfast.html
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 17:30:01 +0000