Hello Gorgeous Souls,
I am starting an “Ask HealthNutGirl” series of posts and a FAQ page on my website. So please send me your questions on FB, or email me at contact@healthnutgirl.com
Hi HealthNutGirl,
What do you think about diets like the cabbage soup diet?
~ Joyful Jennifer
Hi Joyful Jennifer,
I get that question a lot
In many forms
And I actually did the cabbage soup diet
And the grapefruit diet
And the pineapple diet
And many other diets
Diets that limit our food intake to one particular food
Or cut out a food group or two
Or give us a very limited list of food to choose from
My general approach is that if you can’t live like that for the rest of your life:
DON’T DO IT!!!
WHY?
~ Cabbage is a great vegetable
Super healthy!
And I love cabbage soup!
But a diet that asks you to eat a particular food exclusively
For a short amount of time
For the purpose of accelerated weight loss
Will usually result in weight gain!
You’ll eat cabbage soup
(or whatever else the diet dictates)
For a day, two, five…
You will feel deprived of everything else you’re not eating
Your body will be missing important nutrients
Your cravings will likely cause you to “break” the diet
And even if you “stuck” to it with sheer will power
And had some weight loss results
When the diet is “done”
You will probably eat everything in sight
Gain the weight back
Plus some
~ Our body is very smart
It interpret “diets” as famines
And gets better at being “fuel efficient”
Which means
More calories preserved
Less calories burned
For the purpose of helping you survive
And it all translates to:
SLOWER WEIGHT LOSS!!!
~ You can get sick of cabbage
Which will be too bad
It’s a great vegetable!
BUT WHAT ABOUT CLEANSES???
Cleanses are different than diets
They are also limiting
And are done for short periods of time
BUT THEIR PURPOSE IS DIFFERENT
While the purpose of a diet is weight loss
And the reason behind it is often
Dissatisfaction with yourself and with your body
Cleanses, if done right
Have a purpose of creating better health
And are a great way to heal a variety of health conditions
Cleanses were traditionally used as a way to increase spirituality
Many religions have cleansing and fasting rituals
There are many ways to practice cleanses
And they CAN trigger over eating and even binges
In people that have food compulsions
So I highly recommend to follow a cleanse
With the guidance of a health coach
A cleanse is NOT a good way to achieve weight loss
Even though it can result in weight loss
The only way to achieve effective and permanent weight loss
Is to create
NEW
EXCITING
DELIGHTFUL
habits
Slowly and gradually
That will help you create
And fall in love with
A healthy life!
Hope that was helpful
And please contact me at contact@healthnutgirl.com if you would like more support
Xoxoxo
~Rachel
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