Have you ever considered what the word "diet" actually means? According to the Greek, Old English, and Latin languages, "diet" is simply "a manner of living.
" Webster's Dictionary has always defined "diet" as the "food and drink regularly provided and consumed [noun].
" Since obesity has become so widespread and society's views have changed, the meaning of diet has grown to include the "kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason" and "a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight.
" If the original meaning of the word is so simple, why do so many of us make it so complicated, only to end up yo-yo dieting? We suffer through the beginning stages of the plans we think of as the "one," only to crash and burn when the feeling of severe deprivation hits us.
Easy, our bodies are habitual beings.
We were created to crave the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients our bodies need for survival; and when necessary, try to create a similar version of them from the nutrients provided.
When we change the nourishment our bodies are used to, we crave those original foods.
Our own self-preservation design, created for those cavemen who lacked the skills to catch a Mammoth, or lived in the Tundra where all those wonderful fruits and veggies were kept concealed under snow and ice.
It is purely a simple "manner of living.
" Our bodies accept the diet we provide, whether it's based on healthy habits, including the occasional splurge, or daily fat laden foods.
Our systems were originally designed to crave nutrients that are easily digested, absorbed, and used.
When provided a diet filled with foods using less than desirable nutrients, your body works harder to create something useful that eventually it will try break down.
The chemical breakdown, and reconstruction of these nutrients, causes an additional strain on your body, and is the source behind most obesity-related heart disease, circulation problems, insulin resistance, arthritis, muscle atrophy, and numerous other medical issues.
Have you ever heard someone say "I'm never thirsty, so I don't drink water"? Their body is used to not having water, so it uses what it can from the food sources you give it.
What if those sources include regular meals of fried chicken, French fries and biscuits? There's no water in that meal, only loads of sodium and saturated fats.
So how do you get water from oil and salt? You can't.
Let's say the person in this case is a fast food junkie.
They regularly eat very little, if any, fruits or vegetables, and drink a minimal amount of water.
Over time, their body will no longer crave the taste of fruits, vegetables, or water for that matter.
The longer their body is subjected to this torture, the less able they are to process bad into good, or flush it out of their system completely.
Unable to process food properly, and unsure of what to do with these foreign ingredients, our bodies start storing the unusable nutrients in our fat stores.
Because this process is so hard on our bodies, the fast food junkie rarely feels thirsty, and is constantly lethargic, tired, depressed and stressed out.
When you are eating like our fast food junkie on a regular basis, your body is constantly working to try and create something from nothing, and eventually it starts to break down.
Now what? We were also created with a wonderful ability to consciously control, adjust and modify our habits.
While it is not always easy, it is entirely possible.
Because we crave the items we're used to, it is a shock to our system to feed it "foreign" foods.
In other words, nutrients our bodies are not used to processing, even though it may be easier to digest.
Back to our fast food junkie, say he/she wants to stop feeling so drained, and has committed to taking the necessary measures to feel more energetic, less stressed, and become healthier.
During the initial period of change, as he/she incorporates healthier foods into their diet, they may experience headaches, severe cravings for their "regular" food choices, and a rare few times nausea.
After about 3 days these symptoms start to subside, and things begin to make some sense.
Once they hit their 12-week mark, they no longer think about these cravings and symptoms.
Incorporating a regular exercise regime and a support group will help not only get you through those tough beginning stages, but will help in maintaining your new habits for life.
It only takes 3 days to break a habit.
This first three days are the hardest.
Twenty-one days helps to create regularity of those habits.
At 12 weeks your body understands, but it is not completely sold yet, so slip ups are possible.
It will take one full year to fully cement those habits; add an additional 4 years for your habits to be truly lifelong.
Rather than focusing on how much time each stage takes, focus on what you can do to overcome those stages.
If you commit yourself to healthier lifestyle for 12 weeks, what do you think will happen? By yourself, anything goes, just depends on how committed you truly are.
With a buddy or a small group, even if you are committed, but unsure, and holding back slightly, there are so many benefits it would be almost impossible to stop you! A regular exercise routine with a buddy or a group of your peers: - Provides an outlet to help you work through the cravings, decreasing their impact - Ignites your endorphins (aka happy genes), giving you more energy and decreasing your stress levels - Gets your blood flowing, providing your entire body with more oxygen, which helps flush all the toxins out of your system once and for all! - Gives you an outside motivating force (your peers), helping you through the tough days.
Not to mention, nothing beats waltzing through these stages with people who are on the same journey, and establishing lifelong friendships.
Twelve weeks is the biggest obstacle; once you make it through that, you are on a solid path to lifelong success.
Rough days are no longer, instead you experience few, if any, rough moments.
Eventually, those rough moments lead into the occasional controlled splurge.
Indulgences are not bad, until they become a regular routine.
Before you know it, you've passed the 1 year mark, and no longer think about every piece of food you put in your mouth.
You've gained control over your health, diet and lifestyle during that first 12 weeks, and have practiced enough that you are looking forward to what's beyond the next 4 years.
Your healthier, habits can last a lifetime, and as hard as that initial time was, everything afterwards will feel like a cake walk.
With the help of your new friends, you can experience a healthy, happy, and energetic life.
Look out ...
sky diving, mountain biking, climbing up the Eiffel Tower, whatever you've wanted to do, but haven't had the energy ...
here you come!
" Webster's Dictionary has always defined "diet" as the "food and drink regularly provided and consumed [noun].
" Since obesity has become so widespread and society's views have changed, the meaning of diet has grown to include the "kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason" and "a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight.
" If the original meaning of the word is so simple, why do so many of us make it so complicated, only to end up yo-yo dieting? We suffer through the beginning stages of the plans we think of as the "one," only to crash and burn when the feeling of severe deprivation hits us.
Easy, our bodies are habitual beings.
We were created to crave the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients our bodies need for survival; and when necessary, try to create a similar version of them from the nutrients provided.
When we change the nourishment our bodies are used to, we crave those original foods.
Our own self-preservation design, created for those cavemen who lacked the skills to catch a Mammoth, or lived in the Tundra where all those wonderful fruits and veggies were kept concealed under snow and ice.
It is purely a simple "manner of living.
" Our bodies accept the diet we provide, whether it's based on healthy habits, including the occasional splurge, or daily fat laden foods.
Our systems were originally designed to crave nutrients that are easily digested, absorbed, and used.
When provided a diet filled with foods using less than desirable nutrients, your body works harder to create something useful that eventually it will try break down.
The chemical breakdown, and reconstruction of these nutrients, causes an additional strain on your body, and is the source behind most obesity-related heart disease, circulation problems, insulin resistance, arthritis, muscle atrophy, and numerous other medical issues.
Have you ever heard someone say "I'm never thirsty, so I don't drink water"? Their body is used to not having water, so it uses what it can from the food sources you give it.
What if those sources include regular meals of fried chicken, French fries and biscuits? There's no water in that meal, only loads of sodium and saturated fats.
So how do you get water from oil and salt? You can't.
Let's say the person in this case is a fast food junkie.
They regularly eat very little, if any, fruits or vegetables, and drink a minimal amount of water.
Over time, their body will no longer crave the taste of fruits, vegetables, or water for that matter.
The longer their body is subjected to this torture, the less able they are to process bad into good, or flush it out of their system completely.
Unable to process food properly, and unsure of what to do with these foreign ingredients, our bodies start storing the unusable nutrients in our fat stores.
Because this process is so hard on our bodies, the fast food junkie rarely feels thirsty, and is constantly lethargic, tired, depressed and stressed out.
When you are eating like our fast food junkie on a regular basis, your body is constantly working to try and create something from nothing, and eventually it starts to break down.
Now what? We were also created with a wonderful ability to consciously control, adjust and modify our habits.
While it is not always easy, it is entirely possible.
Because we crave the items we're used to, it is a shock to our system to feed it "foreign" foods.
In other words, nutrients our bodies are not used to processing, even though it may be easier to digest.
Back to our fast food junkie, say he/she wants to stop feeling so drained, and has committed to taking the necessary measures to feel more energetic, less stressed, and become healthier.
During the initial period of change, as he/she incorporates healthier foods into their diet, they may experience headaches, severe cravings for their "regular" food choices, and a rare few times nausea.
After about 3 days these symptoms start to subside, and things begin to make some sense.
Once they hit their 12-week mark, they no longer think about these cravings and symptoms.
Incorporating a regular exercise regime and a support group will help not only get you through those tough beginning stages, but will help in maintaining your new habits for life.
It only takes 3 days to break a habit.
This first three days are the hardest.
Twenty-one days helps to create regularity of those habits.
At 12 weeks your body understands, but it is not completely sold yet, so slip ups are possible.
It will take one full year to fully cement those habits; add an additional 4 years for your habits to be truly lifelong.
Rather than focusing on how much time each stage takes, focus on what you can do to overcome those stages.
If you commit yourself to healthier lifestyle for 12 weeks, what do you think will happen? By yourself, anything goes, just depends on how committed you truly are.
With a buddy or a small group, even if you are committed, but unsure, and holding back slightly, there are so many benefits it would be almost impossible to stop you! A regular exercise routine with a buddy or a group of your peers: - Provides an outlet to help you work through the cravings, decreasing their impact - Ignites your endorphins (aka happy genes), giving you more energy and decreasing your stress levels - Gets your blood flowing, providing your entire body with more oxygen, which helps flush all the toxins out of your system once and for all! - Gives you an outside motivating force (your peers), helping you through the tough days.
Not to mention, nothing beats waltzing through these stages with people who are on the same journey, and establishing lifelong friendships.
Twelve weeks is the biggest obstacle; once you make it through that, you are on a solid path to lifelong success.
Rough days are no longer, instead you experience few, if any, rough moments.
Eventually, those rough moments lead into the occasional controlled splurge.
Indulgences are not bad, until they become a regular routine.
Before you know it, you've passed the 1 year mark, and no longer think about every piece of food you put in your mouth.
You've gained control over your health, diet and lifestyle during that first 12 weeks, and have practiced enough that you are looking forward to what's beyond the next 4 years.
Your healthier, habits can last a lifetime, and as hard as that initial time was, everything afterwards will feel like a cake walk.
With the help of your new friends, you can experience a healthy, happy, and energetic life.
Look out ...
sky diving, mountain biking, climbing up the Eiffel Tower, whatever you've wanted to do, but haven't had the energy ...
here you come!
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