To Diet Or Not To Diet? That Is The Question

I read a few weeks ago about the top 5 weight loss blogs.  The bloggers shared their stories about which diets helped them lose weight.  It made me think about how easy it is to lose weight when for a certain period of time that is the focused goal.  I mean come on, for a few weeks/months we can go without almost anything.  Restricting certain foods and counting calories isn't all that hard when there is an end in sight.  In fact, it may not even matter at all what we eat when we diet.  It may just be the counting calories that matters.  If you don't believe me, just look at Professor Haubs, who lost weight on a Twinkie diet.  He ate Twinkies every 3 hours, every day for ten weeks, but he only ate 1800 calories a day, instead of his normal 2600.  The counting of the calories is what helped him shed 27 pounds.  Remarkably he even had some positive health benefits.  "Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent."  He did do a few other things such as take a daily multi vitamin and eat some vegetables.  And even though a nutrition professor lost weight on a Twinkie diet, it makes me wonder how he felt physically and emotionally.  CNN Twinkie Diet Article.  So again I say, I think it is easy to lose weight.  The problem is sustaining the loss once "normal" life resumes.

That is what is so cool about eating healthy and for me going organic.  When health becomes the goal, a nourished body and weight loss are added benefit.  And let me tell you, I don't have to count calories.  It is hard to over eat salads!  Well maybe not if you load up on dressing, but you get the point.  And I have to make sure to mention this, I'm not ONLY eating salads!  I have lost almost 15 pounds in 3 1/2 months.  I am physically and emotionally feeling better too.  I am more energetic and feeling more upbeat than I was a few months ago.  Now, just to be clear, I have a LONG way to go as I am just exhausted from back to back babies in the past 2 years and almost nightly interrupted sleep.  Not to mention the daily grind of chasing my three precious little people.

I started this journey to be healthy, not really to lose weight.  But in getting healthier, I have lost weight and I feel SOOO much better.  Here's what I've learned: health is a priority, and weight loss is the consequence of that priority.  Could it be that when we make weight loss the priority, we only get short term benefits because we have confused priorities and consequences.  Your thoughts?