Slim in three days? With the New Year approaching, stacks of magazines will soon promise quick weight loss again. Here is a critical look at the diet arsenal coming soon to a glossy publication near you.
The journalistic yo-yo effect will occur with great reliability at the turn of the year. If readers of women's and people magazines are fed with the best vanilla croissant recipes, tips for a successful roast or a cozy wine evening by the fireplace in November and December, the holidays will be relentless. Like emaciated gymnastics teachers, the editorial offices will call on the fight against the pounds. The ritual diet titles of the magazines at the beginning of the year will be hard to escape. Besides all the other diets, promising you your dream body, you’re bombarded with during the rest of the year.
This year, instead of hunger artists, magicians were at work. After all, they promise true miracles - and in no time at all. "Lose 16 pounds in three days" announces Women’s World, “with Dr. Oz’s Detox Water Plan”. Fox News is even faster and offers a "flat stomach in 48 hours". HuffPost and Eatthis are flexible in terms of time ("It works before and after the holidays"), but they also show "how easy the path to your dream figure can be". Women’s Health Mag, mother of all diet gossip papers, will also "simply & individually accompany you to your desired weight", but the already with many life decisions overtaxed modern woman needs to decide for the "new high protein/flexi diet" between Keto or comfort food and eight select transformation plans…and the buff dudes at Men’s Health promise the guys their dream bod as long as they stick to their macros…phew!
This is visibly exhausting and thus against the trend, because today's women hardly seem to have to work hard to lose weight. Only more ethical publishers like Time Magazine or the New York Times demand a little more effort from their readers on the verge of being overwhelmed, namely, to become "really slim" or "lose weight intelligently". Another given is that magazines and your local gossip papers also succeed in the trick of depicting super slim half-dressed women on the cover in the tried and tested 90s look, who definitely do not need any kind of diet.
Otherwise, as I said, convenience instead of asceticism is now the order of the day in the diet-arsenal. "Slim in your sleep" has been around for a long time. But at least Women’s Health rapid three-day slimming cure promises "little effort - great effect". Shape’s detox diet is also "easier than ever" this year. Frankly magically says Vanessa in her Magic Body Detox book. Under the title "Stay Healthy and Lose Weight", The Healthy presents the "protein miracle" (a classic among the one-sided diets). Apparently, this is "the only diet that allows you to eat more". What the petty target-group reference "women over 40" means, however, remains a mystery. Do 35-year-olds burst at the seams when they nibble on too much of the protein miracle?
Extra! Extra! Exclusively from research: Scientists have established that exactly two strategies are suitable for losing weight. Eat less - or expend more. If you want to challenge yourself, you can combine both.
Second brand new discovery from research: If only one of the diets advertised in recent years should actually work, word would have gotten out long ago and there would be no need to continuously publish stacks of new and therefore increasingly nonsensical weight-loss gibberish every year.
After one year, at the latest, two thirds of the pounds lost will be back on.
In this respect, one could ridicule the foreseeable slimming diets online, in papers and magazines come January as annual journalistic folklore or as a training camp for the editorial staff before things get serious again. However, the ingredients and recipes with which the diets are supposed to be “sold” to women (and some men) are irritating - in both medical and ecological terms. A scientific hoax is created with foods and additives that sound more like a doctor's prescription than a cookbook.
Super expensive super-nonsense is touted as superfood.
Chia seeds, açai and goji berries are now included in many dishes, and it is of course seasoned and refined with Himalayan salt, amaranth or Ceylon cinnamon. The nutritional benefits of these show-off ingredients have not been proven, and they often have to be flown in from exotic places. Nevertheless, their appetite-relieving slimming effect or health benefit is claimed to be helping. Instead of falling for these superfoods alone, nuts, flax seeds, red cabbage, or turnip cabbage should be used, even if that doesn't sound so fashionable and our grandmothers already cooked with them.
Sometimes instant powders and other additives are necessary for the dishes recommended by “experts” - just as many fashionable diets cannot do without supplements. Compared to naturally grown foods, this cannot be too healthy. In addition, it would now be helpful to take a look at the advertising pages of the mags, which not only advertise slimming pills and diet products, but also often bizarre ingredients as add-ons to their recipes.
Only in trace elements can you recognize within these diet journals that it can actually be healthier to stay the way you are. Because for the very few who actually lose weight, the yo-yo effect almost always strikes back. Before the year is over, two thirds of the lost pounds are put back on, with the rest to follow. But no fear, there will be new diets coming your way soon. The roller coaster ride on your bathroom scale continues but that is even unhealthier than keeping the weight steady.
Slow and steady wins the race!
“Slow but Steady” Wins the Weight Loss Race. According to Healthline, a new study found that people whose weight fluctuates early in a weight loss program have worse long-term results. If losing weight feels more like being a yo-yo than a ball rolling down a gentle hill, then you might want to rethink your approach.
Now that might be a novel and exciting tactic to try for the New Year!
Nutritional coaching with Beyond your Scale
What type of diet is best for me? And if that's not for me: How do I keep a healthy weight? I will be happy to provide you with the information you need to live a healthier, happier life.
Now it's your turn!
I will post this blog on my Facebook group page “Living Well Community”. Go HERE to join the conversation about holiday diets and leave your comments.
You want to know more? You just have to read a little bit into the topic because there is no one strategy for everyone. But that little bit of reading is really not a big deal. The internet is full of good articles about holiday diets and beyond.
I will also post my podcast “Healthy Holiday Eating – Navigating Diet Talk During The Holidays And Beyond”. If you don’t want to miss it, you can subscribe
HERE to my podcast series “The PJ Wellness Show”.
For more recipe ideas click here or go to my website
www.beyondyourscale.com and click on recipes.
I can’t wait to meet you soon, and hope that you will share many more cooking ideas. And, of course, any tips how we can really enjoy slimming down during the holidays and beyond. LET’S GO! Let's drop the holiday pounds, either before or after the feast.
Still unsure? I have good news for you!
I can help you kickstart your personal goals for free - click on this
link and book a free zoom call with me. It can’t be easier and more convenient.
My best,
Patrick
Do you want to join the conversation and connect with others who share your interests? Then join my Facebook Group "Living Well Community" by clicking on the link here. Can't wait to see you there!