Can you actually achieve the weight you want without the deprivation of a strict diet? Yes, you can!

I realized a long time ago that people love diets. They love boundaries and they love being told what to eat. Funny enough, no one cares to understand why they are given certain foods, drinks or pills. If you are losing more than 1-2lbs per week, you’re probably engaging in an unrealistic diet that will, in the long run, do more harm than good.

Even though i’ve been physically active my entire life, it took me a long time to understand what eating healthy was all about. Food is fuel that is converted to energy for our bodies to use in order to successfully function. It shouldn’t be abused nor restricted. What you eat and how you eat has to do with your behavioural habits. It’s psychological as well…it has to do with how you feel about yourself. Of course your taste-buds, culture and upbringing play a big role in this too. My goal isn’t to get people to only eat seeds and salads, but to actually recognize what they’re eating and why. We have to understand how to nourish our bodies properly. Above all, the goal here is to live life fully and have a healthy relationship with not only food, but our bodies too. Diets are nothing more then an unrealistic fix to a much bigger issue. In real life, you may eat a piece of cake at the office on a Monday afternoon because someone received their first promotion….Because well, life happens.

Balance is the epitome of what a healthy diet is all about. For some reason, this is the hardest diet for people to follow. It has no rules or restrictions….it’s simply a matter of having awareness of what your body needs nutritionally, versus what you want in that moment. Most of your cravings and eating habits stem from emotional, hormonal, or environmental influences. Appreciate and eat that piece of cake in that moment if you really want it, but also be aware that it isn’t nutritionally sound. Hopefully this knowledge will help you to only eat one piece versus three! I don’t deprive myself of anything and therefore don’t feel the need to binge or restrict.

I also believe I lead a balanced lifestyle; steadily working out 3x per week, eating a variety of food and never skipping meals. I don’t eat the same thing everyday. I also don’t wait until the weekend to have a treat. I’ve become comfortable and happiest living this way and believe it’s the healthiest for me. My diet IS the real-life diet. It’s comprised of awareness of both good and bad food but ultimately, an enjoyment for ALL food. Perhaps my only “restrictions” if you will, are to eat fresh, preservative-free, organic food. However, i’m also aware that in the real-life diet that can’t always be the case. I cannot control what others serve me at a dinner party, or restaurants etc, but I can control how I fill my fridge and cupboards. When given the option, I do my best and choose wisely.

If you’re looking to change how you eat and what you eat, try to dig a bit deeper. Once you understand food from a nutritional stand point and look further into your habits, you will want to feed your body properly and engage in a balanced way of living. The real-life diet is just that.