Diet: A Rude word?

 Greetings,

Why would I be talking about diets and dieting? Well, I am sure not turning into some 'dieting guru' that is going to tell you to live on some 'super-food' that will help you lose enormous amounts of weight in a short amount of time. I am going to tell a few home truths about the word "diet" and how it is often seen in the modern world, and then I am going to share my experiences with my change of diet, because that is what this blog is for, because it has helped by fibromyalgia, and I think it will help it in the long-run.

The definition of the word "diet" from the Oxford English Dictionary is: "The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats." (https://www.lexico.com/definition/diet) So, nothing there about weight-loss or calorie-control or anything of the sort, simply what a person habitually eats. The problem is that in the modern world we have so often head about fad diets to assist us lose weight such as: The Ketogenic Diet, Noom Diet, Weight-Watchers, Atkins Diet and Paleo Diet, that every time we hear the word "diet" we think that someone is trying to make us lose weight.

Well, here's the kicker, the result of a healthy, balanced, diet, combined with exercise is that you will lose weight. Sure some tailoring to meet particular goals might help, but keeping to healthy things works. The diet which is most popular with my local health agencies at the moment is the Mediterranean diet. Yes, what people eat in the Mediterranean region, nothing more. I have been changing my food habits toward this way of thinking over the past three months or so to lose some weight, on the advice of my Hepatologist and her team to assist with my liver function, along with a healthy increase in my exercise. 

I had put on about 40kg over the past four years or so. Part of this was the result of medication effects from a bad chest infection, other part of this was my body catching up with muscle mass, another part of it was a dose of depression which reduced my activity. In any case it resulted in me being an unhealthy 118kg. Now let me say that this weight is unhealthy for my frame. It may not be for yours, it also depends how it is distributed. Most of those who know me will be now looking through photos unbelieving of my change in shape, but it is there.

Anyway, I started the change slowly, increasing my uptake of some foods while reducing the intake of other foods. The point of this process was that I wanted this diet to become my diet thus habitual, not something that was going to be for a short time, but for a long period of time. I could have stayed on the diet for the period of the program, hit my goal, and gone back to old habits, but what's the point? Then I would have to start the process all over again. I wanted these changes to last, and even continue. I made gradual changes to my diet so they would be sustainable. Also I went for healthy and tasty food.

One of the reasons people don't stay with a change of diet is because they don't like the food. You need to find food which is tasty. The Mediterranean diet was easy for me, I like olives and mushrooms, feta cheese, garlic and similar things. All of which are part of the diet. You throw in red wine, avocados and  salmon, the diet is also good for raising your HDL, so good for the cholesterol.

As a result of this diet and the exercise that has gone along with it, I am now more healthy than I have been, my pain levels are a little reduced, though this time of year my body always gives me hell because it decides that it is time to take a holiday. Oh, and as of yesterday I have lost 10kg, and I am looking forward to maintaining the same diet because it is a real one, food that I habitually eat. 

Cheers,

Henry.