The Dangers Of Extreme Dieting!

You have not heard from me in a while and I am sorry about that but, at the same time…no I am not!

Two months ago we moved to our dream state, and we are finally settled and feeling at home. As women, we do so much already. And the last thing I wanted to do was put pressure on myself to write every week.

Especially since I was already – working with private clients, helping my husband heal from near death surgery, packing our entire old home, moving across country, finding a rental house, unpacking everything in said rental, finding a school for my munchkin, finding a new part-time job, and writing for magazines.

And, yes, doing all this on my period and fighting pms fatigue, trying not to be consumed by moving stress, trying not to be consumed by loneliness and keeping myself, husband, child and two fur babies alive, fed, happy and healthy.

So yeah! Busy bee!

And so, I wanted to take some time off from writing. I know you get it. I know you understand.

But, home girl is back now, and angrier than ever!

Why I Am Pissed

I get angry. I get “so” angry when it comes to women’s health!

This foolishness has to stop! What foolishness you ask?

Telling women to restrict their calories, diet all the time, and work out like a hamster on a wheel!

The answer to your weight loss goals and/or healing from health problems is “not” to eat as little as possible and exercise as much as possible!

This standard advice from the media, trainers, celebrities, models and everyone else, is the reason why you have thyroid problems, infertility, brain fog, memory issues, low sex drive, can not lose weight at all (or…have plateaued in your weight loss journey!), feel cold all the time, have adrenal fatigue, constant cravings, feel like you never get full, do not recover from workouts right (or…take “forever” to bounce back from workouts!), do not get your period (or…have painful periods!), and/or you have mood swings!

And, the list keeps going and going and going and going.

So, Stop Ditching Diets And Learn How To Honor Your Body

If you have been on the dieting train for a while now, and you are not seeing the results you want, or you are struggling with any of the above mentioned issues, then this article is for you!

I love nutrition, I love exercise, but what I love even more is women’s health and verbally smacking you upside the head and telling you to “STOP” starving, stop dieting, stop restricting, stop listening to media outlets that bank off of you and “START” honoring your body.

Recently a celebrity trainer that I admire, came out with a new extreme 14 day fat loss plan. I signed up for it because I have been following him for a while now, wanted to be in contact with him, and I thought it would be fun to do a 2 week challenge with some friends.

I have body fat, but none that I “want” to lose, but I figured I could learn from him and support others.

When he said it was an extreme fat loss plan, I was expecting twice a day workouts, calorie and macro counting, and a bit of restricted calories.

I figured it would be like the standard weight loss advice: however many calories you eat, you need to decrease it by 500. I thought, “no biggs, I eat around 3,000 calories a day, so if I am working out twice a day, then I can actually still eat around 2,500 calories a day”.

Not too bad considering it was only for 14 days. I also knew that since I was not interested in the fat loss portion of the program, if at any point I wanted to eat more, then I simply would.

I Always Choose To Honor My Body Versus A Diet Plan…

I was all excited for it, had been talking to this trainer daily through email and then he sent me the plan…it took everything in me to be respectful towards him and not curse him!

His plan is “not” an extreme plan…it is a foolish “starvation” diet!

He wanted women to eat 1,000 calories a day, (men 1,400) and work out for two hours a day.

I could not believe it when I read that! I suddenly realized that my idol embodied everything that is wrong with the media, fitness magazines, and diet world that tells women to eat less and move more.

If I ate 1,000 calories a day, then burned 1,000 calories through my two workouts, plus I burned additional calories just going about through my day, by the time I went to bed (starving!) I would be at a “negative” calorie count.

While this may sound awesome for people who choose vanity over health, when it comes to a women’s body, taking this road is setting you up for damage.

You are setting yourself up for thyroid failure, adrenal fatigue, gut problems, horrible pms, a face full of acne, fertility issues, low energy, extreme fatigue, brain fog, and memory issues.

Also, you become more prone to accidents, mood swings, majorly increasing your internal systematic inflammation, possible joint and muscle damage, and just so so much more!

I burn 1,300 calories a day doing “nothing”. 1,300 calories is about the amount of calories my body uses to keep me alive. Now, throw in there 2 intense workouts and at the end of the day I could easily be at a minimum of negative 1,300 calories.

That is “INCREDIBLY” damaging to your body!

Sure you will lose weight, but at what cost?! You are starving yourself! Is that really how you want to do things?

I know there are many of you that want to lose weight, but my God, to take it to those extremes is insane! If you are willing to subject your body through starvation, it actually tells me that you have some mental and emotional pains we need to work on healing.

I could never subject my body to that extreme. I would never approve of my daughter, my friends, my mother, my sister, you, or anyone putting themselves through that, so why would I do it to myself?!

Go For A Healthy And Sustainable Weight Loss Program

There is a way to lose weight without whacking out your hormones and destroying your body in the process. Yes it takes longer, but it sets you up for a lifetime of healthy, sustainable weight loss.

Plus you get to keep your sanity and energy throughout the whole thing!

I feel for the women doing his program. I really do. At the end of those 14 days they will have lost a lot of weight (coming not from just body fat, but from muscle loss as well!), but their minds will be so baffled that they will either now be set up for a lifetime of extreme weight loss habits, or their bodies will begin to show signs of health problems.

It is not a 14 day fat loss program, it is a 14 day mind, body, and soul crusher! You cannot put your body through such an extreme process and not expect some form of kick back.

Even body builders go through it. They drop a lot of weight, they starve and dehydrate themselves, and then after the show what happens? They bloat up like a jelly fish and the fact that 24 hours ago they had their dream body and now they look like Homer Simpson, really baffles them!

They get depressed, anxious, worried and start to stress on what their body now looks like. They might try to implore some of the extreme habits they did during prep season in order to get a semblance of their competition body back.

I will say it again…you can not put your body through hell and expect it to not suffer the consequences.

So Back To The Fitness Dude…

At first I was reluctant to email him. I thought, “Among his circles, he is a celebrity trainer! He is well known and respected! Who am I to school him? Who am I to oppose him? Who am I to bring to light this disaster he is promoting? I am no one compared to him”.

I sat in that fear for a bit. Then I thought of you.

You, the beautiful soul who is trusting this man to help you achieve your goals.

You, who has been through so much weight loss garbage already.

You, who looks at your body in the mirror and sees only flaws and imperfections.

I thought of “you”. And, I realized I had to say something for you, for me, for women, daughters, sisters, and all of us everywhere.

You deserve BETTER!

Your body deserves to be treated with love and kindness, not starvation and restriction.

You deserve to “enjoy” your weight loss journey and the fact that you are taking care of your body, not be miserable during it. You certainly deserve better!

So I rose. And, I spoke up. And I shared with him my concerns.

I thought, even if he never responded to me, I had spoken up. I had set my fears and comparison aside, and I had taken action.

But he did respond, very humbly I might add.

Now because he does not specialize in women’s health like I do, he was not aware of the consequences that his extreme fat loss program could potentially create.

Did he pull the program?

No!

But, does he want to work with me in the future to transform the program, and make it in a manner that promotes healthy weight loss and not starvation?

YES!!!!

I am grateful I said something because now all future versions of his fat loss program will “not” destroy a women’s reproductive system. Will “not” cause adrenal fatigue. Will “not” cause thyroid issues. Will “not” cause PMS. It will help, “not” hurt.

So there you have it folks!

I wanted to share that with you and let you know that if you are interested in discovering an eating style that works for you, as the individual you are, I am happy to help!

Thank you so much for reading, and if you have any insights, comments or just anything you want to share, I would love to know that. Comment below and let me know.