I HAVE always been aware of fad diets.
I have often heard people talk about how they were only allowed to eat a certain amount of calories in a day and some people even swear by a certain super food that has recently been discovered in some foreign rainforest.
I have never bought it, but it seems that a lot of people do. I try not to tamper with people’s beliefs but I actually consider some of these diets to be borderline dangerous.
One thing that I will say though is that these diets are usually striving towards a healthier lifestyle and healthy body, rather than to look like a super model.
So I guess that it is a small improvement, even though I doubt that reducing yourself to 500 calories a day is exactly healthy.
I think that all these fad diets and these discovered super fruits are seen as a simple solution to losing weight and getting healthy. It is seen as glamorous to take a picture of your super healthy breakfast bowl (that probably took hours to prepare) on all your social media feeds.
I have never been bombarded with so many images of people baking with almond flour, or devouring copious amounts coconut oil. I personally think that it is crazy to deprive yourself of ordinary food, and trade it in for measly substitutes all in the pursuit of becoming a super healthy Cindy Crawford lookalike.
Also, even if you manage to stick to this crazy regime, you are so much more likely to have cheat days. Where you will probably consume so much that it would rival my weekly run of the mill portions.
This is because your body is not actually satisfied with that amazing bowl of granola sprinkled with all those ‘super foods’.
I am pretty sure that in my Granny’s day, they had never even set eyes on a coconut and I am pretty sure that they didn’t spend hours grounding almonds to produce this miracle almond flour that you speak of.
They just kept healthy by eating everything in moderation, and going for that run around the block every other day. And they were probably a lot happier doing this too.
Look at it this way; 90’s fashion is coming back, so why can’t we bring back the idea that a healthy body (and healthy mind) can be achieved by eating normal, healthy everyday meals and participating in that little bit of exercise.
I don’t want people to be depriving themselves of anything, or forcing themselves to eat something just because it is a part of the latest fad diet. And honestly, I don’t think that you want that either.
Also, I am pretty sure that you make a pretty cracking instagram picture out of those Cornflakes just as much as any granola topped with every sort of berry on the face of the earth, sprinkled with a dash of coconut oil and maybe even some quinoa.
Trust me on this one.
Follow Zoë O’Connor on Twitter @Zobo2402
