The Worst and Best Diets Ever, Revealed

I was 14 years old when I first went on a diet. I devised this diet on my own. It was the “eat only watermelon” diet. I had learned that watermelon was low in calories, so you could eat a lot of it. I have no idea how I thought of this, except that it was summer and we had a lot of watermelon around. It only lasted a day or two, and was not sustainable, as you know already.

Since then, I’ve been a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian. I’ve been on the Keto diet, Weight Watchers, and  Hershey’s Bar diet, among others. I actually lost weight on the Hershey’s Bar diet. Name any diet, I’ve likely tried it. The truth is, as long as you consume fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight, even if it is chocolate.

I had discovered Teen Magazine the year of the watermelon diet. I was enamored by the advice and articles in that magazine and read it cover to cover. The models in Teen made me feel that my body was inadequate for the first time in my life. I was curvy, and some of my peers had not yet started to develop. I felt like something was wrong with MY body. The Charlie’s Angel I idolized was Kate Jackson, and her lithe, boyish body. 

My cousins were a couple of years older than me, and I thought them very sophisticated and smart, always talking about their diets and how to slim down. Even my grandmother was always on some diet or buying some weird exercise device. She even hired a masseuse to massage away cellulite. Looking back, I had a lot of bad influences as a 14 year old that influenced my self esteem. I had poor female role models for healthy weight management when I was an impressionable teen.

My dad, on the other hand, always maintained a healthy weight. He ate a healthy diet and exercised every day. He enjoyed an occasional treat but was very conscious of his and his family’s health. In my childhood home, we had no soda or sugary treats, except on special occasions or holidays. Dad weighed himself every day. He said, “Eat healthy food, not too much, and exercise every day.” His sister, my Aunt Lita is also my role model, she eats healthy, she’s a competitive dancer, she’s beautiful, strong and she’s 80 years old. 

My unhealthy relationship with dieting finally resolved when I became pregnant with my daughter. I realized then that it wasn’t just about me anymore. I realized how I treated my body would affect my daughter. This was my wake up call. 

Since then, I aspire to be healthy, and to have a healthy relationship with my own body and with food. Today, I eat mostly a plant-based diet but do enjoy a cheeseburger every so often. As a mom, I aspire to this healthy and balanced approach, because I want to be a role model for my children. I’m proud to say my grown children have healthy relationships with food and strive to have strong, healthy bodies. 

Stop dieting. Start eating healthy food, not too much, and move your body every day. I can help you to have a strong, energetic body and a healthy relationship with food. Sign up for inspiration and weight loss updates at TeleHealthNP.net