So I considered the diet. It is based around calorie counting. The plan is to consume three meals a day of 600 calories, with allowance of additional fruit and vegetable snacks. In all, 1800 calories should be consumed each day. In my opinion, this quite mild as 1800 is the minimum daily requirement for teenagers. So it is not 'extreme'-- it is quite safe.
Additionally, we are supposed to eat clean during this time so no fast food, candy, sodas and desserts. This will be the most challenging for me. However I do feel that I will benefit from this restriction. Today, the average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar annually; this amounts to 35 kilograms of sugar a year. * This is quite alarming!!!!!
*sigh*... Anyhow I do have some mixed thoughts on this diet... First of all, why are we doing this? To lose weight? To get fit? To have fun?! Personally the reason I would go on this diet would be to lose weight. Let's be honest, it wouldn't hurt to lose a little more (5kgs please?).
My second doubt was, is 1800 calories enough a day? We dance ballet 4-6 times a week for up to 2.5 hours. Was 1800 calories enough to fuel our energy? I did calculate the amount of calories I needed in a day <<apparently 2900, on days I dance>>. This is a 1100 kcal difference! 0.0^ !!!
My third doubt was that counting calories does not necessarily mean that you are eating healthier or better! I believe in clean eating more than counting calories. I believe in eating as much food as you desire as long as it is natural and healthy, i.e. meat, fruit, vegetables, homemade goods etc.
I was quite skeptical about the diet and did have several discussions with my mum and friends. My mum encouraged me to just try it because she liked the idea of us girls doing something together. I agree, it's nice to do something as a group. I had no doubt we would provide each other support throughout this experiment of sorts. My friends didn't really think it was necessary and didn't understand my motive for this diet. Which to be honest, I skirted around sharing my real reason. For some reason when you say you want to lose weight, hardly anyone is encouraging. Just because I want to lose weight does not mean I am going to become anorexic and starve myself.
*another sigh*
I kept bouncing back and forth between decisions. Should I go on a diet? Should I not? Should I go on a diet? Should I not? I kept going in circles again and again and again..
In the end I decided I would try it out. To see how I would cope.
Currently I am tracking my calories on the app myfitnesspal. There are studies showing that just tracking what you eat everyday helps you lose weight easier. It makes you more conscious of the food you eat, which is never a bad thing. myfitnesspal is easily one of the more audience friendly diet apps. It is also free! Bonus! It hosts a database of millions of food and to log in your entry, you simply have to type which food you eat. myfitnesspal will calculate all the nutritional values for you. I don't need to calculate the amount of calories I ingest everyday, myfitnesspal will calculate it for me.
What surprised me was that the foods I ate on average everyday (before starting the diet), weren't that far off 1800 calories. But maybe this is because I am conscious of what I am eating. Instead of eating some chocolate, I will have a plum. Instead of eating waffles, I will restrain and remind myself that I CAN eat healthy and under 1800 calories!
Regardless of being on a diet or not, I would recommend others to try recording what they eat everyday in myfitnesspal or any other calorie counting app. I was quite astonished to see that my diet consists mainly of carbohydrates!!! Time to eat more veg for me!
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