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WELLNESS TREND Weight Loss Fads
There are endless reasons to maintain a healthy body and mind throughout your life. But ups and downs happen to everyone and weight loss and dieting can be a complicated topic for men and women of all ages. We have enough negative energy in our daily lives, so I’ll shed some light on past weight loss trends that are simply ridiculous, to lighten the mood. Perhaps I’m stating the obvious, but do not try these techniques, and I’ll share my thoughts on a lasting approach at the end of the article.
The Air Diet Use your imagination! Grab a fork, poke your plate full of cheesy, flavorful pasta, and savor the experience as you pretend you are satiated with a full stomach of food. Now that you’re done, the amount of food you’ll eat throughout the day will be significantly diminished. Not sure about you, but my stomach’s imagination isn’t this strong.
The Tapeworm Diet It’s as bad as it sounds. Ingest a tapeworm to devour the calories that you put in your body. Yes, that’s dangerous. Yes, it’s hard to get rid of them once they’re in your body. Umm, that’s a parasite, not a diet.
The Devil Wears Prada Diet Emily Blunt’s character’s approach in this 2006 movie is simple: “I don’t eat anything and when I feel like I’m about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight.” I can’t stress this enough — that’s the wrong approach. However, using the Meryl Streep film might be a lighthearted way to address the touchy topic of weight loss with a teenager.
The Sleeping Beauty Diet Elvis was reportedly a follower of this one. You can’t eat when you sleep, so the more you sleep, the less you eat, right?
Breatharians Not much involved here, as was once explained in a 60 Minutes special. You can subsist on pure air — no nutrients required. Turned out to be a bad idea when one proponent of this movement became dehydrated, had dilated pupils, and their speech slowed after four days. No surprise there.
The Chewing Diet Led by Horace Fletcher in the early 1900s. Just chew your food 32 times (once for each tooth) and spit out the remains. He believed your body would absorb everything it needs, and the rest is unnecessary. This is only slightly different than Jack LaLanne’s quote “If it tastes good, spit it out.”
There are countless other diet trends, or approaches, some with more scientific backing than others: Atkins, Flexitarian diet, paleo, OMD plan, Noom diet, eating the banana peels, cotton ball diet, slimming soup diet. The list goes on and on, dating back many centuries.
Every person has a different metabolic composition, so different methods work for different body types. Best advice: Stick with consistent healthy eating and exercise, and don’t try to lose more than a pound or two a week for lasting changes. Please talk to MAC’s staff expert, Registered Dietitian Tysen Christensen, if you have any questions on weight loss.
—Will Cath, Wellness manager
Presentations of health and wellness industry trends in this space do not represent an endorsement or rejection of the topics, but rather are a starting point for education and discussion. Send suggestions for future Wellness Trend topics to wellness@themac.com.
