When to Diet Strictly and When to Just Eat

Raise your eyebrows as you read this--strict diets either make you fatter with its yoyo effect or make you weak and skinny. The more you punish yourself with food deprivation, the unhealthier you get. And it isn't fair, right? All that punishment and enjoyment of food you forfeit yourself only to end up malnourished. But who says there's anything fair in this world? So forget about dieting and enjoy food more. Losing weight to malnourishment is not the goal. Enjoying stress-less good health is.

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash.

Strict diets often give you less energy for workouts. I know what I'm talking about. Less workouts give you less chances of getting lean muscles. And lean muscles are what burn fats fast, together with exercise. You get that? I repeat--lean muscles are what burn body and belly fats, even while you're sleeping. I'm not kidding. This is why lean muscles are the key. And being malnourished due to poor, nutrition-less eating is not the way to lean muscles. To shock you with the truth, you cannot eliminate meats and fats and hope to lose weight healthily. 

If you get less lean muscles, body fats will have more chances of building up, even if you sweat it out exercising everyday. And here's bad news--if you do your strict dieting wrong, you may gain more weight because wrong diets can add a lot to your flabby fat in your love handles and tummy. Strict diets can either make you too skinny and malnourished, or make you gain weight and still malnourished. And skinny or being overweight won't work out for your fitness and health goals. Skinny is not lean muscles. It's malnourishment. Overweight does not mean health gain. 

A lot of strict diets make you eat more carbs and sugar in the belief that these are good replacements for meats as energy foods. Strict dieters consume less to zero animal fat and meat because they insist these are what make you fat. That's where they're wrong. They replace fat and meat with diet breads, oatmeal, breakfast cereals, and fruits to help you when you feel hungry. They think fruit juices also help them lose weight. But reality is, these things are loaded with sugar and make you really fat with bulging bellies. Even fruit juices (except berries). 

Lean Muscle Mass

Building lean muscle mass is the way to a lean, muscular fit, and you need fats and protein for this, like animal fat and meat. Fibrous vegetables are perfect partners with meat and fats and help you burn more body fat while lessening your intake of carbs. This is where a low-carb diet comes into play. This diet strategy limits body fat buildup as your metabolism burns more of it (metabolism is stirred by fats and protein). The result? Decreasing body fat and belly fat and gradually attaining a lean body. You get better results with workouts, preferably weight training and aero workouts. 

Forget about dieting if you want to try the workout method of losing weight and building muscles. Do short but high intensity workouts interspersed with regular workouts. For instance, run as fast as you can (with doctor's approval, of course), and then rest by doing brisk walks. When you have recovered, run fast again. Then do some weight training. You don't have to lift heavy weights. Just pick the right weights for you, weights you'll enjoy. But too light and easy weights won't work either. You should feel the resistance of the weights you're lifting. 

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Now, when I say enjoy your food, it doesn't mean you eat all you like. Instead, eat all you need. Eat until you feel you've eaten enough, not till you've eaten more than enough or you've finished everything on the dinner table. You don't have to starve yourself, but neither should you become a glutton. Moreover, you should eat balanced. Get enough of everything--proteins, fats, greens, fibers, carbs, fruits, sweets, etc. Eat the right and balanced proportions.

Do the regular workout you're comfortable with. Remember to build lean muscle mass, and that means slow walking is a no-no. Instead, brisk walk, run, and then slow-walk, gradually increasing your speed to a brisk walk and then run again. After that, do a variety of push-ups and weights. Don't kill yourself with workouts. Just do what can build lean muscles. Not everyone has to be Mr. Universe. Be fit to live as you eat to live. 

Shouldn't There be Some Kind of a Diet?

Sure, there ought to be some kind of a diet. And the diet is--just eat. Eat to live. However, the problem pops up if you're already overweight. Can you still just eat anything? Here's where intermittent fasting comes in. If you're overweight, you need to limit your meals and the amount you eat per day, with your doctor's approval, of course. Here's what I did. I practiced intermittent fasting for 6 months until I got my ideal weight and body shape. After that, I started just eating. No more dieting. 

During those 6 months, I ate one meal (lunch) and radically decreased my rice and carbs consumption. When I lost enough weight, I started eating two meals a day and a lot more rice, while continuing my workouts---weight training and heavy aerobics. Just to give you a clue, I did 40 to 50 reps of pushups a day with 4 sets. That burned a lot of fats, even visceral fats (fats around body organs). When I reached 155 pounds, my ideal weight, I started eating a bit more to put in lean athletic muscles right for my Filipino martial arts training. When you're in your normal eating again, remember to KEEP WORKING OUT.

Never, never eat TVP or textured vegetable protein which a lot of fitness enthusiasts use for their protein intake. It's scarily processed food with lots of chemicals. Better to eat animal meat and eggs, and especially fish and chicken. Stay away from hotdogs, sausages, hams and the like (all processed meats), although in the Philippines, it's often impossible not to eat these foods now and then except if you have enough money to buy quality foods each day. Sometimes, I have no choice but to eat some of them. 

Supplements? Yeah sure! Weight loss supplements can fast-forward your weight loss and lean-muscle goal. Try MX-3 mangosteen supplement, apple cider vinegar, sodium ascorbate Vitamin C, spirulina, and barley supplements. There are many others. Choose all-organic products. How about protein supplements? I haven't tried any, but I'd rather eat real food with protein. Eggs are good. 

It will take a lot of hard-discipline at first. But then, after you have gained the right figure and lean muscle mass, forget about diets. Will the weight you lost come back? Not if you have developed lean muscles and made working out a lifestyle.

Look at Me

I was once overweight. I lost enough weight and came to my ideal weight by doing what I mentioned above. It took discipline, of course. But today, being fit and healthy by God's grace, I just eat anything I want. I don't observe any diet, except a balanced one, and that doesn't mean anything like starving myself. I eat anything in right proportions. In big dinner buffets, I try everything. I drink water an hour before a meal and 30 minutes after a meal. And the day after, I workout. 

So, forget about diets. Diets are not the answer. Strict diets sometimes make you fatter. Aim for lean muscles and do regular workouts.