The Power of Diet Reset

I’ve talked about this before, but I’ll say it again - I hate the word diet. Diet conjures up limitations, sacrifices, and just generally a feeling of yuk. But what is a good substitute for the word diet?

It’s not easy to determine, but I landed on the word “menu.” The word MENU is exciting, liberating, and represents a series of choices.

Of course it is not lost on me that the word “menu” is also exciting as it implies we’re out! We’re relaxed and not cooking!

But let’s put that thought aside for the moment.

As the diet economic machine pushes out 5 million diet books a year and racks up 78 billion in revenues … at some point we just need to face the truth.

We know what we’re supposed to eat … and we know what we should avoid.

Knowing and doing are two different things however. And that’s where this “diet” stuff can get hard.

But the most important thing with this realization is that each of us has the opportunity to discover what our special “menus” should look like.

We are all physically and physiologically different. That means that one particular food, even if it is perceived as “healthy,” may not be simpatico with our body.

All these diet books apply a diet philosophy carte blanche, and don’t take into account that what works for one person, may not work for another.

In my note last week, I mentioned the Paleo Reset. In the past I would react to the notion of a “reset diet” with a cringe of my nose - in that it sounds awful, and I don’t want to do it.

Just thinking about it conjures up all those negative feelings about diet.

But the magic word is reset … not diet. I like the way Chris Kresser, author of the Paleo Cure, puts it:

“When your computer starts running slowly, applications are crashing left and right and you can’t even move the cursor anymore, what do you do?

Control-alt-delete. Or if you’re a Mac user, you hold down the power button to restart.

Sometimes we need to do the same thing with our bodies. They’re under constant assault in the modern world. Refined, processed food, environmental toxins, stress, sleep deprivation and chronic infections can all wreak havoc on our health.”

Reset. Yes, it does require some time bound elimination of foods that can be irritating to our bodies. But also think control. It gives you the power to self-regulate … and really think about the food that you put in your body…

“I’m going to figure out exactly what my body needs to thrive.”

“I’m going to figure out what my specific “menu” should look like - because I’m unique, and have unique requirements.”

If you can think of a reset period as a measure of taking control and even self discovery … maybe this notion becomes a little bit more palatable.

And the opportunity to lose weight should not be thought of as the primary reason for doing this. But it might just be a nice side benefit.

Again, the primary philosophy behind a reset diet is to determine exactly what you should be eating, and also exactly what you should be removing from your menu.

And following the reset, the key is to methodically introduce foods back into your food plan, one by one, to see how your body reacts. Given that your body has been able to do some clean-up over the past 4 weeks, it will be able to now tell you really well when it doesn’t like something.

That’s how I got the signal that my body is not in love with ice cream, even though my mind and tastebuds are.

Did I totally give it up? No, I love it too much. But my routineconsumption of ice cream is gone, and now it’s just a once in a while treat.

Of course it goes without saying that the key health aggravators should be eliminated … and not reintroduced. This includes processed foods, junky carbs, refined industrial seed oils, and sugar, sugar, sugar.

Argh you might be thinking … a world without sugar is just not possible. And you’re just about right, as sugar has made its way into almost every product that sits on the store shelves. But health also starts with awareness, and experimentinig with action steps that you’ve given yourself time to think through.

Healthier substitutes. Experimentation to get you to where you need to be.

During a “reset,” you’re eating real whole food - non-starchy vegetables and fruit, and preferably grass fed meat, organic chicken, turkey and eggs, and fatty wild fish. There are some variations of certain foods that you can eat liberally vs in moderation … but this gives you the general idea. And no counting calories - freedom from that!

What do you give up? Dairy. Grains. Legumes. Concentrated sweeteners (real and artificial). Processed/refined foods. Industrial seed oils. Soda. Alcohol. Processed sauces and seasonings.

So … food for thought. If you're interested in learning more, I would love to have a conversation about it with you. Just shoot me an email and we can schedule a call.

As leading psychologists profess, making change comes down to three key things: self-control, motivation, and habits. If you can open up your mind to experimentation and figuring out some new ways to up your game on the nutrition front, your body will love you for it.