As a dietitian I have met many people looking for the perfect diet to solve their health or eating issues. Through experience I can confidently say that there is a wide spectrum of nutrition and useful diets, but no perfect diet. Everyone has different needs and balances to meet.
There is an overwhelming amount of information which has left many confused about what to eat to improve health, but in reality there is no correct way to eat. The right way of eating that works for each person is based on many factors - age, sex, culture, upbringing, personal beliefs and tastes, environment, genetics, life stage, and exercise. A person's way of eating will constantly change because we change as human beings.
Nutrition science is continuously evolving and the research is never definitive. In the nutrition world there are many contradictory studies. I can guarantee for every study found proclaiming butter is bad, you can find a study claiming it’s health benefits and this is partly why so many nutrition experts cannot seem to agree on anything.
So if you are someone on the quest for the perfect diet, you should be mindful that it is a path filled with frustration and limitations which may lead to failures. How many of you have been on countless diets that don’t seem to stick? You can follow it well for a week or two but then it all comes undone when you're tempted with that mouth watering burger or chocolate cake. It is time to relax and see that there are as many different diets as there are people in the world. We all eat differently so that means there is approximately 7 billion diets for 7 billion people.
Striving to attain the perfect body is closely related to the perfect diet. To most people perfection is a great quality to have, but when it comes to food and body, it is a soul killer that crushes us. Food and body image perfectionism nearly always leads to self abuse. When we fail to stick to the diet we have a tendency to beat ourselves up and engage in negative self talk saying things like “ I have no will power” or “ I need more control with food”.
Diet and nutrition are a journey and it does not have to be this perfect thing. Every dietary approach or nutrition expert has a useful nugget of wisdom to offer. There is no perfect diet and we need to be more flexible and willing to take these nuggets of wisdom and experiment with our own bodies and see what works.
If you’re someone struggling with your weight and want to end your love/hate relationship with food I’d love to hear from you. Call me on 02 8379 8992 for a chat about how I can help you nourish yourself and find food peace.
