To eat or not to eat is what troubles the dieting mind most. The more you try to stay away from food, the more it occupies your mind. Carbohydrates, fats, calories look more desirable than ever, you can’t snack on your favorite bar, can’t enjoy your favorite desert, advised to skip meals after 8 p.m., god knows what all. And does it work? Isn’t there anything more doable and less torturous out there that could achieve the same results?
Lucy Danziger, author of new weight loss book, ‘The Drop 10 Diet’ had gone through the same phase. “I’ve hated diets all my life”, says Lucy. Having tried every fad diet known to humans, Lucy finally decided to bid adieu to all these ‘never seem to work’ diets and focused on foods that could pay her back in terms of health, nutrition and well being.
Lucy was a natural athlete and she wanted to run, swim, exercise like any other person and for that her body required energy. That’s when she decided to eat super foods that could not only fuel her body but also keep it healthy at all times. Foods like berries, nuts, whole grains etc. became her diet for 6 months, white bread got replaced by wheat and within six months she was able to shed 25 pounds without following a diet regime or starving herself. In fact, her body felt more energized than ever, she could sleep more relaxed and most importantly it was all visible in her outlook.
According to Lucy, this nutrition concept of replacing processed food with vegetables has existed from ages. The difference lies in perception, rather than focusing on what you can’t eat, you should focus on what you can eat and that is a diet full of proteins, fiber and nutrition.
Says Dr. Pratt, author of ‘Super Foods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life’, “any super food must contain the following qualities”.
Its health benefits should be backed by scientific research
Must contain nutrients that enhance longevity and energize your body
It must be available in abundance to humans
Salmon, spinach, nuts, berries, green tea all fall in the category of super foods. According to Dr. Pratt, these foods possess nutrients that not only prevent ageing, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes & cancer, they also contain minimum calories. Although many doctors have been pushing the super foods phenomenon for long, the results are still to replicate in the obesity index. According to both doctors, societies are resistive to change and it takes time to inject a change uniformly and successfully.
Lucy says, “its all about investing in what you believe in, the day everyone starts to do the same, this world would become a healthier place to live in. Invest in your body, because it’s supposed to last for 100 years and service you more than anything else in your life”.