Diet vs. Nutrition

Why is food so complicated? Every day there’s a new report about what you should eat, shouldn’t eat, what’s the greatest new diet, what’s a scam, why carbs are bad, why carbs are good, why fat is bad or good, and the list goes on.

There are basics that everyone seems to general understand about healthy eating—chips and soda are not good for you; veggies are—but with so much contradictory evidence and new and old diets, how’s a person supposed to know what to eat to be healthy?

Most people who have ever tried a “diet” on their own know that it doesn’t last all that long. You get some results and then hit a wall, loose motivation, or you may reach your goals but then a year later find you are heading right back where you were because you don’t know what to do once you’ve ended the diet. The very idea of a diet is all about restrictions. You learn what not to eat for a period of time but you don’t necessarily learn what your body actually needs you to eat.

I’ve never been a big fan of giving people money to tell me what to do. I want to understand why I’m doing something and be able to implement it myself. But not everyone is the same, some people really do just want to be told what or what not to do to get their results and not worry about it.

Well there’s something out there for everyone. There seem to be three different tiers of nutritional packages available depending on how involved you want to be. This is not by any means a comprehensive list, just some ideas of what is available locally.

Tier one is where you just eat what you are told in order to reach your goals. Tier two, you have more involvement and understand a little more what the food is doing for your body. Tier three is much more hands on, you know why you are feeding your body what you are, what it does, and how to continue fueling your body throughout the rest of your life even without the guidance of a pro. Which you choose depends on how much you want to put into it and what you want out of it.

So tier one would be something like Diet to Go, where the food is planned and even prepared for you. All you have to do is pick it up, no cooking, shopping, or wondering. Diet to Go is available at Dale City  in Ashdale Plaza and also the  in Merchants Plaza. The catch to this is if you ever stop Diet to Go, you have no recipes, plans, or experience making healthy food yourself. So it is convenient, but limited.

Tier two would be a more of a personalized nutrition plan, like that provided to members at . You are given a list of what foods to eat and how much to eat of each, and even when to eat it. Then every month or so that is reevaluated based on your progress. This gives you more inside information into what foods are especially helpful to weight loss and what you need for a balanced diet. Also in this tier would be other general nutrition plans provided by group training or even some personal training.  It is still a plan dictated by pros, which can be good and bad: you don’t have to think too much about what to eat, but you also just have to count anything outside of the list as a “cheat meal.”

Finally tier three would be a personal nutrition plan based on a body composition analysis that takes into consideration your weight goals (loss or gain) but also metabolic rate, health concerns and other factors. YBY Fitness and Nutrition offers this sort of nutrition planning, where they sit down and create a meal plan with you based off your body analysis, how much you exercise, and what your body needs to fuel itself and be healthy. This approach is more based on learning to fuel your body properly for the rest of your life, rather than quick one-time results. They also teach you how to evaluate food so when you are in different situations you can make the best choice and not just feel like you are cheating because your planned list of options isn’t available.

Another locally available product in nutrition planning is Max Muscle Sport Nutrition off Hoadly Road, which provides many nutritional supplements as well as nutrition planning. I’m still not sure if they fit into tier two or three, but they seem to be more of a two: relying on the pros making the plan. But their supplements seem to be helpful no matter the tier you want to function in.

So once again, this is by no means a comprehensive list of all the nutritional opportunities available. But figuring out food doesn’t have to be so overwhelming. Depending on the level of involvement you want to have and what you want to take away from the experience, there are options out there.