Not Another Foodie Guest Blog: Extreme Dieting is Extremely Stupid (and Annoying)

One of our favourite food blogs here at BWA is Not Another Foodie, a delightful mix of crazy food facts and easy to make recipes. Check out Not Another Foodie here. NAF takes us through the dangers of extreme dieting and her pet peeves.

Dieting has never appealed to me. Apart from the fact I have zero self control when it comes to the food I love, I find it incredibly hard to believe that anything other than a balanced diet can really benefit your health.

One of my pet hates is the “salad girl”. Come on, you know what I’m talking about – at a certain point in time you may have even been her. To quote one of my animated favourites Homer Simpson, “you don’t make friends with salad”. I’m not shunning lettuce completely but surely the garden salad ‘hold the dressing’ isn’t really what you want to be eating when you’re at a nice restaurant. As a general rule, if it’s listed under sides it’s not an appropriate meal to order as a main. Quite frankly, if that’s all you are going to eat why even bother going out?

Fad diets are the dietary equivalent of an emotionally abusive relationship. They suck you in, make you lose part of yourself and invariably come at a cost. More often than not, that cost is your personality. Have you ever tried to have a meaningful conversation with a hungry person? Don’t bother. Like their stomachs, the dialogue is empty and is full of grumbles.

Not convinced? Here are some more reasons not to attempt any form of extreme dieting:

1. The cabbage soup diet will have you dropping more than kilos – cabbage is infamous for causing the body to produce more gas.

2. Some studies suggest that carbohydrates affect mood. In short pasta = happy, no pasta = crabby.

3. Citric acid from the grapefruit diet can erode tooth enamel.

4. The Atkin’s diet – on behalf of all livestock, eat some vegetables once in a while!

5. Diet pills and shakes – Kim Kardashian promotes these but with “assets” like hers, it only goes to show that any weight loss will be negligible.

6. Laxatives are not only an incredibly stupid and dangerous way to lose weight, they are also very anti social.

So throw out those books, pills and bizarre ingredients and embrace your shape, whatever it may be! Unlike fad diets which too often focus on rules and restrictions, enjoying a well balanced lifestyle that incorporates exercise and all food groups will actually make you happier, healthier and… less annoying.