Healthy Eating Fads vs Healthy Lifestyle

​When it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, a lot of people confuse healthy eating fads with actually leading a healthy lifestyle. It’s very easy to get sucked into the idea of losing weight, not just for women, but men as well. Unrealistic aspirational goals are often responsible for drawing us into a fad, especially one that claims to be healthy. 

Healthy Eating Fads

​There are so many healthy eating fads out there that it can be difficult sometimes to know when you are confronted with a fad or whether you are being offered an element that can be easily incorporated into your healthy lifestyle. Some of the worst healthy eating fads out there that masquerade as essential elements of a healthy lifestyle are: -

• Extreme Cleanse – living on liquids alone is not healthy. Your body needs food and sustenance that it can’t get from liquids alone. The only liquids that can provide for the body are breast milk and baby formula, but neither were designed to support the nutritional needs of an adult.
• Raw Food Diet – Cooking veggies can kill harmful bacteria and the amount of time put into food preparation on this diet is wasted. Cooked veggies are still full of nutrients as long as they are not overcooked.
• Alkaline Diet – There is no research that proves pH has anything to do with weight loss or retention. The strict ban on major food groups also make it a diet that isn’t healthy.
• Blood-Type Diet – Again, there is no scientific proof that blood type is in anyway related to weight loss or how foods can react with your blood.
• The Werewolf or Lunar Diet – Fasting according to the lunar calendar results in water weight loss, however, this is weight that comes back almost straight away and can have serious repercussions on your health.

How is a healthy lifestyle different?

Fads are easy to spot as they often promise a quick fix to whatever problem you are trying to overcome, more often than not it is to do with losing weight. This is a problem in itself as losing weight should never be a goal, lowering your fat percentage should. Fad diets can lead to short term health problems which include dehydration, fatigue, weakness, nausea, headaches, constipation and malnutrition. If fad diets are followed for long enough they can do serious damage to your bod, with dehydration and malnutrition presenting the greatest threats.
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A healthy lifestyle does not lead to any of these problems. It should leave you feeling more energised in the long run, though if you are cutting your sugar and caffeine intake, you may find that you feel tired to begin with, as your body needs time to adjust to not having these energy crutches to rely upon.

A healthy lifestyle doesn’t just depend on what you eat either, it encompasses how much exercise you do, what you drink and your mental attitude as well. Constantly feeling that you are not doing enough to be healthy can be very detrimental not only to your mental health, but your physical health as well. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are psychological disorders that have an impact on your overall health.

Is a healthy lifestyle not an eating fad?

Leading a healthy lifestyle is a something that is in danger of becoming a healthy eating fad due to what people now consider a healthy lifestyle to be.

Inconsistent and false information that is circulated in the popular press has led to some healthy eating fads being wrongly commended as part of a healthy lifestyle. Equally, marketing departments haven’t missed the significant increase in people trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. This has led to many products being advertised as “part of a healthy breakfast” or “to be eaten as part of a healthy lifestyle.”
However, the advice offered by many health magazines and websites, such as eat more whole grains, eat more fruit, eat lean meat, is in danger of being a healthy eating fad diet. The issue with this advice is “eat more”. Eating more is vague as whoever authored the advice has no real way of knowing how much fruit you eat or how many whole grains you consume.
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There are lifestyle tools that are an interactive way of seeing if you can lead a healthier lifestyle than you already do. 

What is a healthy lifestyle for me?

​Leading a healthy lifestyle is different for different people. Metabolism, body shape, level of exercise and profession all have an effect on what kind of lifestyle is healthy for you. If you play rugby for a living, your lifestyle will be very different from someone who explores the arctic. Similarly, someone who works at a desk from 9 to 5 and goes to spin class three times a week will have a different healthy lifestyle from a lumberjack. 

​Trying to judge how healthy your lifestyle is can’t be judged solely on weight or BMI either. People with extremely low fat percentage can be morbidly obese according to BMI due to the amount of muscle they have. The best way to judge your lifestyle is on how you feel. If you feel sluggish, have lots of excess fat, struggle to walk short distances without needing to stop to catch your breath, it is safe to assume that you may not have the healthiest lifestyle. However, constantly jumping from the latest healthy eating fad to the next, not eating enough calories and over-exercising isn’t a healthy lifestyle either.

​There is an element of balance involved between exercise, rest and what you eat. Make sure that you are getting the recommend daily amounts of vitamins, minerals and good fats. Don’t completely avoid things like doughnuts and treats either, allowing yourself small treats doesn’t mean you aren’t living a healthy lifestyle and it makes it much easier to maintain a balance if you don’t completely rule out one food group that others around you indulge in.