The Commerce Times

Decoding “diet”

The word “diet” often implies a negative connotation -endless days of eating nothing but grapefruit, birdseed and celery sticks in a daunting quest to achieve the perfect body image. Yes as a marketing tool, students know it works to sell anything from books to pills to Magic Bullet blenders. So is the word just an over-used, four-letter, verb that made Jenny Craig a multi-million dollar business, or does it actually matter? Why should you care anyway? With five weeks of classes left, you don’t have the time, money or energy to invest in dieting!

First of all, diet does matter. Dieticians agree that diet affects your health, your ability to perform and your overall quality of life. Second, the spring styles have hit the Eaton Centre, and you’re suddenly aware that the Freshman 15 won’t be a flattering friend to accompany your bathing suit shopping. But dieting doesn’t have to be difficult! Being healthy doesn’t mean depriving yourself of food, but rather understanding how food is fuel for your body. By decoding the word, even students can incorporate “dieting,” as a lifestyle rather than a punishment, into their packed schedules.

Let’s unravel the myths:

1. Diets are evil.

Diet, as a noun, is often used outside of its original meaning. To a nutritionist, a diet is the consumption of food by a person or organism. Certain individuals or cultures choose what foods they prefer to consume. Diets are essential and everyone has one –we need to eat to live. However, dietary habits are significant in that they directly affect our health and quality of life. Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of the bestselling YOU series, says that feeling good and leading a vibrant and energy-filled life is the result of fuelling your body with vitamins, minerals and a balance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

2. Crash dieting makes you lose weight.

According to new research published by the New England Journal of Medicine in February, all diets work in assisting with weight-loss. Whether it’s the South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers or NutriSystem, the study found as long as diets reduce caloric intake, they all lead to a short-term slim-down. Jackie Graham, a registered dietician, says the problem with trendy diets or crash diets, which cause fast, dramatic results, is once the diet is stopped, you are likely to quickly regain your original weight and some. Yo-yo dieting, or radical fluctuation in weight, is known to cause stress on the heart.

“By making lifestyle changes and losing weight slowly, two pounds per week, you will be able to accomplish healthier, long-term result,” Graham says.

3. I need to detox!

Graham says the detox theory works, in that the diet, which is usually high in fibre, will cleanse and clear the intestine and colon. However she warns that many detox diets, such as the Grapefruit Diet, in addition to being part of the crash diet category, often deprive the body of essential nutrients.

“Drinking water and eating fibrous foods as part of a balanced diet is a much healthier way to accomplish the cleansing effects of detox diet,” Graham says.

4. I’m a student, dieting isn’t practical.

Tina Seegobin, a registered dietician and Ryerson alumni, remembers the lack of selection at campus cafeterias and sympathizes with students who struggle to make healthy decisions. Her best advice: “Bring your own lunch.” Seegobin encourages students to fill their lunches with lots of snacks such as granola bars, pieces of fruit, yogurt cups and raw veggies to keep you satisfied and alert throughout the day. If you are a residence student or have to grab something quick, avoid fried foods and reach for sandwiches, choose juice instead of cola and replace the cream in your double-double with milk.

5. Buying diet food is expensive.

It’s true that prepared name-brand diet meals and exotic ingredients can inflate the grocery bill, so all the more reason to create a healthy lifestyle instead of falling for a fad diet. Purchasing simple, pure food will actually pay you back. Choose fast-frozen fruits and vegetables as cheaper alternatives to fresh, and make large meals on the weekends, such a chili or seasoned chicken, so you can portion out and freeze to reheat during the week. Seegobin says having dinner prepared in the freezer is a relief after a long-day at school, when you come home hungry and too tired to cook. Popping the portion into the microwave, she had dinner ready in less time than it would’ve taken to order a pizza.

So, now that we’ve taken the misconceptions out of dieting, you’re thinking maybe it’s possible you can trim down after all. How do you get started?

Graham suggests the first thing you do is get a copy of the Canada Food Guide.

“99% of people overeat,” she says, “the guide will show you examples of serving sizes and give you a picture of what a balanced diet looks like.”

Canada’s Food Guide can be found online or picked up at the Ryerson School of Nutrition. The School of Nutrition is a great resource to obtain detailed dietary information and have any questions answered by faculty experts, says Graham.

The next step is getting active. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, get off one subway stop earlier or hit the gym between classes.

“If you don’t exercise, regardless of your diet, you won’t the lose weight,” says Graham.

Keep yourself hydrated. Hunger is often misinterpreted for thirst. As students, we consume great quantities of caffeine and alcohol, which are diuretics, or increase the body to excrete water. Therefore, we need make it a priority to hydrate. Carry a bottle of water with you at all times and make an effort to empty it by the end of the day.

Finally, eat breakfast.

“People who eat breakfast burn more and process more calories in a 24 hour period than people who skip,” says Graham.

Breakfast also aids in alertness, concentration and ability to retain information. We pay thousands of dollars to for our education, but “if you don’t eat breakfast you won’t learn!” Graham exclaims.

“Wellness doesn’t just happen,” says Dr.Oz, in his latest bestseller, YOU: On a Diet, “only conscious choices can give you a vibrant, energy-filled existence.” Step-up to the challenge, and treat positive lifestyle changes as an opportunity to mature and grow, he says. Say goodbye to the Freshman 15 forever -there are five weeks of classes left, so by losing two pounds per week, you have the potential to get into serious swimsuit shape by the end of the semester. You can do it! And the Commerce Times is going to help you. Over the next two issues, we’ll be giving you diet plan examples, recipes and tips to staying on track.

This week, start the slim down to summer by focusing is on eating small meals regularly, controlling your portion size and starting an exercise routine.