Two, No Three Certainties in Life
American Culture: Post Holiday Weight Loss Plans
I have heard it said that there are two certainties in life. This phrase, there are two certainties in life, [death and taxes] was attributed to Mark Twain. However, the phrase was originally written by Benjamin Franklin in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789. Things were so different back then. Surely, in this age and time, there are more certainties in life than death and taxes. One implied certainty is birth because you cannot die without being born.
There is one certainty that begins each year after the Christmas holiday season. That certainty in the United States is that the public will be inundated with weight loss plans in January. I am one of those persons who try a diet plan yearly. I have had success with them over the years. Last year I tried Weight Watches and it worked. I lost 15–20 pounds on the three-month plan. My diet plan history has shown that I am only good with dieting for about three months. After I stopped the plan last year, my goal was to maintain the weight loss for the remainder of the year. Now I am looking for a plan for the year 2022. The plan is to lose another 20 pounds during the three-month period. I now know that if I do not go on a weight loss plan, I will gain weight on top of the previous weight during the year. This is nutty but somehow it works for me. Let’s see what’s available to choose from.
Types of diet plans
1. Low CHO (carbohydrates): restricts high carbohydrate foods like pasta and bread from diet.
2. Low Fat: focuses on foods that contain 30% or less fat.
3. Reduced Calorie: includes all foods but limits the number of calories consumed daily.
4. Vegetarian: plant-based food plan that also includes dairy and eggs.
5. Vegan: only plant-based foods on food plan.
6. Keto: contains high fat, high protein foods and few carbohydrates to that you burn fat for energy
7. Paleo-a high protein, high fiber diet that includes foods that cavemen ate and includes foods obtained through hunting and gather from natural plants like berries, nuts, and seeds.
8. Gluten free diet eliminates grains such as wheat, oats, and barley from diet.
Now that we know the types of diet plans, we need to consider three things when choosing the plan. These three things revolve around how the food is distributed to your body.
What weight loss action do you want to take? For a change to happen you have to do something different. Katie Ormsby wrote an article in How Stuff Works that identified three approaches to dieting.¹
Three Approaches of Weight Loss Plans
1. Cook and count: In this plan you will reduce some nutrient and keep a daily intake of that nutrient below or at a certain numerical value. Either you count calories, carbohydrates, fats, or points for every food. It will work if you are disciplined.
2. Open and feed: On this scenario I see myself as a little bird. Someone brings or delivers the food to me and I open my mouth and eat. This might include frozen ready to eat meals or meals delivered to your door that you can easily prepare.
3. Psychology of eating: This diet is for people who want to examine why they eat or overeat and develop a mindset for healthy eating. These plans have available support systems to help you stay focused.
Loosing weight is not just about how you look. Well, to be honest, it is a lot about how you look to yourself and to others. It’s about how you feel about yourself too. But most important it is about your NUMBERS, your biometric numbers. Your biometric numbers are a good indication of your overall health. Your weight and nutritional intake are reflected in your biometrics, especially your blood pressure and cholesterol.
¹ Kate Ormsby (2022) Best Weight Loss plans for 2022. Available @ https://reviews.howstuffworks.com/diet-plans?s1aid=8936474025&utm_medium=paid&utm _source=google_search_network&campaign_id=12339824159&asid=121477624527&utm_term=weight%20loss%20plans&placement=kwd-14704042&network=g&adposition=&utm_content =498522248877&device=c&kwmt=e&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0jAt-Ye2bD1Z7cp59ReogUgEwdVfWfYZN-STA8_JfXwzMByoLUvQBkaAiqIEALw_wcB&vertical=diet-plans&imp=49364&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2sqOBhCGARIsAPuPK0jAt-Ye2bD1Z7cp59ReogUgEwdVfWfYZN-STA8_JfXwzMByoLUvQBkaAiqIEALw_wcB
