Why meal plans do not work

Meal plans, diets, weight loss pills... We all want someone to give us that magic pill, a magic recipe, that would 100% get us to the result. We are sorry to break this down to you, but it does not exist. We all want an easy way out, but nutrition does not work like that.

We all know it, okay? It is hard to start a diet, much less stay on it long-term. But why does it happen? Why do diets fail? And why do we compare them with the meal plans?

Read this post to find out more!

😰 Why are we so bad at diets?

The thing is it's not about us being bad at dieting. It's about diets not being good for us and our lifestyles. Let us clarify.

The scientific meaning of a diet is all the foods that a person or an animal habitually eats. So, it's basically our nutritional habits. However, what we perceive as a "diet" is something different, we associate this word with restriction, elimination, or deprivation of foods to achieve a specific goal, such as weight management, medical reasons, or others.

How can a person stay on a diet if they feel deprived of food from the get-go? You are constantly thinking about food, what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat? You are nagged by cravings because certain foods are labeled as "bad", "unhealthy", or "not good for you", and most often than not they are your favorite foods. You catch yourself making the world revolve around food.

Instead, they give you this meal plan, or "a diet" as they call it. You are not happy with it, but it's supposed to "work" and be "very good for you". You would be lucky if they account for your preferences, tastes, blood test results, intolerances, and other health issues. But most of them do not, and that's the problem. That is exactly why these diets are not sustainable.

🥶 The truth about meal plans is...

Before you ask, yes a meal plan is the same as any other fad diet, as someone prescribes you what to eat, when to eat, which ingredients to use and the foods to restrict. It's just a fancier name for fad diets, because they got a bad reputation lately, the invention of the fitness and health industry to make it legit.

A meal plan is just a fancier name for another fad diet..

❌ Here are 4 main reasons why meal plans are just not the greatest option:

1. They are not sustainable. Most of people will not be able to follow a meal plan for more than a couple of weeks. It is just not possible to calculate and measure every single crumb that you put in your mouth for the rest of your life. Even if you are able to stick to a 4-week meal plan. What happens then? How are you going to eat in the real world? Get back to old ways? It would most probably lead you to the loss of the results and search for another meal plan to get it back... Meal plans and diets are meant to be temporary, and are targeted for a specific goal. That's why they are not meant to be sustainable long-term. When choosing an approach to nutrition, the number one factor you need to consider is sustainability. You can lose weight, but can you keep it off forever? You can get rid of your health issues, but can you maintain this new state of health long-term? Always ask yourself: can I eat like this for the rest of my life? If the answer is "yes", then congratulations! You found the right one! Long-term results require sane and sustainable methods.
   

2. They are not realistic. Meal plans often disregard that there is also life beyond the containers. You probably have school, job, family, or other responsibilities that you need to take care of... Meal plans don't factor in taste preferences, bonding with friends, or family traditions. Would you refuse to go to a wedding just because you have to stick to a meal plan? Unless you are in a competitive sport, there is no reason to give up on enjoying the food freedom. There has to be a balance.
   

3. They do not teach you about nutrition. Meal plans are prescribed by someone, being your PT, nutritionist, or dietitian. So you are allowed to eat what THEY think is good for you. But what is actually good for you? Let's look at the example here. Your personal trainer tells you to eat skinless chicken breast and brown rice for lunch. If you think about it, yeah sounds legit: chicken breast is my lean protein, and brown rice is a complex carbohydrate, right? Then, you start feeling some weird symptoms, like gases, stomach aches, or heartburn. The next day you check your weight, and it's up, but it was supposed to be down, no? Why does this happen? First of all, we are all INDIVIDUALS. What might have worked for one and shown great results, might not work for the other. We have unique digestive systems, unique tolerances, and preferences for foods. We all have different ancestors, we live in different countries, and are used to different types of foods. You might have rice intolerance, or an allergy to antibiotics, which can be found in chicken breast. Only you can identify those, know your food preferences and how you feel after eating. Secondly, the meal plans are usually broad and follow generalized nutrition rules. You can easily find them online, it's a no-brainer. They do not account for your individual differences. Thirdly, it is very hard to write a 12-week meal plan without repeating the meals. They will usually encompass the same 3 breakfasts, lunches, and dinners spread throughout a week. The recipe is done for you. Well, will you really just stick to it? Most probably you will add or remove something. Maybe you did not like the offered recipe, or just cannot find a product in the supermarket, or you are just simply tired of eating the same thing over and over again. Nutrition requires diversity. The bottom line here is that only you can know your body, how it reacts to nutrition, your food preferences, and nobody else. Unless a person is living with you and constantly looking at what you are eating and identifying the symptoms you have, then registering it... This is just unrealistic and would probably require a lot of money, or luck to live with a personal dietician, who would only work for you! ✅ What is the solution? The truth is, the best approach is one that works for you. That means making the best choices possible within what is reasonably available to you at the moment. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to make a mindful effort to do your best most of the time. Focus on actually learning about nutrition, start to listen to the signals that your body gives you, and work on building healthy eating habits. You need to put the work in.
   

4. Meal plans promote hard-line thinking 🤔. Basically, you are either in or out. If you fall off, you most probably will think: "I messed up already, so might as well order that cake". Sounds familiar? That's actually how we felt on the fad diets. The meal plans are just too rigid and structured for people to follow. What if you were more active one day, went for an extra walk, and you still feel hungry? That snack that you eat after would count as a "failure". Our body is not as structured and organized as the meal plans are. One day you might feel hungrier than others, and if you give in to the hunger cues, you deem it a failure and give it up altogether.
   

5. Meal plans look at nutrition as a separate entity, while it should be a part of our lives. For example, we do not eat "macros", we eat real food. We don't feel the same day every day, we don't have the same amount of stress every day. It's life. And we should be able to incorporate nutrition into it, and instead of being limited by a meal plan, we can use it as a tool to improve our lives, improve our stress responses, and actually enjoy our food!
   

🤗 What should we do instead of meal planning to get the result?

It's simple: educate yourself on nutrition, work on building healthful eating behaviors, be mindful of your body, be flexible, and enjoy your journey! Healthy nutrition should not be suffering. It is a great tool to boost your life, happiness, and success.

👍 That is the approach that we use in all our Alyana Fit programs. We educate you on nutrition, and give you tools to make it easier to get in tune with your body, and structure, and manage YOUR OWN WAY OF EATING. We also work on building healthy eating habits and elaborate on hacks, that are sustainable, and can be easily incorporated into your lifestyle.

Do you wanna finally crack the nutrition mystery? Join us at Alyana Fit!

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