Diets- The GM Diet

Diet. That word is enough to make us all cringe as we think, "OMG, I have to give up this food and that food  until I lose this weight!". That in itself is enough to cause many of us to throw in the towel. Honestly, how many of us really want to give up chocolate? Or cookies? Yeah, no! I would probably harm somebody!

Let's look at a few of these:

The GM Diet. According to Livestrong,

The GM Diet is a seven-day diet. Day 1 calls for all the fruit you want, but no bananas. It urges you to eat cantaloupe and watermelon in particular. The second day is for vegetables, but no starchy vegetables, such as corn, peas or beans. The exception is one baked potato with butter for dinner. Day 3 is designated for unlimited fruits and vegetables, but bananas and starchy vegetables are still excluded, and you can't have a potato. The fourth day will allegedly ease any cravings you're having for sweets: three to eight bananas and as much skim milk as you want. Day 5 allows up to 20 oz. of beef and as many as six tomatoes. On Day 6 you can have unlimited amounts of beef and nonstarchy vegetables. The last day is for brown rice, nonstarchy vegetables and unsweetened fruit juice.


Now, why is it a major fail?

You are not partaking in a balanced diet at all. Only certain foods on certain days, really???? If you aren't consuming adequate amounts of fat and protein, you're going to be STARVING. Fat and protein help fill you up and are necessary for our bodies to function properly. No bananas? Hello, they have fantastic nutrients in them! You can have a baked potato with butter, but no bananas? That makes NO sense whatsoever. One day you get up to 20 OZ of beef? Sorry, but beef is one of the worst meats you can eat. 20 oz of it would be at least 2,000 calories. One day of brown rice?

This diet is very poor nutritionally. While it may result in some weight loss, you are probably looking at water weight and poop. We all know that consuming large amounts of fruits and vegetables can send you to the bathroom constantly! You will have diarrhea for days. That sucks! Those bananas you get on day 4 may help curb the bathroom habit. You will also feel like crap because you aren't getting the nutrients your body needs to function.

This diet also does not take into consideration the proper ratio of fats/carbs/proteins that we need. Some of us consume various ratios of each to achieve our goals. Some, pay their macros no mind. that's fine. However, again, you do need fats and proteins and can't just skip them. There are different types of fats that can be good for your heart, brain, and even fat loss. Yes, some we should try to avoid consuming in mass quantities! To avoid them altogether, no. Protein, your muscles need it and it helps with your metabolism. Protein saves those muscles and if you aren't feeding the muscles, you lose them. Lack of protein can also cause hair loss. Isn't that a pretty side effect??

This diet also does not address caloric needs. Yes, fruits and veggies can be eaten out the wazoo with not a huge calorie hit if you are watching them. That's the thing, we all have a certain amount of calories that our bodies need to just function. I believe it is important to know this number. For me, it's around 1740. If you begin depriving your body of this huge amount of calories, it's going to mess up your metabolism. Then to overload it with calories you don't need, they'll stick around. Now, if you practice cycling your calories, it probably will not affect you.

This diet, it's not worth it.