It is common for personal trainers to give their clients set meal plans but this is something I personally don't agree with.
Set Meal Plans
Limited Food Choices - Your are extremely restricted to what foods you can eat.
Unsustainable- It is just not sustainable to live a normal life because you will have to avoid all social occasions. 'Sorry Mum I can't come to your Birthday Meal because my diet plan says I have to have chicken, rice and Broccoli for dinner tonight.'
Controlling - You are forced into a controlling relationship with food because you are no longer in charge of what you can eat. This can lead to a poor relationship with food.
Unrelatable - Your set meals can often seem very distant from your usual choices. This makes it very hard to adhere to.
Short-term Fix - Set meal plans only cover up the issues with your diet rather then addressing them. You are provided with no education or solutions on how to make this way of dieting sustainable for a long period of time. Therefore, this results in you falling back to your old habits and regains all the weight you have lost.
My preferred method to use with my clients is flexible dieting.
Flexible Dieting
Unlimited Food Choices - There are no restrictions on what food you can or can't eat. As long as you are achieving your calorie deficit and meeting your macro goals there is no food off limits!
Sustainable - With the ability to still enjoy your favourite foods and live a normal life along side dieting, this method can be a lot easier to adhere to.
Freedom - You are completely in control of what foods you eat and when you eat them.
Relatable - This diet is extremely relatable because their is no need to make drastic changes to the way you eat. Monitoring your calorie intake and gradually making your own smarter food choices to achieve your calorie deficit.
Long term fix - Tracking your food gives you a better understanding of nutrition because you effortlessly educate your self on how many calories are in certain foods. This naturally allows you to make smarter and sustainable changes to your diet.
The Bottom Line
Don't be tempted by all the quick fix options we are surrounded by on a daily basis. Flexible dieting doesn't sound as sexy as some rapid weight loss diet but it does produce long term results.
If you would like more information about this particular topic or have any other questions, please just drop me an email and I will be happy to help.
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