My father and step mother vacillate between a strict "Eat to Live" diet and the complete opposite (red meat, sodium, alcohol, etc.).
It's hard to watch.
They originally adopted the diet to combat my step mother's heart condition and my father's stroke. It seemed great. They lost a lot of weight, blood pressure became normal, cholesterol counts healthy...almost a miracle.
My family has many talents but moderation is not one of them. They have become fundamentalist about their program, my father trying to convince me to not give my children any fats or animal proteins, saying that they can live off of greens alone. Meanwhile my step mother just doesn't eat. She'll take a few bites and then talk about how fat she is for the next few hours. My father is critical to the point of obsession. And yet, they will jump off the vegi train to board the high fat and toxin boat without transition. Back and forth back and forth, extreme diet to extreme diet. Meanwhile my dad drinking like a fish.
It simply doesn't work to shock the body like that. From near starvation (such few calories it's scary) to intensely rich foods.
I think I'm jaded because of all of this. I prefer to think of food as a means of fuel, a way to give my body what it needs - like a gift. Dieting for weight loss rather than health (which sometimes includes weight loss) can be a slippery path. I'm not at all trying to imply that that's how it is for you. I've just rambled haven't I ;-)
Slow and steady wins the race. When you hit a platitude it can mean your body is hitting the reset button. It is a good sign, I've heard. If you keep on keeping on, treating yourself with respect and love, you'll probably find you loose weight more slowly but that your body is healthier...and that you'll keep the pounds off. That's my understanding (and experience loosing my baby weight) at least.
