Rather have a VPL than be on a VLCD!

25^th November 2012

Butterflies don’t know the colour of their wings, but human eyes know how beautiful they are.  Likewise, you don’t know how good you are, but others see how special you are.

Saturday whilst shopping I saw a board with “the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time” and it’s so true.  Yesterday I blogged the stuff I was going to get done, housework etc but instead after cleaning out all the cupboards in the kitchen I went and met my mate after work and we had a walk round Cannock doing nothing in particular but having a good giggle in the process.  Then I went for my massage and after snoring my way through that I sat and had a chat with the three ladies that were in the shop, normally I’d have been thinking “you need to do this or should be doing that”, but instead I just enjoyed the natter.  We all need to spend more time wasting time or not as the case may be ;-)  I spent the night NOT doing anything with my mom in the living room, was a fab day.  If I can find somewhere to put that red poster I saw and it’s still there, I may go back and buy it today.

So the natter I had with these ladies was good, I make the mistake of believing everyone has the same knowledge of food/diets/eating as I do, I tend to forget I do a lot of research!  So it was interesting to sit and listen to a conversation about ‘diets’ and to hear their beliefs and opinions of dieting, fad diets and all things weight loss related. 

Fad diets in my opinion are a waste of time, VLCD (very low calories diets) are dangerous, one very famous VLCD diet for example starts at a tiny 415 calories per day (the NHS recommends that an adult woman should get around 2000 calories a day, is it safe/good for you? Well anything that works by forcing your body into ketosis – a state in which you are undernourished and your body must process your fat stores in order to survive doesn’t sound too appetising to me!  These kind of diets lead to Yo-Yo dieting which isn’t good, can lead to problems with metabolism and because it’s a miserable cycle to get into, it may be linked to depression.

When the body goes through a period of starvation, it prioritizes burning fat and sugar to using protein. However, if the starvation goes on for a long time, the body will begin to turn muscle and connective tissue, which is rich in protein, into glucose. With its low-calorie content, VLCDs mimic starvation and can result in the loss of muscle and connective tissue, if continued for extended time periods. This can lead to a weakening of the heart muscle and connective tissue in the body.

And believe it or not one of the risks of a VLCD is malnutrition. Although some of those ready mixed meals contain essential nutrients, these nutrients are chemically produced and added to the powder mixes and snack bars. Unlike fresh food, chemically produced nutrients do not always enter into the bloodstream through the digestive system. As some of these diets contains no fresh food items, there is a risk of not getting nutrients that are essential to the optimal function of vital organs.

But for me one of the main reasons I wouldn’t go near them is because I like eating, I want something that I can enjoy and do for the rest of my life, not something I can do for a month that will depress me, possibly make me ill and all for the sake of a weight loss.  Hell no thank you, I’d rather keep my chunky thighs and my wobbly bum, it’s my body and I love it enough to want to nourish and take care of it, not starve it to death or force feed it yucky shakes that I don’t enjoy.

So today I shall be starting my day with a fried egg toastie for 7pp because I can!  What you having?  Hopefully not a shake and a couple of vitamin tablets!

Take care of you, it’s the best thing you’ll ever do. xx