One Size NEVER Fits All

The Atkins Diet. Low Carb. No Carb. High Protein. Vegan. Vegetarian. The Zone. South Beach. Low Fat. Mediterranean Diet. Eating for your blood type. Raw foods diet. There are more diets than you can shake a stick at and, unfortunately, in this country more overweight and obese people as well. Why? What's the problem?

I won't pretend to have all the answers. Actually I don't think anyone does. There are valuable principles and strategies in each diet that could help someone. For me personally - I think the reason we have so many diets and still so many overweight people is that we neglect to address the whole person. You may be 50 pounds overweight - but there's more to it than just that. You are a spirit being - are you discouraged, resentful, bitter, bored? Those things will affect your overall health and your ability to maintain a healthy weight.

You have a soul - a mind, will and emotions. Are you depressed, stressed? Do you feel you have no control over certain situations in your life? Are you sad, lonely, angry? Those things definitely will affect every area of your health, including your ability to lose weight.

You live in a physical body. Do you burn the candle at both ends, stay up working until all hours, expect to sleep 3 hours and be able to be at your best all day long? Do you eat mostly processed, junk food loaded with sugar, chemicals, unhealthy fats and artificial colors/flavors/sweeteners? Without a doubt, those things affect your health and your weight.

So for my clients, I consider all three dimensions - spirit, soul and body - in order to determine how to best address the issue of weight loss. You are more than just pounds on a scale and every one of us is created uniquely in every way, including biochemically. That's why one diet doesn't work for everyone. I believe you have to put together a specific plan for each person. That's what I've done for myself. What works for me may fail miserably for you. That's ok - we were created to be different.

So don't fall for the one "size" fits all mentality and feel like a failure when a diet that worked for someone else fails for you. Just remember, one size never fits all!