Livefit Program Review and The Hungry Planet book.

So yes, I'm not a doctor (yet!), but I can tell when someone is making a really stupid idea about nutrition. I've been reading a lot about this Lifefit program and I went to check it out and see what all the buzz was about. At first, I didn't understand much of what it was, so I signed up to have a better look at it. As I was watching some of the videos, I went to check out their "Nutrition Plan", and that was enough to make me lose all respect to the whole program. Not only it doesn't have any form of complex carbohydrates whatsoever, but it also states that:


The following foods do not exist:
• All dairy foods (including milk and cheese).
• Empty calorie drinks such as fruit juice, soda and 
alcohol.
• Worthless carbohydrates such as bread, noodles 
and pasta.
• Starches such as potatoes and white rice.


Now wait... what? First of all, you can not, by any means, say that all dairy foods to NOT exist. It's true that we eat nowadays way more dairy than we need and that they aren't the best choice for our calcium intake. STILL, to state that they don't exist is just completely and absolutely wrong. If you wanna go vegan, that's your choice, but I know lots of people who do very well eating their fair amount of milk or cheese per day. Before you state something this big, you really need to make sure the other person is aware of the consequences. Not eating any kind of dairy can be considerate healthy, but it need a whole backup system to it that the other person needs to be aware of. If you're cutting a whole food group completely off of your diet, you need to be aware that something's gonna go off balance and you need to compensate it somehow. A minimum amount of knowledge about the nutritional value of most foods is really important here, so please, don't just go around believing that cutting dairy is the solution for your problems.

Second... did they just put "fruit juice", "soda" and "alcohol" in the same category? So you're saying that if you blend an orange, some strawberries, blueberries and ice and drink it is the exact same thing than drinking a cup of coke? And when did blenders start sucking off all the nutrients from fruits that they became "empty calories?"

Third. Again the words "worthless calories". Bread, pasta and noodles. Now really, when did complex carbohydrates became worthless calories and where was I when that happened? You body RUNS on carbohydrates. If you take them off of your diet, you're gonna feel it hard and have really low levels of energy. But there's no problem, because they recommend at least a thousand pills and vitamins for you to take to get that pick up you need. Atkins feelings, anyone?

Last but not least, potatoes and white rice. I'm not a big white rice fan myself, but if this was the biggest weight problem in the world, well can someone explain this to me: (source)

Now how come the 4 countries that eat the most amount of rice and that have their diet based mostly on carbohydrates have the least level of obesity in the world? Not only that, but lower levels of heart disease, cancer and most of the common diseases wildly spread around the US?

So before you start jumping into some crazy diet sold by people who may look muscular and fit but are definitely not healthy, you should sit down and think. Any diet that restricts a whole food group like carbohydrates or dairy as bad are not only a bad idea, but it's probably gonna me harmful for you. I can't state this enough but everything, EVERY SINGLE THING should be done in moderation. Let me make an example here. A couple years ago, I read a book that nearly changed my whole conception about food and dieting. It's called Hungry Planet, What the World Eats. Here's a little description:

Imagine inviting yourself to dinner with 30 different families... in 24 countries. Imagine shopping, farming, cooking and eating with those families... taking note of every vegetable peeled, every beverage poured, every package opened.
Well that's what photographer Peter Menzel and writer Faith D'Aluisio did for their new book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.
The husband-and-wife team wanted to see how globalization, migration and rising affluence are affecting the diets of communities around the globe.
Each chapter of their book features a portrait of a family, photographed alongside a week's worth of groceries. There's also a detailed list of all the food and the total cost. (source).


Let's go over some of the countries from the graphic above: (source):


Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25

Favorite foods: sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips

                      

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily

Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina

Food expenditure for one week: $341.98

Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken

United States: The Caven family of California

Food expenditure for one week: $159.18

Favorite foods: beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream

I pretty much think the pictures speak for themselves, but if you're still unsure check this book out. See what the whole world has been eating not for years but for centuries before you decide to let anyone tell you that rice or bread is bad for you. As far as my opinion goes, what is bad for you is putting a huge amount of food in your body. It can be a huge amount if anything, really; even something healthy. It's still gonna be bad for you. We need to learn that moderation is the key. That our portion sizes are just ridiculous. That we need to go back to the basics of eating less, move around more. It's kinda simple, right? ;)