If only we lived in a perfect world where eating whatever we want and still losing weight were a real possibility. Unfortunately, diets aren’t ever that easy—but it doesn’t keep us from dreaming! Here are the top six diets we wish existed (and why they can’t).
The Meatatarian
The diet: The opposite of vegetarian, being meatatarian is exactly what it sounds like—only eating delicious, juicy steaks, cheeseburgers, and pork chops and avoiding all fruits and veggies at all costs!
The reality: While meat contains a lot of necessary protein for your diet, it also contains a lot of fat and cholesterol. Additionally, eating a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables can protect against certain types of cancer, reduce the risk of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
The Twitter Twig
The diet: Counting followers is way more fun than counting calories, right? So instead of keeping your calories low, all you have to worry about is keeping your tweets under 140 characters! Benefit from being a social media zombie…because for each retweet or favorite you earn, a pound will magically disappear!
The reality: As much as we wish this were possible, unfortunately not only will living on social media not help you lose weight, but it can also negatively affect your mental and physical health in the process. Existing purely in a virtual reality instead of facing the world in real life may decrease your self-esteem, and being consumed with your number of “friends” and “likes” can bring a lot of unnecessary stress into your life. All of this can end up having the opposite effect on weight loss.
The Wine About it Until it Goes Away
The diet: This one is pretty simple. One glass of wine = an hour at the gym. Bottoms up!
The reality: Wine may be a magical substance that makes all of our problems (temporarily) go away, but unfortunately it doesn’t keep them at bay forever. Even though recent studies have shown that there are real health benefits to a daily glass of red wine, more is still needed in order to achieve actual weight loss. Go to the gym first, then reward yourself with a glass of wine later!
The Michael Phelps
The diet: Like the famous swimmer, this diet consists of consuming 12,000 calories a day and still somehow being completely ripped.
The reality: Even though it seems impossible that Phelps can consume so much food and still be in the incredible shape he’s in, it's really just basic math. If you eat fewer calories than you burn exercising, you lose weight. But for an athlete like Phelps, who exercises five hours a day, six days a week, he has to worry about eating enough calories to replenish the large amount that he is consistently burning. If he doesn’t, then his body won’t have enough energy to function.
The Binge Watching Weight Shedder
The diet: For only $8.99 a month, you’re dropping pounds with the click of a button! While laid up on the couch, snacking on cookies and chips, each new episode you watch equals another pound miraculously gone.
The reality: Though this is a “diet” that is becoming increasingly popular among 20-somethings across the country, excessively eating while having little to no physical activity is a recipe for gaining weight instead of losing it.
The Shop Til You Drop Pounds
The diet: Every time you get hungry, go shopping instead! Let retail therapy fill the void of food in your life. Shopping all day, every day can be a workout in itself. And bonus! Losing weight will help you fit more easily into the clothes you’re buying.
The reality: Besides going completely broke, replacing your love of food with an equally unhealthy obsession will only make you feel worse about yourself. Instead of avoiding food altogether, try to make healthier choices that can still give you an adequate amount of energy to get through the day.
