Why Fad Diets Can Be Misleading

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Written by Ed "Diesel" Stanks

Imagine taking all of the 'true' aspects of every diet, routine, schedule or other sales pitch and lumping it together into one package. This package is tough to sell, because there's not one thing to hang your hat on. But every one of these tactics has a true and valuable aspect to them.....they just don't explain the whole story. Below are a few quick thoughts on some popular diets out there that (hopefully) show not only their weak points, but why you can't have just one.




 • Atkins / Southbeach - Low/No carb diet. Yes, it works at first but isn't maintainable or healthy if you're working out. Newsflash: you need carbs if you're active. Hell, even if you're inactive. Carbs have a place, and an important one at that.
• Paleo (also known as the caveman diet) - En vogue now and focuses on all natural/unprocessed foods. Whole and raw, to be specific. You're allowed to eat endless bacon, technically. Plus the high levels of fat that can be associated with the diet aren't optimal.
• IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) - Macros are fats, carbs and proteins. Based on some of your physical attributes and activity level, you get a specific amount of P/C/F for each day. This diet is becoming more popular around fitness types these days. I like the aspect, but again, it allows you to go eat cupcakes everyday if you want. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that.
• Nutrisystem/Jenny Craig/Any other pre-determined plans - Planned meals; predetermined nutrients. These do try to get you the proper nutrients, and can also control your calorie intake, but still don't offer the proper macro-nutrient ratios that your body probably needs. Here's a hint: if your pre-made diet meal contains a lot of ingredients, pasta or breading, it's probably not optimal.
• Eating 'clean' - Simply staying away from sugars, saturated fats and other "bad" foods. This is up for debate, but most people think of a salad here (or something that resembles bird food). Again, not maintainable and can ignore proper macro-nutrient allocations (carbs, fats, proteins).

Now, I just mentioned a few diets above. Don’t get me wrong; these diets DO have benefits and have worked/continue to work for many. They just don't tell the whole story. They aren't complete. Why? Because it becomes too difficult to quick-sell anything more than these elevator pitches. They make money easily and are simple to follow. If it were truly simple, everyone would do it, right? Well I'm here to tell you that it's not THAT easy, but it certainly isn't difficult. And you can balance all of this while keeping your career, hobbies and social life at the top of your priority list. Plus you can still allow yourself to have that piece of cheesecake after dinner. Trust me.

The Dynamic Training Method looks to make these diets holistic. In upcoming blogs, i'll write about certain rules to follow and when to follow them - in terms of your diet and workouts. Those rules take the true aspects of the diets above and put them to work. Think of your diet as your stock portfolio. You want balance and diversification. But don't buy all high risk items (cookies). And don't put all of your money into Treasury Bonds either (...I'll use broccoli here). If you'll be doing some intense workouts, you can invest in a growth portfolio. The opposite goes for if you don't have the time or patience for the gym. Your portfolio then needs to be conservative.

Your workout routines should be just as diverse, but not overwhelming. I'll put together training routines into an easy 'plug-and-play' format so each workout is different, yet planned. No more guess work or walking to the gym and figuring it out when you get there.