Do fad diets really help you lose weight and get healthy?

Healthy eating isn’t about quick fixes or all-or-nothing solutions. Popular diet plans such as paleo, keto or Atkins claim to help you lose weight and improve health. A balanced eating pattern based on the best science is key to managing weight successfully over the long term and having a healthy heart. Dr. Charlotte Markey, a Rutgers University psychology professor and a specialist in body image and eating behaviors, joins House Calls to discuss how to tell the difference between a healthy eating plan and an unhealthy fad diet.

Watch House Calls: Real Docs, Real Talk for trustworthy information on managing health conditions and preventing heart disease and stroke. Hosted by Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, the chief medical officer for prevention at the American Heart Association, each episode features science-backed information and practical advice to help you live a longer, healthier life.

[justrosy]

The problems that feed into obesity are often genetic in origin. Sometimes hereditary, sometimes not. Point being, people are at an uncontrollable disadvantage most of the time. Putting pressure on people to conform to a specific set of guidelines only causes anxiety and depression, which further feed into the issues with obesity in a variety of ways, including "depression eating." Or, this can manifest itself in the opposite eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia, etc). The problem is that no one's teaching kids and their parents about this, so everyone's off on this other "wild ride" of SAD (the Standard American Diet) and fad diets that often include extremely unhealthy practices, which further damage peoples' health and make it even harder to live a healthy lifestyle. I can't tell others what to do, but I can tell you what I've done:

1. I stopped caring what I look like. So long as my bloodwork is good, I'm happy.
2. I learned which food items are the least healthy, by default (high in cholesterol or saturated fats, too high in carb density vs. fats/proteins [the % ratio in calories is way off], too high in sodium, full of manufactured garbage), and just stopped buying those. I also have food allergies, so that further limits what I can eat, but even with all that, I have a wide variety of vegan foods to choose from, and if I'm truly reckless, I can still turn those into a very unhealthy meal, but generally, that's not going to happen.
3. I quit counting calories. Of the foods I have left I can eat, honestly, I just don't have to worry about that, so I don't bother. I also quit weighing myself, save for maybe about 3 times a year or so. I've made myself aware of what a reasonable calorie % balance is, between fats, carbs, and proteins, and I try to just stay somewhat in that ballpark. For me, that just means adding a good protein source (usually soy or gluten or both) in a fairly large physical quantity to every meal. Soy milk is a good "go-to" as are TVP and tofu. I don't avoid all fats or all carbs though; that's a key thing for me.
4. I switched to only canola, olive, flax, or grapeseed oil for cooking/baking, and got rid of even the vegan spreads, mayonnaises, etc. I was using sunflower butter for a long time, until I found out that the manufacturers are hiding behind the California Prop 65 "warning label" that's not easily found on their product pages, nor on their products themselves, and they're poisoning people with lead and cadmium. I still sometimes use almond butter, but only sparingly.
5. I quit using sugar or other simple-sugars (honey, agave, corn syrup, pancake syrups, molasses, maple syrup, brown sugar, "natural" sugar, etc), other than for bread-making, since that's literally what activates the yeast for that. I stick to complex carbs (white or brown) and add in whole-grains where possible/reasonable to do so. Because of the food allergies, I do my own cooking/baking and don't eat out.
6. I do what exercising I can (I have various injuries I have to be careful about), and just leave it at that.

When I die, I die, and I just don't care anymore about impressing others. This isn't high school or younger, and even back in those days, the above is what I should have been advised to do. It works fairly well for me. The worst thing I think people can do is cow-tow to societal pressures based on ignorance and stupidity. We need to be raising our kids to know how to shut the bullies up and get away with it at the same time, through science-based information, logic, and reason. We also need to teach future instructors how to deal with child-bullies. This whole topic is a lot more complex than just focusing on what people do and don't eat.