I have the secret

What I find to be the most challenging in the fitness industry are all the gimicks. It seems everywhere I turn people are looking for an easy way to be fit and look good. Cleanses are everywhere and you can't turn a corner without running into a billboard for the lap band. Every way we can cheat the system we do. Plastic surgery has been the go-to instant fountain of youth, fat sucking, face lifting magic tool for a while now, especially in lovely Los Angeles. You can't even swing a stick without hitting someone's breast implants in this town! At any rate I digress, this week I'm focusing on the diet aspect of things since this is such a big part of being healthy. I want to tell you a story of what I encountered the other day that I found to be the perfect example of gimicks and dieting. Here goes...
Friday afternoon I'm in the gym talking to Sharon. Sharon works out with my same trainer and is in great shape. I want to say she is maybe 40, with 4 kids and probably a size 26. She is asking me how I am coming along on my goal. I told her that my workouts had been intense but I was still needing to add more cardio and get my diet under control. She says, "Well I'll tell you what I've been doing. I have been drinking a pea-based protein shake in the mornings and weight is literally melting off of me!" No matter how much I know about statements like these and that there is no magic secret to being thin my ears still perk up when I hear it. I lean in with my do tell face. She says, "I didn't even intend to lose weight but I have been getting these terrible migraines and I finally broke down and went to a nutritionist to see if I had food allergies and that's when he put me on this protein and I love it. I'll write it down for you". I'm thinking "great if it helps, I'll try it!" So I ask her, "So you're just eating a normal lunch and dinner then?" Well no, not quite. She goes on to tell me that she is having salad for lunch with absolutely NO below ground vegetables. Now this was new to me. Once upon a time you could have all the veggies you wanted, they were all good for you. They come from the earth and can do no harm. After a little while of that researchers and dietitians decided maybe you could have veggies but steer clear of potatoes. Okay, fine that makes sense. They are starchy and high in carbs and do little for the body other than fill you up. But no below ground veggies seems extreme to me. Back to my pal Sharon whose weight is melting like butter on a hot summer day. Is she having salad dressing on all those leafy greens? Nope, just some basil, lemon juice, white pepper and a tad of extra virgin olive oil. Mmmm sounds tasty. For dinner for my skinny minny, a chicken breast steamed in a saute pan with lots of above ground veggies. Also she is working up quite a sweat at the gym with and without a trainer. The best part is, she thinks it is all the protein! I'm thinking to myself, if I consumed 800 calories in food and a protein shake a day while working out for an hour the weight would not only be melting off of me but people would be able to see my skeletal structure as well! The point of this story is to never dive into a one trick pony solution until you've been to see the stables if you know what I mean. Women who advertise for the lap band have been working out for years and the advocates for the HCG have disappeared back from whence they came having gained back all the before weight and then some. In an interview Kelly Osborne said that all the paparazzi kept asking her what her secret was for her recent weight loss and she replied that there isn't one. It took her months of hard work and a total life style change in the way she was eating to get to where she is. Think about it!
-Whitney