Dieting can be overwhelming and quite polarizing. Hence why many of you are likely here.
Ask one person which way of eating is best, and they’ll give you a completely opposite answer from the next person you ask.
I support any diet that makes you feel amazing. Whether it’s no carbs at all or high carb, intermittent fasting or tons of small meals all day long, plant-based or not… if you feel great and it works for you, then that’s awesome.
But I don’t support trying to shame everyone else who disagrees with you.
Look, I respect you for choosing a plant-based diet. Truly, I do. I know that there are some really amazing benefits to plant-based eating (especially environmentally) and that everyone can benefit from incorporating more produce into their diets. But that doesn’t make it your place to make someone else feel awful about their diet just because they may not be plant-based as well. If somebody wants to eat meat or dairy, that’s up to them. You can educate them, but that’s very much different from shaming them.
If you want to give up carbs and you feel amazing doing so, then more power to you. I’ve seen some people have amazing results switching over to a keto diet. But when you shame your friend for ordering a sandwich for lunch because of all the carbs, that’s not okay. They have a right to choose what they want to eat, just like you chose a keto diet.
There’s a major difference between trying to help someone and belittling them. You’re not doing anyone any favors by making them feel awful about their choices. You’re allowed to make your own choices when it comes to eating. But so is everyone else. You might truly believe your way of eating is best, but there is really no “right” answer here. We’re all different, and we all have different needs.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any one way of eating, but there is everything wrong with believing that it’s the ONLY way of eating.
Nobody has all the answers. If going Keto has made you feel like a million bucks, that’s amazing. But it’s not going to do that for everybody. If you’ve decided to go plant-based because it’s something you believe is right, that’s also amazing. But that doesn’t mean that everybody else should want to eat plant-based as well.
We’re all different, and we all have unique approaches.
My advice: experiment with different ways of eating. Find what works for you. If certain foods make you feel crappy, cut them out. If others make you feel good, keep eating them. If you have a very busy daytime schedule, maybe try intermittent fasting where you eat most of your calories at night. If you love to snack, maybe break your day up into smaller meals to eat more frequently throughout the day.
If anybody tries to tell you that you NEED to eat a certain way, they’re not somebody worth listening to.