Now that Atkins seems to be on the wane, what's the future of dieting going to look like? MSNBC.com recently posted an interesting article on the latest diet trends:As Atkins exits, other diet gurus rush to lead. The bottom line?
Quote:
“There isn’t one single strong contender,” said Anne M. Russell, editor-in-chief of Shape magazine. “If you look at what the single largest trend is, it’s weight gain.”
Excellent article! Though I don't think we're going to have another "diet guru" as they described. I think we're going to go back to basics and start counting calories again. We've learned a lot along the way, including the dangers of trans fats, the importance of whole grains and eating more vegetables, and that balanced meals without taboo food lists are much easier to stick to for the duration. I think we'll combine all of that with portion control and more emphasis on calories than carbs or fat.
I was thinking the next "trend" would be towards whole foods, although we are already lurching in that direction. There are a growing number of places that pre-prepare dinners for people to finish off in their homes - dinners that include lots of veggies and healthy protein and fats. Of course, this would not make food manufacturers and the like very happy - there would be no new bounty of products for them to push on consumers.
In a related note, I thought it was rather amusing that Atkins was sending a lot of their surplus [failed] food products to food banks in Appalachia. Funny like the thousands of Atari E.T. games ended up in a landfill. But at least these products were going to a worthy cause.
Marilyn -- you put your finger on what drives diet fads and trends - the food manufacturers. Who are - of course - motivated by making a buck, not by doing what's best for our health. Witness the plethora of low-carb products, South Beach Diet foods, Slim Fast etc that we're barraged with whenever we walk into a grocery store. The food corporations will always promote diets that sell products.
I totally agree that whole foods, whole grains, fruits and veggies are what's best for health and weight loss. It's what works for me. The problem for the food manufacturers is that they can't make money off whole, unprocessed bananas and broccoli. WE know it's best to shop the edges of the grocery store -- but the food corporations are willing to throw billions of dollars into convincing us (and our children) that we need to buy their processed products in order to lose weight.
So true! A friend told me years ago that I should only shop on the outside walls of the stores instead of in the isles. However, most young families are not able to afford that financially! And everyone wonders why so many of us are getting bigger and bigger! The foods in the isles are cheaper. However, (it takes time for everyone to learn this!) in the long run it is cheaper to eat along the edges of the stores instead of in the isles because #1 you feel fuller faster #2 you stay fuller longer #3 your future medical bills will be cheaper. But it takes time to learn and realize that.
I am not sure what the next big thing will be. I hope it is fitness! We need to start pushing fitness (exercise) verses pushing low carb or low cal. Yes we do have to eat right... but our bodies need exercise as well.
It may be more expensive to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, but that's if the grocery store is your only source of food and you pay no attention to sale items. From what I see where I live and the people I know, most people are not cooking a very high percentage of their meals at home. To get home from work (all of 4 miles) I pass 5 mid-priced chain restaurants and half a dozen smaller, ethnic, local eateries. Every one is packed, every night of the week. Taking the family to Outback (where there are actually healthy choices) for one meal costs almost as much as a week's worth of lean meats, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables. I no longer believe the "it's too expensive to eat healthy food" whine. Look in people's shopping carts! Shop smart and healthy, cook your own food, and it's a lot cheaper.
I TOTALLY agree!!! We live in the country... so for the most part we only pass corn fields here lol. But when we do pass resturantes (never could spell it lol) they are all jammed packed with lines out the door (drive thru) sometimtes!! It is sickening!
I personally do not understand how people can offered to eat out either!!! To pay for one meal at McDonalds once I could go to the store and feed my family 2 possibly 3 meals that week! Again... depending on sales!
I don't understand how ANY family can afford that!! We eat out once every other week.... IF we are lucky!!! My kids hate it.... but such as life!
People need to shop and cook instead of paying others to do so by going out all of the time. There's is not much personal family time in that either!
A trend I've noticed in Ottawa at least are market type stores (at least 4 different chains), they do have processed foods, but the majority of the store is "outer edges" products. Lots of fruits and veggies often at better than supermarket prices... One of them has even come out with a line of salad dressing and lo and behold I can easily read every name on the ingredient list
Speaking of Atkins, I saw the huge Atkins for Life book on sale yesterday for $5CDN!
I think when I have a family, we will still eat out--not every night, mind you, but a couple nights a week. I just HATE cooking and cleaning up after dinner, and I especially don't want to have to deal with that after working a stressful job all day. Yes, cooking at home is healthier and less expensive financially, but it's more costly in time and evergy. Also, sitting at a table in the restaurant waiting for food certainly allows quality family talking time, or at least moreso than those families who eat with a tv on or don't eat together at a table at home at all. Perhaps if I didn't have to work a full-time job outside the home, I would think differently, and also maybe if I actually liked to cook, but as long as it's restaurants that offer healthy choices (like most of the big chains now do) and not fast food, then I don't think eating out as a family is all that horrible
Who knows what marketers and the industry will push as the next big thing. We here at 3FC know that it's watching calories and exercising that will likely get you to your goal, but the general public is not so enlightened, so it's not hard to push a new fad upon them. Heck, I have seen many people on here talk about how when people ask them how they are losing weight and they respond with sensible diet and exercise, the asker is no longer interested because they always seem to expect that it be some new miracle diet or pill. It's what the people want, so it's what the business world will provide. No one wants to buy anything that doesn't promise dramatic and rapid change in our world of instant gratification. People will always be willing to try new and wacky things if the right celebrity or "expert" tells them to do so Ahh, this is why I went to school for marketing
Granted, I am old...but I remember when you used to go to a restaurant and you got enough to eat...not enough to feed a small army on one plate! I also remember when you ordered a soda and it was a normal sized cup. They also didn't give any refills. The only things that had refills were coffee and water! I don't even think iced tea had refills then.
I have seen menus from the 50's and remember eating out though the late 60's and 70's and the food items now are ginormous comparatively. It is also cheaper to eat out now in comparison than it was then. The pictures on the old menus show a vast difference between then and now!!!
That is where the allure comes in. You have an over worked, over stressed family that is hungry, wants to eat NOW and wants it to be full of fat and sugar, since that is what we as Americans have been taught is what tastes good.
I love shopping at Trader Joes! There are a lot of healthy choices available! I am near a fairly small store but the products available are fresh, tasty and for the most part healthier than the average "grocery" product.
I do shop mainly the outter aisles of the market but I do buy frozen fruit that is out of season fresh, pre-prepared vegies (i.e. sliced bell pepper trio, chopped onion, etc) that do save me a lot of effort and time in the kitchen. It makes a vegie filled meal easily attainable!! Often the frozen products are actually more "fresh" than product that is sitting in bins waiting to be purchased!!
Who is to say low-GL will not go the same way [as the Atkins diet], with a new slimming panacea waiting in the wings to replace it? My personal favourite at the moment is the Jesus Diet, the work of Florida doctor Don Colbert, who has prescribed the New Testament's staples of fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and red wine to solve America's obesity crisis.
I hope we get back to the basic and start eating in moderation. These quick fixes are not working. We have to develop a plan that we can follow for our entire life.
See, if I could come up with a good diet plan and market it, I could retire early. Hmm. The person has to be long dead, so they and their kin can't sue for royalties. The Joan of Arc diet? The Socrates diet? The Jesus Diet (which sounds quite a bit like the Mediterranean diet, right?).
@Marilyn & Meg - it's a lot easier to market a Twinkie than it is a carrot!
I work part-time in a bookstore, and have noticed that we are selling more books about whole foods, "Superfoods" (a good book), GI stuff, and a lot less SB, Atkins, etc. I steer people to Thin For Life, Volumetrics, and the good food books. I think messages about nutrition are in fact starting to sink in a bit. People seem to be more receptive to these types of books now.
cheers,
Sue
So What's Next In Diets?
The problem for the food manufacturers is that they can't make money off whole, unprocessed bananas and broccoli. WE know it's best to shop the edges of the grocery store -- but the food corporations are willing to throw billions of dollars into convincing us (and our children) that we need to buy their processed products in order to lose weight. 
