TA Diet controversies...

Everything in the world has its critique. Everything. Everything can be praised and criticised, and in the end of the day - except for may be maths and physics - there is no ultimate truth. So in this post I wanted to raise an issue of TAM and Meta major criticism - its diet.

First and foremost, I have to say I am NO dietician or a doctor, all the statements below are only my own opinions, and what I discovered works for me. In no way am I advising anyone to follow anything I am saying below. 

So... There has been a lot of talk about the evil of TA diet... Recently I ran into this article by Rebecca Wilcox... It is pretty old already - about a year old, but well it does talk about TAM and Meta, and the diet I am currently on. 

Before I get into a long discussion about it all (which I want to try to avoid not to bore you all too much), I have to say I read all of that (the critique I mean) before I started Meta. Meta was not a rushed decision for me, it was not a whim one Sunday evening or an idea that may be I'm lacking some excitement in my life. I am not - and Meta was a choice I made after analysing the scene... I am a PhD student after all: I don't make rushed decisions normally, and I can't afford spending money without some thought behind it. I am careful in making my decisions, and would always investigate and read a lot before starting a new venture. When I needed to buy a new laptop, I actually spent a week on learning about computers, reading about them, and getting to know what characteristics were most important for me - again as a PhD student. I don't rely on advice usually (may be unfortunately - this would have made my life so much easier) and I don't believe commercials. I also don't really care how stars look - they are there and I am here, I have to be realistic and down-to-Earth. I have to understand what is good for me - just for me - and not for some rush towards a "Gwyneth body". And I think this is in a way where it started wrong for the author of the above-mentioned article... She tried to reach something she is not, and didn't listen to herself and her body.

Hence, regardless of what you are starting (school, hobby, training), you have to listen to yourself! When you starting a new workout program or a diet - you have to listen to your body, it won't lie to you. And if you are good at it, you will understand when it is just lazy (i.e. making up excuses for not doing a workout) or when it is actually suffering, or in pain. And the earlier you notice this, the better.

So, coming back to the above mentioned article... The main argument of it was "I did get the Gwynie body, but I starved in the process"... Then there is a lot of evidence from nutritionists, dieticians, doctors, etc., who basically say that this diet is a "pamphlet of patients with anorexia nervosa", that it is only 700 calories a day and lacks calcium, iron, carbohydrates, proteins, salt etc.... Basically, it is hugely imbalanced, and non-nutritive against what it is proclaiming (to the other criticisms I will get in a separate post I think). 

My response to that.... 

... Well, in true honest, may be if you stick to those portions, you might as well get only 700 calories a day. But it also depends on the week you are on, and what you drink too. It also depends on your own body, what you are intolerant or allergic for. And the first week of only puréed food is only the first week, as it is a cleanse. The rest of the weeks have much less purées, and week 3 is a killer: I actually had to reduce the portions, and exclude some of them, as it was waaay too much for me: I was feeling stuffed. So, are we talking about the same diet here???!!!

When I started the diet, I already knew my body pretty well, and despite the fact that I wanted to lose some weight, I was not going to starve my body. From the start, I made portions bigger. If needed, ate something twice. And you can add up on things. From time to time I have also added cheese, nuts, meats. 

On some days I found time to track calories (food and exercise) on EverydayHealth.com - it is an extremely useful web-site!!! And I am not making an ad of it, but it simply works for me. You can:

A) calculate what are the good numbers of calories and nutrients for your age, gender, weight and height - in terms of maintaining weight, losing 1 lb or gaining 1 lb a week... Most of the calculators give me approximately the same numbers, and I go with this one, only because it is all-in-one. On this website you can set your targets of nutrition and calorie intake, and it will show you when you are below or over the limit. Here is what my results are for calorie intake (and note, I do use the calculations taking into account the workouts):

I do not know, how tall and 'big' the author of the article is (because in the article she is advised to eat at least 2400cal - and fair enough, if you are 180cm you should definitely eat much more than a 163cm-me), but seriously, if I eat over 2000 calories (according to any calculator I tried online) - I would actually start gaining weight... So the bottom line is: you have to take into account your own body!!! If you are 180cm tall you can not eat the same as a 160cm tall woman; if you are older, the calorie intake usually reduces; your initial weight also matters; the level of activity matters too (i.e. do you drive everywhere, or do you walk?)... So all of these things are important when we are talking about diet, calories, etc. etc. etc.

The targets look like this:

I choose 1700 calories as my target - as I am not too keen on loosing half a kilo a week, but rather want to slowly reduce the weight, and will adjust my calorie intake a little later - when I hit the desired weight - to around 2000 calories. I mean I am a small girl, I do not need 2400 calories. Which means to have a balanced diet, you have to get a certain proportion of nutrients - not exact amounts. All of these are calculated according to the DRI (Dietary Reference Intake).

Back to EverydayHealth, on which you also can: 

B) track all your food - it then calculates all your calories, plus all the nutrients you get (sodium, cholesterol, sugar, protein, fat, etc.) 

C) track your workouts - I am not sure how well it works for the TA workouts, but I track them as aerobics. And you can track even showering :))) 

So then you get the total statistic of what is the difference between what you consumed and your target - in terms of calories and nutrients. Here are some of my finals:

Note: I am on week 7 diet, which is a Nutrient Boost Week (I substituted chicken-based Waldorf salad with a Chili - there is beef in it, which to my knowledge is red meat - while the article states there is no red meat in the diet at all...). I eat all the things on the menu in slightly bigger portions with the exception of Power Juice (damn, still don't have a juicer!). To boost a little my protein, I take a protein shake every day. I also add some nuts as a snack, sometimes add an extra apple, and may be a slice or two of cheese.

So, you can see that overall for today I didn't get enough calories so far - this means for me I can have a little piece of chocolate or look up something of the nutrients I am lacking and add that in the end of the day. But hey - I am over in fibre, fat and sugar, and only a little bellow proteins and carbs (and I prefer to have lower carbs...). However I do get only half of the cholesterol and sodium, but to my knowledge, higher cholesterol is bad, while lower would not hurt so much. And sodium - is very often used in processed foods, hence no wonder I am low on it - I eat all of it fresh. But again, while going lower is not so great, going above the required intake would be worse. In the long run I should of course get the sodium back into my system may be with supplements, but right now I am concentrating on vitamins B, calcium and magnesium. 

Anyway, this whole long tale was here for one reason: you are responsible for your own body, and it is you who is to make the most out of your nutrition. You can complain and write horrible articles about TA diet. You can say that you were dizzy and fainted and it is all Tracy's fault... Hello???!!! It is your body, your life, your diet. How did you even lead it to fainting??!! Tracy does not know your needs, tastes, intolerances, allergies... She gives you the tools, it is your job to use them well. If you take a saw and give it to a child who doesn't know how to use it - what can you expect? Yes, an injury. The same with any diet you are getting yourself into. The only difference is - we are not kids, we can read and educate ourselves. It is our responsibility to learn, read, understand what our bodies are, what they need, how much they need and how can we treat them better. It is our responsibility, not Tracy's or anyone else's!

If you read my note above, you can say "But you don't follow the diet to the T!!!" Well, I would answer, yes and no. If you consider "following" - blindly measuring the portions and eating that, without listening to your own body, then yes, I am not following it. But I would say: I eat the same foods, but I make the portions a little bigger and add a little more of nutrients, which are important and necessary for my body. And I consider it "following the diet wisely". I am still losing weight, I am never hungry (ever!), I feel energetic and well. And no wonder if someone bigger and taller than me would start fainting - if they do not even increase the portion sizes...

Finally, I wanted to add a little bit on TA diet overall concept so to say. You don't necessarily have to follow it to the T and of course you can (and in many cases should... if I have to - and I am 163cm and initially 57kg, most people do too...) increase the portions. The 30-day Method book provides great menus which you can also implement in your diet. But there are several "rules" in her diet, which you should try to follow (at least them):

• Nothing fried or even worse deep-fried... (And to just share my experience: I used to have some problems with my stomach, and I haven't eaten anything fried for about 4 years now - I am not missing it at all!) So forget about french fries... - well may be once in a while... :)
• Reduce the intake of sugar to the minimum (if you don't drink your tea and coffee with sugar, and are not too big of a sweet-tooth, you are fine)
• Reduce breads - grains are bad, breads are bad - even if so yummy. If you are a fan of breads (I am - I just love it with some olive oil... and Bruschetta - I can kill for it) - make it your bonus for something good you do once a month or so. :)
• Reduce on diary - many people are intolerant actually, but don't know about it...
• Say no to processed foods (no more cans!!!) - use fresh groceries whenever possible. I stopped buying hams for instance.
• Don't forget about diversity! Fruits, veg, meats - you have to eat them all. 

In general, I don't think these are really horrible and bad rules, I have actually been following some of them before Meta. They are easy to follow and you have to make sure, you keep the diet diverse. And to tell you the truth, my diet became much more diverse and nutrient since I started TAM. Cos before I was eating a lot of pasta... Pasta with this, pasta with that... Now I am eating much more balanced.

So, in the end of the day, I think, it is my body, my diet, my nutrition. I am not a child anymore, and we are not living in an autocratic society: I can make my choices. I had to learn to listen to my own body and use my brain to control what I eat. I did it, so can anybody. I am not blindly following the "leader", I am doing what my body tells me to do. And so far it worked without a doubt. And it is not about "believing The Method" or "trusting Tracy": I love the method, I think Tracy is great, she gave me all the tools I needed all my life to get into shape, to become healthier. It is about knowing about the method, getting the tools, and using them wisely. I simply use my own head, I see what I eat, I listen to myself and I eat when I am hungry - I just don't snack on chips, but on carrots or apples. I never starved myself in the past 1.5 months! My journey has been nutritious and filled with results. I mean, common, we are living in the era of Internet, knowledge and technology; we don't have to go to a library to find out things - we can Google them and Wiki them. So, I really do think, it is a personal experience, and all depends how you use the tools you get. Get to know your body, find out what it needs, give it to yourself. Treat yourself well.

Don't blame anyone for 'blackouts' - blame yourself, it is after all you yourself who is putting food in your mouth.

Good day everyone, and sorry for such a long long long post :)