It’s January 1st and “New Year, new me” is splattered all over our social media outlets. People are talking about how their New Year’s resolution is to stop eating sugar or lose those “extra” ten pounds. Suddenly, diet books are flying off the shelves and there is a spike in gym memberships. Some people use this new year for a new frame of mind for their health, but when can it be taken too far? When does a diet become an obsession? These influences are making it easy for vulnerable people to take harmful things too far. .

Throughout the years, there has been the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, and now there’s even the Khloe Kardashian diet. Exuberant, glowing women are plastered on the commercials for these books and plans, making the want to be as happy and “healthy” as them skyrocket. But what is so healthy about cutting out carbs? What is so healthy about moving your floating ribs with a waist trainer so that you have a waist that is not naturally possible? These diets acknowledge just that; unhealthy behaviors for vulnerable people.

Some people devote their time to blogging and sharing their experiences from these diets, even posting their daily food intake and daily workouts. But for some, that is just a part of the competition. If you have read my feature article about Pro-Ana blogs and eating disorders, these blogs have a lot in common with these weight loss plans. I personally relate to the competitiveness seen with these followings, and I know some bloggers who have in fact ended up in the hospital themselves after trying to lose weight. Wasn’t this supposed to be about being healthy?

The reason I keep referring to them as diets is because that is what they are. They are not plans or motivators or cleanses; they are diets. Anything that is made for weight loss is a diet. Some of these plans suggest only doing it for about 3-6 months, which only shows that they are not sustainable as a lifestyle. After all, I’m pretty sure the world doesn’t have enough chicken to feed the hungry Atkins followers.

It is hard to see pictures of fit, muscular, in shape people supporting these diets, making them seem like it is an achievable goal. But the truth is, once you start, you cannot stop. Your body will not react the same way as it did before. Your body will start damaging itself.

If you truly want to get healthy, start eating cleaner foods. That doesn’t mean completely cut out all sugar, it means maybe one day you feel like having carrots instead of a candy bar. But hey, if you want that candy bar, eat it. You are not controlled by what is considered right in a book not even written by registered dietitians.