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When NBC called and asked me to be interviewed for a story about a woman who lost a bunch of weight on Starbucks, I had to say “yes”.

People who know me, know that I support health and NOT diets — as every one of them is an utter failure (you are not). Lifestyle habits is what works… and accepting that there is diversity in our sizes and shapes. Health is what is most important and your habits have a major influence over your health.

We can all be healthy and it does not mean we will all be thin. That’s basic genetics and size diversity. You see it all the time when  you look around the real world — maybe not what you see in magazines or with celebrities. With this week being focused on “Weight Stigma Awareness” it seems appropriate that I help raise awareness about our society’s disconnect between weight and health. Just this week there was a fabulous article in New York Times about the research on thinness indicating “sickness” not health – whoopsie

Back to the Starbucks story. So this lady eats NOTHING but Starbucks for two years. She says knowing the calories helps her. I don’t argue with that. If every meal she had at Starbucks was 1,000 calories each she would not lose weight after all. I support 100% putting calories on restaurant menus to help people make choices.

For her, doing the “Starbucks diet” provided structure. She didn’t need to have ANY food in the house. But my argument is… OK, first of all, I love a good Starbucks like you do. But three meals a day for 2 years?!? Who can honestly stick to that and not feel deprived. I would get bored. Most people would.
That’s a big reason why this “plan” would not work for most people.

What do you think is going to happen if she ever stopped her Starbucks diet? If she tried operating in the real world, she is likely going to struggle. It doesn’t take many lifestyle skills to follow “eat this, that, and the other thing three times a day”. Real lifestyle changes come with building your skills — learning what influences your choices, operating within a structure of intuitive eating — letting your body’s hunger signal guide decisions to eat, and even improving shopping/cooking skills so you LOVE to eat healthy, but don’t freak out when you don’t eat so healthy.

What about truly meeting her nutrition needs? It’s one thing for the calories to be low, but did she really get enough veggies or fruits for the day? Isn’t it nice to have antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to help you feel energized and prevent diseases?  What about her fiber or calcium? No way she is getting enough of these nutrients. Not only that, but some of those sandwiches she does for lunch and dinner have 1000 mg of sodium each! Even on her low calories, her salt would be high. Not so good for health.

That’s my “beef” with this and many other diets. The focus and goals are on weight loss. It is possible to lose weight as a side effect of improvements to your health and behaviors. Think about food as nourishment, not punishment. It can be very empowering to learn to ask “What do I need to nourish myself?” and learn to make choices that are good for you… and FINALLY be okay with the fact they may not all be perfect or even healthy.

My post and interview on NBC is not about bashing this woman’s changes. She had to have had some positive epiphanies through her experience. I just want her and everyone else to realize that what you are looking for when you look to diets is structure and a “promise” that what you are trying will work. Starbucks exclusively for two years… and counting? No thanks.

Curious what you all think about the Starbucks diet story.

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