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Fad or Fact? J.Lo’s 10 Day Challenge

Yum

January 25, 2019 By Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD 7 Comments

Hey friends, happy friday! Oh man, I just went off on a rant on Instagram and man did it feel good. I find that I hold back a lot because I’m not sure how people will react and then I remember I’m pretty great at educating, so why NOT speak up and out. I mean, J.Lo is speaking out about her 10 day challenge and that girl has NO nutrition background. Soooooo here we go.

I figured I’d add a little bit of my rant here for those of you that don’t have Instagram or who miss the initial rant. On top of that, I want to make these sort of a regular ordeal. I want a place to voice my opinion on fad diets whether new or an old crowd favorite. You all should have this space as a safe haven from the BS and fake “bro science.”

So, I bring you “Fad or Fact” with yours truly. Expect it to be rant-y with some pros/cons as well as any other fun facts that go along with it! This is not meant to be medical advice, but purely my take as a dietitian.

Please let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to fad or fact rant about, I’m happy to take requests 😀

Ok, here goes the first one, Fad or Fact with the J.Lo 10 Day Challenge.

What is the J.Lo 10 Day Challenge?

Apparently J.Lo and A Rod want a jumpstart in 2019 and want to “clear things out” so they decided they would do a 10 day challenge of no carbs, and no sugar. They then decided to bring it to Instagram, which is FINE but then they started challenging others to do it and are making a scene with the whole thing.

The thing is, they are allowed to have their opinions (as anyone is) and they are allowed to eat whatever it is that they want. What I wish they wouldn’t do is project all of this onto their followers as they have a HUGE influence. I start getting concerned when I start getting questions about it. That’s when I start getting concerned because it means my crew is catching wind of it (and you guys are savvy) so then I worry others are hopping on board with no thought to if it’s a good choice for them or not.

Influence Does NOT Equal Expertise

Ugh, speaking of influence, have you guys heard about Fyre Festival? If not, next Netflix/Hulu binge, watch one of the 2 documentaries (i’ve seen both and they’re both mind blowing). This just shows how influential celebrities, models, and non-experts can be on others. It’s completely ridiculous but is happening ALL.THE.TIME. (hello, medical medium anyone?!?! <– that’s Mr. Celery Juice himself).

News flash: Influence does NOT equate to expertise.

I’m not an actor/actress nor do I pretend to be. So why in the world are ACTORS/ACTRESSES with NO NUTRITION KNOWLEDGE OR BACKGROUND able to create such influence on what people eat/drink/do. Ugh! Enough is enough people!!!

So, just a friendly reminder, the next time you see your fave celeb talking about their latest and greatest juice cleanse, remember, what works for them may not work for you and heck, it’s probably not working for them. The majority of them have absolutely NO nutrition expertise and it would be like taking dental advice from a plumber (or vice versa), just makes no sense what so ever.

Alright, so let’s dig into this 10 day challenge….

Pros

I mean, I would go so far as to say there are absolutely no pros because it’s a made up challenge, but if we had to put some pros on it….

It’s short term. Hopefully after 10 days it goes away and I can go back to my peace and quiet (lol, just kidding).

There’s no cleanses or supplements that are funky. They’ve recommended no weird extremes but they also have no idea what they’re talking about so TBD on that.

Thats it.

Cons

Well, pretty much the whole thing is a con, sooooooo….

It encourages restriction followed by bingeing.

It has NO expertise or science backing it.

It is made up BY the celebrities as they go with no known path, results, or complications.

THEY ARE EATING SUGAR-FREE JELL-O (<–not a real food) which is filled with fake crap and food dye….not ideal

It is recommending “no carb” and yet you can eat vegetables & all veggies have carbs. With NO consideration on why people may NEED carbs.

They have a HUGE audience and they could influence the wrong people and it could catch wind and all of a sudden they have 1 million people following it who risk messing with their health, relationship with food, and oh so much more.

Should You Do it?!

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooo.

Honestly, it probably will work for them because they will clean up their diet of processed food and sugar and replace it with healthier real food (minus the jell-o). It’s only 10 days so hopefully in a week it will be a thing of the past.

With any diet if it works for you great, but just because it does, doesn’t mean you should convince MILLIONS others to do it with you. You risk doing more harm than good, and that’s not why I’m in this profession.

End Result: FAD.

So, let’s say goodbye to the J.Lo 10 Day Colonoscopy…..errrrr Challenge and get on with our lives, shall we?!!??!

What are your thoughts on the J.Lo 10 Day No Sugar, No Carb challenge?!

xoxo,

Sassy

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Comments

  1. Tracey says

    January 26, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    Love this! When I saw it I thought it just looked stupid. And then I saw Hota Kotb accepted the challenge and thought … that is so sad. All I can think is those are going to be some very sad, tired and hungry people for 10 days.

    Reply
    • Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD says

      January 27, 2019 at 6:33 pm

      Ugh, I know, makes me so sad! Thank goodness it’s only 10 days!

      Reply
  2. Brandi Givens says

    January 29, 2019 at 1:55 pm

    Agree! Can’t wait to watch your recommended Frye Festival as celeb following for health care advice has been my pet peeve for a long, long time!

    Reply
    • Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD says

      January 30, 2019 at 2:02 pm

      ah,yes!!! The Fyre Festival is MIND BLOWING but at the same time not surprising since influencers seem to have un-warranted influence over people based on their celeb status and it has to stop!!

      Reply
  3. DietitianTO says

    March 19, 2019 at 11:16 am

    Love it! Being a dietitian myself I am SICK and TIRED of these fad diets. I have young women coming into my office with body Image issues, eating disorders because they want to look like celebs and models. They follow the diet trends and then go through the binge eating phase and in the end suffer from depression. Glad you had a rant on instagram!

    Reply
    • Laura Ligos, MBA, RD, CSSD says

      March 21, 2019 at 2:28 pm

      Thank you! Yes, it’s so frustrating but at least there are plenty of us RDs that are out there to help people navigate the fad waters, keep at it!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. CrossFit vs. Dietitians - says:
    August 20, 2019 at 2:24 pm

    […] been awhile since I’ve posted an opinion/educational piece outside of recipes. I’ve been in a bit of a slump as far as this side of my brain goes, […]

    Reply

@thesassydietitian

We’ve made it over a week together and it feels We’ve made it over a week together and it feels like it’s always been this way.

Motherhood is a wild ride & it’s only getting started. I have never been so tired & simultaneously so fulfilled in my life. That’s not to say it’s not filled with tears, worries and doubts but what fun would it be if it were all sunshine and roses anyway?

Going into this all I have felt so supported by friends going through this with me BUT I felt so unsupported by the general public. It seems like we want to fear and shame moms because misery loves company, right?!

The focus quickly shifts from mom to baby (still shocked that I only have an appointment at 6 weeks even though my body went through the biggest event of its life) and there also seems to be this shift from joy to shame & guilt.

Here’s some of what I heard from people:

😕Sleep when baby sleeps. You’ll never sleep again.
😕Don’t let baby sleep in a car seat, or a bouncer, or anywhere but their crib EVER. 
😕You’ll never have time to shower again, enjoy it now. 
😕Cry it out is cruel and harmful to the baby. 
😕Get baby on a schedule/never put baby on a schedule.

These are all things I heard and that truly led me to believe I was going to lose all sense of who I was and my life as I knew it.

What I wish people had said instead were:

🥰Your heart will grow bigger than you could imagine.
🥰You’ll cry the happiest tears you’ve ever cried.
🥰You’ll feel like a giant hole was filled that you didn’t even know was there.
🥰You won’t feel guilty about cleaning your house, it just won’t matter anymore.
🥰Babies pooping will make you laugh so hard you will feel like a kid again.
🥰You will have time to eat and shower and you don’t have to neglect yourself.

We need to do a better job of building each other up, supporting one another and our decisions while refraining from offering unsolicited advice and opinions. 

So for all you future mamas and new mamas out there, I see you, I’m proud of you and I cannot wait to share our stories with one another and the world.

Let’s stop fear mongering (just like the diet world) and start building one another up.

Xoxo,
Sassy & lil sassy man
🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s b 🌈Some things truly are worth the wait. It’s been a long year of loss, unknowns and worry but it’s all been worth it to get to meet my lil man🥰
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Now time to introduce this sassy human who is already so well loved to the world...
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Introducing 

💙 Connor James Ligos 💙
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After an almost 24 hour labor, Connor joined us over a week past his due date on 2/12/21 at a whopping 9lb2oz & 22.5 inches long with a full head of hair and lungs to scream hello to us with.
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We are so in love already and cannot wait to share him with the world. Thank you for all the love and support from friends and family and to all those that helped us in the hospital. Holy cow labor & delivery teams are truly magical and I cannot imagine doing it without all of their support.
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Now back to snuggling this human of mine and trying not to cry at every last thing he does 🥰 
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Mom, Dad & Bode are all doing well!
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#babyboy #pregnancyafterloss #rainbowbaby #birthdayboy #birthannouncement
I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk t I get it, we all eat so we all then want to talk to others about what worked for us. That's great!
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What's not great is when we push our nutrition and eating behaviors onto others ESPECIALLY when we are not qualified to do so.
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So often when people meet me for the first time they are worried to eat around me and/or buy groceries around me. My friends can attest I am not judgemental around food and will gladly eat that cake, queso dip or sip on that glass of wine right alongside of you. I am not the food police and do not offer unsolicited nutrition advice unless it's a client who is paying for my help OR on Instagram and other social media platforms where my goal is to educate.
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Why do I share this? 
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Because I see far too many people diving down diet rabbit holes, finding success & then claiming to be nutrition experts purely because something worked for them. 
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I've also seen this alot being pregnant, everyone wants to tell you what worked for them. IF you use that stipulation of "this worked for me" then fine, share away but if you start doleing out advice please pause, take a breath and think about NOT doing it.
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People are OVERWHELMED by diet culture and some so badly want to change but YOUR way is not the only way and it most likely is not what will work for your friend/coworker/cousin/neighbor so please, stop trying to be an expert in something you aren't.
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Got it!?! 
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Ok, carry on.
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xoxo,
Sassy
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#nutrition #nutritiontips #nutritionist #dietitianapproved #rdapproved #rdchat #dietitiansofinstagram #dietitian #dietitiansofig #albanyny #albanynutrition #albanynutrition
Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. Your nutrition does NOT need to be all or nothing. I'm not saying you have to find perfect balance (does that even exist?) but I am saying that we shouldn't feel like either we have to eat perfectly or that we might as well give up.
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Instead we should look to the grey area in between for our nutrition guidance. 
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What do I mean?
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I mean that we need to realize that we can still eat cookies but we probably should throw some veggies in there. 
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We can have a glass or 2 of wine but we should probably also drink some water. 
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We can take rest days but we should also find ways to move our bodies regularly.
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And the list goes on.
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It's not about all or nothing it's about doing something daily to help your health and nutrition without it feeling like a set of rules or a free for all.
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How do we find that grey area in between?
👉🏻 stop hopping on and off fad diets
👉🏻listen and trust your self, not your coworkers and cousins 
👉🏻focus on the simple things (ie drinking water instead of worrying about supplements)
👉🏻work to remove guilt and shame around food & body
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Where do you currently fall Right now?!
🤪 all
👍🏻in between 
🙅🏻‍♀️ nothing 
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Xoxo,
Sassy
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#dietitian #dietitiansofig #dietitiansofinstagram #nutrition #nutritionist #nutritiontips #thesassydietitian #rdchat #realtalk

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