Raise a glass to the champagne diet

Most women at one time or another, make an effort to shed a few pounds. When doing so, they usually look suspiciously at various fad diets. The South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Hollywood diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet…you name it, I’m skeptical of it. However, few diets made me quite as skeptical upon discovering them as the highly improbable sounding Champagne Diet.

Nevertheless, it’s a real diet, and the brain child of Cara Alwill Leyba. For Cara, one of the most difficult parts of other diets was that nearly all of them prohibit alcohol entirely. Cara found this impractical, as well as just plain boring. She landed on champagne as a possible solution – a glass of bubbly is only a moderate 100 calories.

Of course, adding a daily glass of champagne to your regular eating habits is not going to do the trick. But its founder argues that pairing an otherwise sensible diet with the celebratory feel of champagne can help dieters feel happy and successful. In turn, those feelings can help you to stick with a diet for the long term.

In many ways, the Champagne Diet is not really a diet at all in the way that most people think of diets. It’s not a prescriptive eating plan, outlining exactly what foods followers are allowed to consume, and how much. Instead, it gives us very general advice, suggesting that we eat “sensibly” as an alternative to a traditional diet.

That may be a good idea for most of us most of the time, but is it the best option for someone trying to shed excess weight? Eating “sensibly” is a very flexible approach, leaving the choice of foods to the individual as well as the responsibility of counting calories and making sure you stay within a healthy amount. That makes a great long term strategy, since highly restrictive diets are often impossible to keep up. Very few of us could or would eat nothing but cabbage soup for the rest of our lives!

But it doesn’t give the pound shedders much to sink their teeth into, so to speak. Sometimes strict rules and a clear structure are exactly what someone needs to get themselves on a successful weight loss path. Sometimes we just want an expert (or an “expert”) to tell us exactly what to do.

If that sounds like you, the Champagne Diet may not inspire you the way it inspired Cara Alwill Leyba. Even so, I think Cara’s approach has a great message for everyone trying to manage their weight. If you want to be successful, finding room for the things you love most is important. For you, it may not be champagne, but any sensible eating plan can include regular indulgences that help you to stay satisfied and happy without compromising your general healthy eating habits. Cara emphasizes that the Champagne Diet is all about celebration, and that’s something I can certainly appreciate!

No wonder there’s a “buzz” around the Champagne Diet (okay, pretty sure I’m not the first person to make that joke. But it had to be said.)

Until next time,

Peace, love and vitamin C!