High School Diets?

[mg8923]

I am so infuriated, my daughter came home tonight talking about the diet that the cheer coach put the team on for two weeks.

Would love to hear what some of you think! Having been a cheerleader that got weighted in while in college and have suffered from an eating disorder since my early teen years, this just ticks me off.

Done with my rant!

 

[Ariel]

I definitely think healthy eating and exercise should be promoted but telling young girls they need to go on a "diet" doesn't really sit well with me. I'm not a fan of diets anyways, what happens when you stop that diet? You go back to eating the same way you did before, so I think being educated on healthy eating habits is much more beneficial in the long run.

 

[texas2010]

Is it really a diet, to lose weight. Or are they just having the girls eat right. Because there is a big difference. If they put the entire team on a diet, I would be having words with the coach. How can the same
Weight loss plan be right for every girl on the team. I am sure there are at least a few that it would not be good for them to lose weight. If they are just requesting proper nutrition, then they may be trying to get the girls to see how much easier things are with the proper balance of nutrients.

 

[AcaseA]

My coach had us, as a team, make a pact to not eat fast food for the month of July. I feel like this was an okay way to get the team to eat healthy and make smart food choices... however telling a girl she is on a 'diet" for cheer is not okay in my book.

 

[soFIERCE08]

encouraging healthy eating and exercise is fine. in fact, i feel this is something that all gyms should advocate. however, the second a coach says "you need to go on a diet" is where the line is crossed. encouraging a healthy lifestyle gives the athlete information about proper health, but forcing a diet is like telling someone they need to lose weight, which is not okay and in many cases will lead to disordered eating.

i would clarify this with your daughter before talking to the coach. did the coach really say "go on a diet" or did she just say "let's all try to eat healthy." if the coach really did say "diet" then i would have a word with her.

 

[gi_cheer]

I am a coach for HS. I also suffered from anorexia for 10 years and nearly lost my life. That being said, I think HS (and college) girls are very impresionable and care needs to be taken when discussing these issues. I would NEVER tell one of my girls to go on a diet. I am much more apt to pay attention for eating disorder behaviors, though. I am all for encouraging healthy diets, but it has to be presented appropriately.

 

[rockymountainthigh]

A diet doesn't necessarily involve trying to eat less or lose weight. It's just making an effort to eat healthier. That's fantastic in my opinion, everyone needs to eat healthier.

 

[gi_cheer]

the word "diet" implies eating less or losing weight in our society. Whether or not that's an accurate perception of the word is irrelevant. We are socially conditioned to associate the word "diet" with weight loss.

 

[soFIERCE08]

A diet doesn't necessarily involve trying to eat less or lose weight. It's just making an effort to eat healthier. That's fantastic in my opinion, everyone needs to eat healthier.

i agree with @gi_cheer.

the purpose of dieting is to lose weight. making the effort to eat healthier implies that someone is trying to make lifestyle changes. diets aren't permanent. lifestyle changes should be. and this is why a diet will always fail.

 

[rockymountainthigh]

i agree with @gi_cheer.

the purpose of dieting is to lose weight. making the effort to eat healthier implies that someone is trying to make lifestyle changes. diets aren't permanent. lifestyle changes should be. and this is why a diet will always fail.

Actually the definition of a diet is your eating choices. So technically everyone is on a diet because everyone eats. Yes most people do diet to lose weight, but that's probably not the coach's goal. A change in diet can simply mean eating healthier. And a change in diet can be permanent.

 

[gi_cheer]

Actually the definition of a diet is your eating choices. So technically everyone is on a diet because everyone eats. Yes most people do diet to lose weight, but that's probably not the coach's goal. A change in diet can simply mean eating healthier. And a change in diet can be permanent.

If you read my post, I didn't say anything about the "definition of diet". People use the word "cool" to describe something they like, and that's clearly not the definition of "cool". I said word diet "implies". What a word actually means and how people use it are two different things.