5.3: Argumentative Model Essay 2

Read the essay and answer the questions that follow.

Sally Smith

Professor Chen

ESL 0202 LD05

29 April 2019

Watching What We Eat

(1) Is that pizza crust gluten free? I’m strictly Paleo. Is this chicken organic? Sorry, no carbs for me! It seems like everyone’s on a particular diet these days. Whether they are restricting carbohydrates, gorging on meat, or abstaining from gluten, Americans are diet obsessed! This obsession is nothing new. But is following the newest prescribed diet really the healthiest way to lose weight? With social media and Smartphone apps fueling the popularity of new and trendy diet fads, the long-term effectiveness of these plans often gets ignored. While fad diets might be a popular way to achieve short-term results, basic healthy eating and calorie counting is still the healthiest and most sustainable “diet plan” there is.

(2) Proponents of some of the latest diet trends claim that they really enjoy the community that social media and diet apps provide. Friends can do the “Whole 30” challenge together and share weight loss triumphs and recipes. Successful dieters can share their stories and inspire others to follow their plan.  But perhaps these dieters have not considered that they can just as easily build friendships and challenges around balanced and moderate meal plans. MyFitnessPal, for example, is an app that motivates healthy, balanced eating by sharing the nutritional values of the foods as well as counting calories. It also provides options for friendly challenges and supportive community. There is no need to engage in risky, restrictive diets in order to feel a part of a weight-loss community when options for connecting to support healthier living are also available.

(3) Another argument for fad diets is the fact that they do induce weight loss; however, restrictive diets can also cause physical harm. Diets like Keto and Atkins involve cutting down significantly on carbohydrates, forcing the body to feed on its own fat stores in order to survive.  While it may be true that a dieter loses weight, we should consider what else the dieter loses. Mr. Atkins, the proponent of a strict low-carb diet back in the nineties, has since died of a heart attack. Certainly, eating in moderation is a better way to live. By limiting fats and consuming more vegetables and whole grains a dieter can reduce calorie consumption, the best way to lose weight and stay healthy.

(4) Another excuse that dieters will use to follow prescribed fad diets is that they are easy to follow.   They can purchase food that is pre-portioned, prepackaged, and prescribed with no thinking involved.  However, not thinking about what is being eaten deprives dieters of the opportunity to build a healthy lifestyle.  For example, I've watched my mother-in-law spend thousands of dollars filling her pantry with prescribed meals from diet companies. She sometimes loses weight when she restricts her diet to these frozen and freeze-dried meals, but the weight never stays off.  Eventually, she is faced with making her own food choices, and because she had only eaten prepackaged meals while she was dieting, she has not learned to make the right choices.  The only way to ensure weight loss and a healthy body is to learn to make healthy choices for a balanced diet.

(5) In sum, losing weight is very important to so many Americans, especially since the U.S. has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, but fad diets are not the answer to losing that weight. While restrictive and prescriptive diets might be easy, fun, and fruitful; they can do more harm than good. For the sake of our health over time, we need to leave the fad diets and adopt healthy, sensible eating habits that limit calories while providing the greatest nutrition. One can just as easily become obsessed with health as with a fleeting diet trend. And it is clear which one will pay off in the future.

Source: Egan, Sophie. "Paleo, Keto, Fasting, Whole 30: Why Food Tribes are on the Rise." Washington Post. 16 May 2018

1. What problem is the writer addressing? How does the writer introduce this issue?
2. What is the writer’s position on this topic? Underline the writer’s position in the thesis.
3. Does each subtopic sentence begin with the writer’s position or the opposing position?

Exercise 3

Write the reasons the writer gives for fad diets and the reasons against fad diets in the boxes below. Then write the signal words the writer uses to introduce each opposing view and the words the writer uses to respond to that view.

For	Against
1.	1. Good apps and support available for healthy eating
2. People lose weight	2.
3.	3.

Opposing view	Writer’s response
1. Proponents claim that…	1.
2.	2 we should consider…
3.	3.