Thursday, January 26, 2012

Life Change

Are you trying to change your life? Trying to lose weight? Trying to get into better shape? What are you doing to achieve your goal? Are you diving into a strict diet? Or are you making a life change?

I hope you said the later. It is often quoted that 95% of those who go on a diet will fail. Think about it. If you suddenly completely change the way you eat and deprive yourself of the foods you love how likely are you to stick with it? Not very. Rather than setting yourself up for failure consider making realistic life changes. Make changes to your diet that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Get off of the diet roller coaster and commit to a healthier you. For life.

What is your go to pleasure food? What do you think will happen if you attempt to completely eliminate it from your diet? Cravings. You’ll deny yourself and attempt to beat them but chances are eventually you will give in and splurge. Big time. So what do you do? Allow yourself the satisfaction of enjoying your favorite pleasure food, just keep it within reason. Be conscious of your weakness and set boundaries. Decide how much of that food you will consume and how often then limit yourself to that serving. This will allow you the satisfaction of eating your favorite food without derailing your efforts.

What about your social life? In our society food is often at the center of social gatherings. So you feel like you have to reject invitations if you want to succeed in your weight loss goals. Don’t. Go out, have fun. Becoming a hermit is not good for your mental health. When your friends ask you to go out to lunch go in armed. Check out the restaurant’s website and educate yourself on the nutritional information of their dishes. Decide ahead of time what you will order and what to steer clear of. When you are invited to a party where snacks will be served and you know you will tempted to graze go in armed. Be aware of the temptation and consciously decide how much you will allow yourself to eat. Drink a bottle of water beforehand to help you feel fuller.

Make smart decisions on a daily basis. Make life changes.

Think about it. If you make reasonable life changes rather than short term goals you could have that bikini body year round rather than making absurd resolutions every year to have a six pack by spring.

2 comments:

  1. Right?! I'm tired of people thinking that they need to give up everything in order to be "healthy" only to get "burnt out" and dive back into unhealthy habits.

    I started gradually. I removed sodas, first. Then moved onto increasing veggies in daily meals, then replacing unhealthy ingredients with healthier substitutes, etc. I did it gradually and am better for it now!

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  2. Good point on going in armed to any food situation. Especially checking the website of a restaurant beforehand.

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