Why is it that merely saying the “D” word, you know “diet”
brings immediate thoughts of failure to the minds of many men and
women around the world? Could it be that we have all learned through
trial and error that diets simply do not work? I know many of you are
sitting back with jaws dropped at the moment. After all, this is an
article about dieting, right? It is and it isn’t. Dieting is the
kiss of death for many while a new phase in your life or lifestyle
adjustment may be just the thing that will mean success for you and
your fitness and health goals.
Eating for some is an addiction. Unfortunately, you can’t exactly
give up eating all together as a smoker can give up cigarettes.
I’m
not applying by any means that giving up cigarettes is easy but how
much more difficult would it be if you were forced to have three a
day? At that point you may as well enjoy them every time the urge
hits right?
The same holds true for food. You must eat in order to
survive. You cannot live without eating. This means that if food is a
problem in your life, you must find a healthier way of viewing food.
Isn’t this where diets generally come in handy? The short answer is
no.
This is where diets often fail. Diets do very little to change
how we view food.
In fact, most diets only serve to tell us which
foods are good, which foods are bad, and which foods (typically most
of the foods we enjoy most) are strictly taboo. Diets begin by
forcing people to feel deprived or punished. And no one likes to feel
either of these things.
Even worse however, is that we punish ourselves further when we slip
along the straight and very narrow pathways upon which our diets
place us. This means that we are going to wallow in guilt over every
little misstep we make until we give up all together and decide to
over indulge once again and ignore the guilt all together.
In order to have real success you must make a lifestyle change.
This
is the only way that you will be able to shed those unwanted pounds
without experiencing the horrible guilt that so many dieters go
through each and every step of the way with their diets. Set goals
for yourself. Keep them aggressive but realistic for fitness,
dropping pounds, and eating new healthy foods.
Even if your goal is
as simple as eating 5 vegetable servings a day it is a great place
to start.
Change your way of eating.
Then change your way of seeing food and
you will experience amazing changes in your attitudes toward your
health, your body, and even your fitness level. As the first pounds
begin to drop you will begin to experience more energy and less pain
when exercising. This should help keep you motivated to do even more
as time goes by.
Do not think that long term weight loss goals will be as easy to
achieve as the first five or ten pounds.
Consistency is vitally
important when making these lifestyle changes. Take each day as it
comes and begin again the very next day. This means that even if you
fall completely “off the wagon” today, you can start over
tomorrow.
The trick is in staying the course more days than not and
learning moderation and balance when it comes to straying from the
straight and narrow.
There are many ways to fail when it comes to dieting and I know
people who have failed in almost every one I can possibly imagine.
There is no way to fail, however, when you are making positive
changes in your life that are getting positive results. It may take
weeks, months, or even years to reach your goal. As long as you are
making steady and continuous efforts and progress, you are doing many
great things for your health and well being.
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