As we all know from experience, keeping a diet is a very difficult task. We see the pizza and cheesecake taunting us from across the room and almost break every time. Just the smell of cookies baking will bring us to our knees. The haunting idea of a cheat day or meal makes us wait and crave that day until we binge on unhealthy foods and end up regretting in the end. Here are some good ways to keep your diet intact.
- One of the best ways to make a diet a success is to make a life change instead of short hardcore detox diets. A diet is a good way to jumpstart a lifestyle change, but it is not the answer to all your problems.
- Social support means a lot to someone trying to make a hard lifestyle change. Seek out support through family, friends, or even support groups to help encourage you throughout this process.
- Set goals to keep you motivated and running full force forward. Short term goals are a great way to keep you consistently motivated to keep going strong. They set a success rate in your immediate reach and allow for slow constant improvement instead of drastic changes.
- Avoid common pitfalls. As I mentioned earlier, if you deprive yourself you will search for a cheat and binge. You feel deprived and lost at restaurants and if you do have a fall out, you feel too discouraged to try again. Don’t be too hard on yourself
- Stop yourself from emotional eating. Unfortunately, it is common for when we are down or had a bad day to take it out on food. Instead of eating because you are stressed, try yoga or going on a run to calm yourself down instead of forcing that second Twinkie down.
- Tune in while you eat. Americans are infamous for being busy and multitasking. If you attempt to eat while working or watching TV, it is much easier for you to mindlessly over eat. Also, eating slower will help your metabolism go faster. The standard rule of thumb is trying and either put your fork down after every bite or take a drink between every bite. I know it is a hard task to accomplish! Another tip to help slow down your eating is to try and use chopsticks! That’ll slow you down for sure.
- Let yourself indulge every once in a while. Dessert will not kill you. Schedule a time for a sweet snack that will satisfy your urges. Do not over serve and try to find sugar free foods or reduced fat. Also, you could pair it up with something healthy. Try pairing your favorite ice cream with some strawberries to give it that healthy twist.
I hope these tips will help you keep on track to living that healthy lifestyle we all strive for. We know it is difficult, but we also know you can do it. Is it time to get to that scheduled dessert yet?
-- Tayler
-- Tayler