Recently, I’ve embarked on a lifechanging diet. I feel great, but I’m surrounded by people saying that “diets don’t work” and I’m going to “end up putting all the weight back on” (and because I’m already pretty thin, I’ve got people asking me why on earth am I ‘dieting’ because I don’t need to lose weight), but what if it wasn’t a diet, and it was a lifestyle change… Wouldn’t that work?
Now I’m no nutritionist or doctor, so I’m just speaking here from personal experience. I’ve tried a few diets; I’ve tried cutting back on sugar (not elimination), I’ve tried cutting back on high-GI carbs (not elimination), and I’ve done the starvation diet and coffee only quite a few times. Now, after these, I’ve always fallen back, and it’s because they just weren’t any good. Do you know what’s working though? What I’m doing NOW.
The thing is, when you attempt a diet to lose weight, it’s a temporary thing. It has a definite time frame, and a single goal and once that goal is achieved, there is no reason to continue, right? Because you’ve reached your goal. Wrong.
You’ve worked hard at dieting (and exercise) to bring your weight down to your personal ideal weight… You probably did it at any measure without consulting a doctor too. And you’re probably hungry all the time. But you’re not going to eat more than three times a day, because you’re on a diet.
The fact is, your diet is what you put in your mouth and swallow. It’s what your body digests. So, if you eat junk food, then you’re diet consists of junk, and all you’re going to get out of it is junk…in the trunk.. (lame joke, I know).
Eating healthy is a lifestyle change.
It’s like quitting smoking, or alcohol, because it’s affecting, or going to affect your health. If you decide you’re going back, and you’re going to eat whatever the hell you feel like afterward, because you worked hard and you lost the weight, you’re going to put every single pound right back on in no time, and plus five or ten pounds… Guaranteed.
The other thing is that weight loss should be a by-product of a healthy diet, because you’re eating the right foods. Your goal *should* be to become more healthy, have more natural energy, and better skin, and feel better and happy. Weight loss should just be one of the many things along the road.
The trick is to find a simple healthy diet which will work for YOU, and make that your default… forever.
This does not mean that you’re never going to eat chocolate, ice cream or KFC ever again in life. It just means that you’re not going to volunteer yourself to eat that unhealthy, overprocessed, zero-nutrition food every day.
Learn what’s good and bad for you. Find out if you have any underlying issues, like cholesterol which you’d like to deal with. Find a good place to get your fruits and veggies. Learn about free range chicken and eggs.
The low GI diet is a good place to start.
And if you have a sugar addiction, fruits and nuts (almonds and walnuts) help A LOT with kicking those cravings…
