Why is it so difficult for you to stick to a diet and lose weight?
Most diets are just too restrictive to really fit in with every day life. Often the latest fad diet is only effective for the first 5 or 10 pounds and without a follow up diet and exercise regime, your old habits return, as do the pounds.
Most fad diets are designed for quick weight loss. Even if you stick with it to attain your weight goal, you may still find yourself back at the same weight or higher in a few months. Why? Because the diet did not teach you how to eat, plan ahead, or to function within the world you live.
A diet should be a lifestyle and not an Olympic weight loss event.
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On many diets, you eat food you do not like, and not in a healthy or satisfying manner. Sometimes you are left hungry by blindly following a regime that has no sustainable merit.
If you are determined enough, you stick with it until you reach your goal. Nevertheless, during the life of the diet you were not taught how to plan healthier meals that you could enjoy in amounts that will not renew a weight gain.
Diets generally dictate that you give up foods that are comforting and enjoyable.
The idea of having to sit at a party with raw vegetables while others are eating chips and sweets is just depressing.
You may even stop socializing because food is a big part of how we interact with friends and family.
The yo-yo diet cycle of losing weight, gaining it, losing, and gaining again may even weaken the immune system. Until someone shows us how to eat and easily incorporate exercise into our lives the majority of people will gain the weight back.
Steps to losing weight
Initially you may see success as the scale drops, and this will keep you going for a while but the extreme caloric deprivation dictated by many diets leave you with hunger pangs and a lack of energy.
Without a comprehensible plan the initial sense of control derived from taking charge of your eating patterns will give way as you will soon be fighting cravings and feelings of deprivation.
Diets slow your metabolism. Your body naturally reacts to the ingestion of fewer calories by slowing down and burning fewer calories to maintain body functions. Now you have lowered the calories your body requires so when you come off the diet, the weight will go back on even faster.
So what is the solution?
1. Your first easy step to improve your health and appearance is to begin daily exercise. The exercise does not have to be intense and you can pick activities you enjoy such as walking, biking, or swimming. Simply get your body moving most days of the week.
You do not need to move for a continuous 30 minutes. Just by adding an easy ten-minute walk to your day you can increase your caloric expenditure by 30 – 50 calories. It may not sound like much but it sums up to over three to five pounds lost almost effortlessly within the year.
2. The goal is to increase your daily caloric expenditure and some is always better than none. You are more likely to be successful if you make small continuous improvements. Walking for weight loss, weight management, and general health.
3. Simple eating changes can start with just a daily health substitution. Just one and you will have made a significant change in your eating habits! Perhaps it is drinking one less can of cola each day, or having non-fat milk in your coffee instead of cream. Substitute cheese or an apple instead of the usual bag of potato chips.
Don’t think in terms of depriving yourself of foods you love, but substitute the empty calories with better choices that you can enjoy for the rest of your life. Being healthy doesn’t mean you have to be a size four, it means feeling good physically and emotionally.
Taking steps for losing weight means having energy and enjoying your day. Including movement into your day is easy if you just add walking for weight loss.
It also isn’t difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle, feel great, and still have room for your foods you love.
4. The closer a food is to its natural state the better it is for you. Fresh fruits and berries are great and will satisfy a craving for sweets. Whole vegetables have lots of vitamins and minerals. Be careful with sauces, they may be high in sugar, salt and fats.
Pasta or baked goods are best if made from whole grains. You don’t have to completely avoid white breads and noodles but because much of the nutritional content is removed and the high starch content in white bread will more quickly affect your blood sugar the whole grain is the better choice.
5. Fish has the omega-3 essential fatty acids that is often deficient in our diets, so seafood two or three times per week is great. Baked is always healthier than fried and processed meats can have sulphates and by-products so read the labels.
6. Trying new foods you have never had or assume you do not like by experimenting with new and healthy recipes that introduce your palate to clean natural foods will inspire you. Feeling good and energetic just from ingesting healthy foods is my promise.
7. Structure your meals to incorporate frequent smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Lifestyle conditions are usually tough to change and with so much conflicting information in the media it is difficult to know how to design a plan but with one small step at a time and an eye on constant progress you can reach your goal.
Take your time and be good to yourself and follow these simple steps to losing weight and soon you will feel energized and ready for the next step!
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