With the ringing bells of the New Year fresh in our ears, many of us face showdowns with our resolutions. For some, this means combating the stresses, temptations, and cravings that come with a new diet and workout routine.
Dieting is not easy, and it’s definitely hard to do properly. In fact, 95% of diets fail. Many factors contribute to this statistic—the glaring issue is that most diets are not sustainable. Drastic changes lead your body to enter starvation mode, where you might actually gain weight rather than lose it. You yo-yo up and down the diet spectrum, losing self-esteem and cheating on your plan in the process.
A diet is a commitment to a lifestyle change—it’s not something you can do for three months, lose a few pounds and then return to your previous habits. All your hard work will vanish before you can say “elliptical.” The only things that can make your diet work for you are careful planning, persistence and strength. Pairing up with a friend also trying to shed a few pounds is a great way to stay on track.
If you make the choice to embark on a new diet and exercise routine, do not take the decision lightly. If you do not approach it in an informed manner, you will not be able to produce the results you would like to see easily. Here are some tips from VCU to make your plan work.
1. Define the rules.
Get a notebook and a pen for your new routine. No one ever said you needed to count calories—in fact, steer clear. If your cap is 1700 calories a day…you could eat that in chocolate bars and technically fulfill your diet requirement. Instead, formulate food rules. Write down what you are going to cut out (make reasonable cuts—giving up something entirely can impede your progress because you need it for energy, like carbs.) Determine what substitutions you will make—like dill pickles in place of potato chips (salty and crunchy without the dose of grease.) Jot down the proper portion size to which you intend to adhere.
2. Plan room to slack.
When writing that diet plan, leave yourself wiggle room. Never eating a brownie again is a rather drastic, miserable step. Instead, work this in as a reward for a successful week of eating properly. If you have hit all your fruit and vegetable servings and passed up all the opportunities to cheat, give yourself a proper serving size of your guilty pleasure snack. If many diets fail because they are not sustainable, you need to find ways that yours can be.
3. Have a yard sale and a shopping spree.
If there is junk food in your living space, it will end up in your stomach. Get rid of it. Remove the temptation calling your name from the fridge at three in the morning. But remember, you’ll only be grouchy and unable to perform at the gym if you walk around hungry. Go shopping and replace your usual snack items with healthy alternatives. A good tip is to slice and package your fruit when you get it so it’s as easy to grab and munch on as those Cheetos.
4. Don’t cut anything you can’t live without.
Dieting properly is a slow, continuous process. This is a “till-death-do-we-part” commitment—so don’t leave your soul mate behind. If rocky road ice cream is going to be what ruins your diet, don’t ban it. Moderate it. Spoon the correct portion into a bowl instead of sitting down with the entire container.
5. Use the correct inspiration.
To broach a touchy subject, a number of people use “Thinspiration” images to propel their quest for health. However, this trend is closely associated with eating disorders and might not be the greatest self-esteem boost. Rather than using photos of others who are impossibly thin, it’s a better idea to use a picture of an object. Next time you’re out shopping, look around for a cute dress or swimsuit you wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable wearing now, but would love to try. Snap a photo. Store it on your phone and pull it up when you need a boost. This way, you aren’t obsessing over a comparison of your body to someone else’s; you’re comparing you to you.
6. Don’t give up when you mess up.
They call it temptation because, well, it’s tempting. But do not quit after one slip. If you’re cheating on your diet, you need to re-evaluate your plan. Something propelled you to eat that donut even as your brain told you not to—do some soul-searching to find out why. Are you stressed? Is it PMS? Was there no alternative food available? Were you ravenously hungry because you skipped a healthy breakfast? Identifying the reason lets you pinpoint the weakness and better prepare. You’ll know to keep a granola bar or pack of gum in your purse, find an outlet for your stress like yoga or a hot bath and to mark your calendar so you know when to expect PMS cravings.
7. Tell people.
Your friends will support you. And you’ll feel obliged to keep to your plan when they’re around. You will not be inclined to splurge at a restaurant because everyone at the table is expecting to see your remarkable diet in action. Furthermore, you will find an army of cheerleaders in friends and family who will let you know when they see progress start to happen.
8. Ignore “miracle diet” advertisements.
Pills that make weight melt away like magic are as crazy as they sound. The “one weird tip” is as weird as it is useless. You need to go through the rigor of a diet because that experience is what is going to help you keep the weight off through force of routine. These “miracles” will produce the yo-yo effect where you might lose some inches, but it will bounce right back up as soon as you stop taking the drug—not to mention risk of side effects.