Sticking To Your Diet The Easy Way
People often make the mistake of starting a plan, any plan, not just a weight loss plan, is that they do not think about how they will keep to the plan. It is imperative to think ahead to the problems that could occur and threaten to spoil the goals that you hope so much to achieve.
Firstly you need to think about places and situations where you will come up against temptations that could spoil your plans. If for nstance, there is a tempting vending machine that you walk past every day at work, you should perhaps try to avoid it by taking a different route. If this is not possible, perhaps you could ensure that you do not carry money to use the machine – the important thing is to ensure that you do not get tempted to use it.
This is just given as an example. There are many things to tempt you against your plan in every day situations and you cannot possibly plan to avoid every one of them. Just the fact that you do see possible difficulties and that you take the time to plan against them, this will make sure that mentally you are prepared for temptations and you will find it far easier to avoid them.
If you write your plans and goals down, this will ensure that you are able to see them more easily.
Stay in control, stay conscious and alert. Eating is often habitual just as many other bodily functions are habitual. In other words, we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it, we just do it. This is a big mistake to make if you are dieting. The key to your weight loss is more often than not in your mind just as much as it is in your stomach. You need to take total control over both what you feel and what you eat and this will enable you to deal more easily in your mind with the cravings and stop them. Please don’t torment yourself mentally, this is not good either, just try to ensure that you ask yourself the right questions before you choose what you are going to eat.
It is a good idea to think about the consequences and the side effects of what you are going to eat. Tell yourself that you are greater than the urge and you will be able to resist the temptation.
By doing this you are also going to start feeling in control of your mental processes and emotions. You will feel fulfilled in the sense that you are in control of your own fate
Learn to Cope with Eating Triggers. The truth of the matter is that a lot of the time you eat when you are not really hungry. A little psychology can explain this. You see we respond automatically to mental triggers. These cues can be internal or external. An internal trigger is usually something that makes you feel a little unhappy, worry, anger, boredom or stress for instance. An external cue is smelling something, maybe bacon cooking or seeing something such as cheese bubbling on toast, anything that makes you want to eat it.
It is easiest to deal with the external triggers. Don’t have things in your cupboard or fridge that will tempt you to eat, or stop walking down a street where there is something tempting sitting in a window. The emotional triggers are actually a little more difficult.
The first thing to do is accept that eliminating emotional triggers is not always possible, we just need to react to them differently. Instead of eating, take a little exercise, just a brisk walk will go a long way in stopping your cravings winning and changing your behaviour in regards to food.
Liquids – the great way to fill up. Very often we eat due to dehydration. Feeling thirsty is often difficult to distinguish from feeling hungry. Smoothies are great at combatting this problem and this is why they have gained such worldwide acclaim, it is much deserved. They can play a central role in your weight loss diet. Not only are they low in calories but they also provide your ‘5 a day’ fruit and vegetables in a pleasant and efficient way.
A body that is used to snacking sometimes needs fooling into thinking it is full. One of the best and healthy ways to do this is through liquids. Of course this means low calorie drinks, it does not mean we can start filling up on carbonated (fizzy) sugary drinks.
The best liquid to drink is actually plain and simple water – you can drink flavoured water if you find the plain stuff too boring. It is simply the best way to flush toxins from your body and ensure your metabolism works well.
You need to treat yourself too, never forget this it is a very important part of the weight loss process. If you set goals and then you don’t treat yourself when you reach them, that is no fun at all. Rewards are well documented as providing a great sense of achievement. In turn this leads to your body realeasing positive endorphins into your blood stream.
Set yourself some specific goals, for instance to exercise for 30 minutes each day for 2 weeks, or to cut down by 300 calories a day, you need to give yourself a reward, a special treat. Make the reward a real treat, something maybe that you have wanted for a while, maybe a DVD or something like that. Rewards are a very important part of your long term plan and will make your dieting much more enjoyable.
