Thinking of starting a new diet? Read these ten dieting tips to maximise your chances of success, as well as your happiness. Fad dieters beware!
Whether you want a change of lifestyle or a change of dress size, successful dieting can seem like an impossible task. It doesn’t matter if you are a dieting virgin or a calorie counting whiz, you still need to have a good diet plan to ensure the weight comes off and stays off. Here are some top tips on dieting for the success you deserve.
Table of Contents
1. Understand the word diet
A diet is a daily intake of food. It is something you will have to undergo every single day. It should not be a chore. Consider practicality, flexibility and whether the changes for your diet are realistically achievable in the long term. Sounds overwhelming, but just be prepared to make a life-long commitment.
2. Get motivated to lose weight in the right way
Your motivation should not be fuelled from low self-esteem or lack of confidence. Do not pursue a new diet so that you can squeeze into that designer dress. Instead, think about how you will feel once you are in the dress. This should be the true motivator!
3. Plan!
There is nothing quite comparable to a well-prepared plan. Even if it is just in your memory, keeping lists for your daily diet and sticking to them can reduce stress and feelings of being overwhelmed. Make sure to set a specific target weight, too, or else you risk lack of purpose. And don’t forget to organise your kitchen because your mind shall follow, bringing peace with it.
4. Put your diet in perspective
Your diet is not the be-all and end-all. Often the notion of a weight loss regimen can absorb you as victim to its obsessive nature and leave you feeling trapped. It can be tricky to imagine life once you have reached your goal; after all, modern culture seems determined not to allow you to be contented without endeavouring to something better. But looking forward to how your life will be and how it will feel to be there will help put you in the correct state of mind to live your daily life; your diet needs to work around you, not you around your diet.
5. Ignore fad diets and speedy weight loss tips
The enticement of fad diets and fast weight-loss methods can be as tempting as licking the cream frosting from the chocolate cake left exposed on the kitchen counter. But do not be fooled; like most crazes, the life spans of these diets are short as they are fashioned to prey on the vulnerable with the wrong motivation. Ignore them and you shall not regret it.
6. Don’t rush
Like being trained to drive, learning to play the guitar or earning a degree, the most effective weight loss plans take time. Do not rush wildly into a drastic fast; the disappointment shall only be more so when failure arrives, as it inevitably will. Make gradual alterations. Patterns of behaviour take a long time to transform, so take it easy.
7. Find new ways to satisfy cravings
Food can more often than not be a substitute for comfort, affection and boredom. Find new ways to reward yourself. Why not join a social group, tennis club or treat yourself to a massage? Expanding your social network and engaging in new activities that you can continue even after reaching your target weight can be just as fulfilling as chomping on chips.
8. Get support
Modifying your diet does not have to be a lonely, antisocial and isolating process. If you are ashamed to tell family and friends about it, you will be ashamed to implement it successfully. You have made a choice to go on a new diet, just like they choose to eat the food they eat and live the way they live, and extra support can be extremely beneficial towards achieving goals. Talk to family, chat with friends or even join a forum.
9. Be prepared for mistakes
There will be setbacks, without a doubt. The thing is not to permit those setbacks to ruin all that you will have achieved. Accept your mistakes, but learn from them.
10. Ensure that you are happy with yourself now
It may sound cheesy, but true pleasure really does come from within. If you are expecting to find happiness by plummeting off the pounds, you will be disappointed when you achieve your weight loss goal. It is vital that you are happy with yourself now. Be honest, are you really? Why not write a list of things about you that you like, about who you are and would like to be within. Remember: it is you with your diet, not the diet with you.
By being prepared, patient and following these tips, your fabulous new body and lifestyle could be just around the corner. That fad diet does not seem so appealing now, does it?
