There is no doubt about it, dieting is hard. We have to change our habits and behaviours
as well as giving up or limiting some foods. Yet sometimes it seems like you are always on a diet and yet never achieving your weight loss goals.
In fact 20 years down the line after what may have felt like 20 years dieting you find yourself heavier than you started. Is this because dieting is flawed OR are we doing it all wrong?
The simple truth is that we know what to do to lose weight. Just take 2 minutes now to write down what you can do to help yourself lose weight and most people can come up with the answers they need.
The issue with it is that it is not easy to change human behaviour and habits. If it were smokers wouldn’t struggle to quit and obesity wouldn’t be a global problem.
So if you know what to do but can’t seem to implement it then the logical step is to keep trying to do more of what you think you need to do but never fully succeeding.
There is another way though. Rather than trying to diet all year round and losing focus after a few days, break your dieting up throughout the year with periods of weight maintenance. I know some of you will ask, “Why would I want to just maintain my weight when I want to lose it. To lose it I need to keep dieting."
However, if you had bouts of complete focus on your weight loss journey and then gave yourself a break from dieting it would allow you to eat more and be less strict with yourself. In turn, this would give you the physical and psychological break you need to refocus your efforts.
Most people will struggle to maintain a diet for more than a couple of months.
This is because it is incredibly hard. You are eating less, saying no to your favourite foods, have less energy and feel sluggish when training.
By breaking up your dieting over the year into small bitesize chunks and giving the timeframe in which you diet your 100% focus you are more likely to get a better return for your efforts.
You should accept that your weight will fluctuate. During busier social periods, where food and drink are more common every weekend, the chances are you will gain weight and understanding this means that you can begin to plan for it.
Try the following:
Pick a time frame that you can stick to - 2 weeks - 4 weeks - 6 weeks - 8 weeks. Look at your calendar and see what social events you have coming up so you can plan for them. Choose how restrictive you want to be. For example, don’t plan to completely cut out chocolate for the time if you have never gone more than a day without it. I have included some ideas for restrictions below.
Get a calendar and mark on it the start and end date. It can be a good idea to decide on how you will reward yourself at the end of the time for example a shopping spree or a makeover. Then have a green and a red pen. When you do everything you plan put a nice big green tick on your calendar. When you haven’t done what you planned put in a big red cross. The goal is have as many consecutive ticks as possible and aim to have a calendar filled with more green than red.
Decide when you will plan and prep your meals as well as choosing when you will train each week.
At the end of the period you chose, take between 2-6 weeks with the sole purpose of maintaining your bodyweight after the diet. This will ensure that when you come off your diet you don’t just regain all the weight you initially lost.
Some ideas for restrictions during the 'diet' phase:
No chocolate or limited amounts per day/week
No alcohol or a limited number of units per week
No liquid calories or limited number of drinks per day/week
Need help?
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