Sticking to Your Diet

We have made various diet plans and most of them have failed miserably. We are excited and motivated when we initiate our diet plans but the biggest challenge is sticking to them.

Well it is not easy to stick to them, but if you do things right you would successfully be able to do it without any problems.

Expert advice is mandatory: Every person is unique and what works for one doesn’t necessarily apply to the other. What you need to do is create a plan as per your body needs. You need to consult a medical expert before starting your diet and take their advice.

Follow a diet you can stick to: Choose the diet that is easiest for you to follow. You may feel healthier when you follow one diet and get better result vis-a-vis another diet plan. Stick to the one that suits you and your body type. If you are clueless, take up a diet for a fortnight and then extend it if the results are good.

Diet goals: Dieting is successful when you have set realistic and practical goals for yourself. Don’t pressurise yourself a lot. Break long term goals into short-term goals, your aim may be to lose 40 pounds in a year; you can break it down in quarterly or monthly goals. If your goals are practical and reasonable you would have fun while you are on a diet.

Portion Control: One should carefully check the amount of food you eat and should avoid eating when your mind is diverted (watching TV or reading etc.) By doing this you tend to eat more without realising how much you have eaten.

Diet Partner: When on a diet all you see around yourself is people enjoying food that you long for. You start feeling sorry for your condition. Look for people who have the same problem and are on a strict diet. It may be your friend, colleague, next door neighbour, or even your husband. You can share your experience, complement & motivate each other and even go out together to stick to your plans.

Healthy Snacking: All of us give-in to the urge of snacking. Fill your refrigerator and kitchen with healthy snacks options, so that you don’t have anything else to munch on when you feel hungry.

Eat before going out: If you are on a diet you can’t avoid going out to party or shopping, try to eat before you step out of your house.  It’s okay if we can’t adhere to our diet plans once in a while but we shouldn’t lose focus of our main goal which is to lose weight and lead a healthy life.

Make a wish-list: The list will have things you would do once you achieve your diet goals. They can be a holiday, a new dress, etc. Add to the wish list every time you achieve smaller goals. This would be a motivation enough to stick to your diet plans.

Don’t give up: We all are human at the end of the day and we all tend to fail. What one shouldn’t do is give up. Small failures or fluctuation in weight shouldn’t lead to de-motivation.