When it comes to dieting, too many people set themselves up for failure before they even begin the process. They literally fear dieting and plan their doom before they start. It's sad but true, too many dieters would be planning their first Rocky Road mishap while eating their last bowl of Rocky Road before the big event.
I have no idea why we do this to ourselves, but it's something I see in dieters everywhere. It is an all-too-popular notion that one must binge on one's most loved and pleasurable foods before beginning the dieting process, as these things must be completely eliminated in order to shed unwanted pounds. If you are honest with yourself, nothing could be further from the truth. Moderation is simply a concept that many of us are reluctant to embrace.
You need to change the way you think about food and your personal enjoyment of food in order for any diet you adopt to be successful. Food is not the enemy. And that's something that not enough people really understand. Even "tasty" foods are not the enemy. The enemy is your personal inability to properly portion the foods you eat. The problem is that the vast majority of us eat the wrong foods far more often than the right foods. Here are the problems.
Our bodies need nutrients that we are missing out on by not eating the five servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit that we should be consuming every day. Our bodies know something is missing and we feel hunger or lack. If we actually ate the right balance of fruits and vegetables every day, we would find that we are much less likely to feel hungry and crave foods that are not so healthy. This means that we are much more likely to enjoy them in moderation, as they should be.
Portion control is another problem we have. We live in an up selling society. Super large fries and empty calories per gallon of your favorite cola are offered with almost every fast food meal that can be bought. You must learn to say no to these things and avoid situations in which you may feel tempted to participate in these great orders.
To be truly successful at dieting, you need to embrace the process as building a healthier you rather than depriving yourself of something. Don't think of your weight loss plan as something negative, but rather as a positive force in your life to make changes for the better. When you have negative thoughts, don't direct them towards your diet. When you feel depleted, remind yourself that you are depriving your bones of carrying that excess weight. Remind yourself that you are depriving your wardrobe of bulky clothes that are meant to hide your bulges. Remind yourself that you are depriving your body of years of bulging and returning it to the body of youth.
Don't get so bogged down in the dieting process that you forget to enjoy some of the good things that life has to offer. Watching your weight and counting calories doesn't mean you can never exceed your allotment. However, the goal is to find a balance. If you learn to portion out your food, indulge in moderation, and incorporate enjoyable calorie-burning activities into your daily routine, you may be amazed at the results.
Dieting for weight loss and health is only depleting if you let it be. If you can't control yourself when it comes to indulgence, then by all means avoid indulgence. However, if you can learn to incorporate these little treats into your routine in moderation and burn off those extra calories, you should be a much happier and more successful "dieter" than you've ever been in the past.
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