Diets Suck

I wanted to expand on my last blog post, “How to Succeed at Weight Loss & Fitness Pursuits” to help you eat better on a permanent basis. Most people fail at dieting because they start off all wrong. 

If you want to drive to a vacation destination which is 100 miles from your home, and you turn left on the highway when you should’ve turned right, you’re going to have trouble getting there. Dieters do this all the time.

What is this wrong turn? How do people start of incorrectly when they choose to go on a diet? Simple. They choose to go on a diet, which is what I explained in my previous post. The idea that dieting, or working-out is a means-to-an-end is a flawed approach, is examined in that post. The point is, don’t go on a diet, change your daily eating habits permanently. Dieting to reach a goal fails.

This approach fails because it is too difficult, a scam, and/or just too hard.

Creating new eating habits you can live with is easier, more effective, and will last over time. The problem most people have with this approach is, it’s not a quick-fix. There is no “30-Day instant reward” promise. May I just say, “30-Day Diets are pure B.S. You will read this in many of my blogs. (Quick-fix lies really tick me off.)

How do you begin?

As with everything I share, this may sound counter-intuitive. Begin your new eating habits by adding food first. (Hey, you want to succeed right? Stay with me!) Your goal should be to transition completely into a healthy, sustainable diet. This is better than being super-focused on short-term success which will ultimately send you back to square one. That would be awful, right? Read on.

In the beginning, rather than making this transition a negative thing, by making you give up the foods you like most, you will make this a positive thing. For instance, add some steamed vegetables to your diet. Make sure you eat at least 2 portions of healthy, steamed (or raw) vegetables each day. Learn healthy ways to serve the vegetables. Do not add butter or cheese! This defeats the purpose.

Next, add 1 new lean protein source. I use baked, skinless chicken. If you have dietary restrictions, use your favorite, healthy, substitute. Replace any garnishment, i.e. cheeses or rich sauces, with spices. This is the fun, and positive part. You get to delve into new and interesting recipes. Explore and have fun with this. I was surprised to find that simple seasonings, like Creole seasoning, sprinkled on chicken is delicious! I also use salsa and other hot sauces for flavor.

My point is, you will be adding high-quality, tasty and healthy foods to your diet. This will be a positive thing. Remember, this is a lifestyle change, not a quick-fix. Be patient and you will be rewarded.

The change-over

Here’s the interesting part. As you begin to add these new, healthy foods to your diet, you will begin transitioning the unhealthy foods out. This may be subtle at first, but I know from experience, this will happen. Rather than torturing yourself through the denial of everything you want all at one time, you will slowly move from one way of eating to another.

As you see this happening, you will be able to consciously increase the pace at which this transition occurs. You will have more, healthy options now, because you have been adding them a little at a time. You won’t want to spend all day shopping, cooking and eating. Something will have to go. Start with junk food. Then slowly, but methodically, remove more unhealthy foods from your diet.

The secret to sustained success

Now, I want to share with you a great way to make sure you don’t “go off the wagon”. I want you to cheat. Yep, I said it, cheat! The problem with “Diets” is that they are too restrictive. You shouldn’t have to give up all of your favorite foods permanently. That’s too hard. If you try to do this, (How did this work for you in the past?) you will eventually eat something you like, feel bad, then quit the diet, thinking you failed. Let’s not do that.

I have found that, if there is an end in sight, you can get through tough challenges. If you eat right most of the time, but you also get to eat the foods you love, in moderation, you will be much happier and more successful nutritionally. The trouble is, moderation can get out of hand. To combat this problem, I added structure to my moderation.

After slowly transitioning to a healthy diet, I added cheats. I would allow myself two cheats per week. A cheat cannot be a “binge”. It will merely be a food you enjoy, which is not normally a part of your diet. For me, this would be a slice (maybe 2) of pizza, or a burger. I might have a doughnut (or 2), instead. I would only do this twice per week. I would schedule these cheats ahead of time.

In order to maintain consistency, I would schedule one cheat on Wednesday, and one cheat on the weekend. The weekend cheat could come anywhere from Friday afternoon, to Sunday night. The reason for this, was that all my weekends are different and I didn’t know where I might be, or what I might be doing, or who might offer me something delicious.

Using cheats in this way, makes eating a healthy diet easier. You no longer have to give up your favorite foods permanently. There will always be a tasty treat just over the horizon. No more gluttony. No more starving. Now you have a plan to create the eating habits which will lead you to a happier, healthier, and more-fit life!