Sticking to a diet, day in and day out can get really tedious. There is only so much you can do. In fact, all that tastelessness will eventually get on your nerves and wear out your determination. Right?
Wrong!
You don’t have to give up on your diet. Instead, you can use our tried and testing tips to ensure that you stay on the course and stick to your healthy eating plan.
There is no denying the fact that EVERY dieter has wanted to quit their weight-loss program at some point – even if they see good results while following it!
How well you stick to your diet also depends on the food itself. If you are losing interest in it and find it difficult to stay motivated, maybe you should reexamine your diet.
Healthy eating plan
A happy, healthy eating plan offers your body the nutrients it needs to power through the day. At the same time, your diet also remains within the confines of daily calorie goals for weight loss.
A healthy eating plan ensures that you get to enjoy a variety of foods that won’t lead to heart disease or other health issues. Your healthy eating plan should include:
- Veggies, fruits, and whole grains
- Dairy
- Lean poultry, fish,
- Beans, eggs, and nuts
- More importantly, control your portion size for each meal.
The key to consistently and effectively sticking to your diet is by taking small steps that lead you to your goal. Just be realistic about your goals and how quickly you can achieve them. Yes, the mega changes will happen, but all in its due time.
However, if you still feel like sticking to your healthy diet will be next to impossible, help is at hand. Here are a few tried and tested ways to keep your healthy eating intact. Here are the 5 simple tips to prevent your diet from being hacked:
1. Feel Good About Yourself
We know, easier said than done. But this really is the first step to sticking to your diet. See the silver lining, envision the end result and feel good about the progress you are making. Find friends who encourage you to feel good and appreciate your drive to lose weight. In fact, surround yourself with people who have healthy habits and also want to be healthier with you.
One important aspect of feeling good, is reveling in your present. No matter what your current size or health condition may be, don’t get hung up on it. See the good in you, enjoy the dress you are wearing, eat well and always remember that you are sexy, that you look fabulous and you don’t need to be thin to feel absolutely beautiful.
When you know your inner strengths, it becomes all the more possible to stick to your plan. After all, you have the end in sight, why delay the journey by overeating?
The secret to staying motivated to stick to your diet is acknowledging that it is a possibility, and then having a plan to deal with it. What hacks your diet plans usually? Is it boredom and disappointment? Or does personal success instigate you to eat a little cake? Find ways to feel good about yourself, without involving food in the equation. Control your environment and find non-food ways to find emotional fulfillment.
2. Make Simple Daily Changes
If you find that your eating plan is slipping away from your grip, maybe it’s time reevaluate your lifestyle and how it might be enabling your unhealthy eating habits. Make a few small changes that will add up over time to make your healthy diet successful and boost your health and vitality.
Start off by consciously adding 5 more grams of fiber to your day, then cut down all the white from your food including white bread, white rice and yes, that cheesecake too. It’s all refined carbohydrates, and your diet certainly can do without them.
Wake up 15 minutes earlier than you usually do and exercise, or just go for a walk around the block, take in the morning air and enjoy the simple act of existence. Also, learn to take a break. We eat when we are stressed out and overwhelmed, it is essential to fight this urge to eat. So, relax, and just get up from your desk, walk a couple of paces and reevaluate the stressful situation.
In fact, find a role model to aspire to. Select helpful role models, find people who are kind, caring, healthy and happy. Pick role models that help you feel good instead of the ones who make you feel bad.
When looking for people, also try to populate your cheering section. Talk to people who’ve made it a point to support you and call them every time you have trouble sticking to your diet. Every time you reach small weight loss or fitness goals, invite your pillars to celebrate with you.
And once in a while if you slip up and overeat, don’t beat up yourself for it. Make forgiveness a part of your daily routine. Allow yourself time to appreciate a few indulgences.
3. Never Go Hungry
The biggest reason for overeating is under eating. When people go too long starving themselves, they tend to pig out when they are voraciously hungry.
Strict diets don’t work. That’s why we should all include healthy snacks in the daily healthy diet to avoid binge eating sessions. As mentioned earlier, allow yourself treats once a week without feeling guilt-ridden. Have a brownie, make it a weekly affair.
Thin and healthy people get that way not by starving themselves, but by eating consciously and exercising regularly. Remember that change takes time, but u don’t have to suffer through pain and starvation.
Research clearly shows that even if we all ate the same wholesome, healthy diet and exercised for extreme physical fitness, we would still be very diverse in our body shapes and sizes. Some would be quite thin and some big and curvy, but most would be somewhere in the middle.
It’s great that you have made the commitment to a healthier diet and lifestyle. But now is the time to stick to your lifestyle and see that goal being realized. Don’t let anyone or anything come between you and your healthy food.
4. Move around more today, sit less
Making healthy lifestyle choices isn’t just restricted to eating well. You need to also make a decision to be more active physically. Remember that sitting is the new smoking and it is terrible for your health! The more work you put into your fitness, the more fiercely you’ll guide your diet.
Remember to take the stairs up to your office. Go on walks, skip in place when watching tv or just take a stroll around the block when its raining. Train yourself to treat it as an activity that refreshes your mind, body, and soul.
Personal trainers and researchers alike are convinced that the more time spent exercising and the more vigorously you do it, the more calories you will be able to burn. Also, the benefits of exercising last a way longer after you have stopped moving. In fact, as you increase your exercise time, the elevation in resting metabolic rate also lasts longer. So, make a careful effort to move more and increase physical activity for good health. Also, make sure you are eating the right nutrients, and if you need any help, get in touch with a licensed nutrition expert.
5. Celebrate your journey
In the middle of your struggles to exercise on time and achieve your weight loss goals, don’t forget to enjoy the journey each day brings. Your health and fitness aren’t your life, it’s just one part of your life, one aspect that doesn’t dictate or drive your dreams for the future. Reaching this goal will no doubt, enrich your life, but don’t make it an overbearing sole purpose that will overshadow your daily life.
If you want to stick to your diet, make sure that you give it its due importance and no more. Making it larger than life itself will defeat the purpose. Live for the moment and savor some of life’s simple pleasures, that’s why life is all about.
The Last Word
Whatever your reason for sticking to a healthy meal plan, know that you aren’t alone in the struggle of holding on to it. Start off by writing down what you eat within 10 minutes of your meal. This increases your aptitude to stick with your daily eating goals. A healthy eating plan ensures that you get to enjoy a variety of foods that won’t lead to heart disease or other health issues.
Emphasize your new, healthy habits by celebrating every little milestone achieved, be patient with yourself. Your healthy eating plan needs to become an unshakable habit, and good practices take time to develop. It will not happen overnight. Don’t berate yourself if the diet does get hacked once in a while. You can stick to it, you can do it! It just takes one day and one meal at a time!
