Have you tried one
weight loss program after another without ever being successful for
long? You may be making some big diet mistakes. You can be given the
best diet plan in the world, but it won't work if your attitude is
wrong.
The following 3 major
diet mistakes are responsible for hundreds or thousands of people
going off plan and failing to achieve the weight loss that they
deserve. Take the time to consider what effect they may be having on
you.
1. Expecting Perfection
Nobody is perfect. We have all heard that statement countless times, but many of us still find it hard to apply it to ourselves and our diets. We take an all-or-nothing approach, thinking we have to stick to our diet plan 100% of the time, perfectly, or there's no point following it at all.
This puts huge pressure on us and makes us feel terrible if we slip up. It also means that
after a slip-up we are likely to think, "I've messed up yet
another diet, I just can't do this," or "This diet doesn't
work," and abandon it. In short, perfection-related diet
mistakes mean that we will use the smallest slip-up as an excuse for
a massive binge.
This problem is worst
for dieters who like to follow very restricted plans where no treats
are allowed. Inevitably, life gets in the way and instead of planning
how to cope with the challenge of a party or a wedding, they try to
eat nothing all day and then cave in, abandoning the diet completely.
Your weight loss does
not have to be a straight downward line. It's OK to have occasional
diet mistakes, slips and gains along the way, as long as the overall
trend is downward. And it's much better in the long term to lose
weight slowly. It's much more likely to stay off that way.
This one is my biggest stumbling block. If I make a mistake and then don't loose the weight I think should, I will get discouraged and end up giving up. I am trying to change this and take baby steps. Eat real food, drink more water and not worry about what the scale says.
2. The Band-Aid Attitude To Dieting
Many dieters see their weight loss plan as a temporary fix that they will use for a short time and then abandon as soon as they have reached their target weight. We call this the band-aid approach to dieting, and it's the second of our major diet mistakes.
People who see a diet
as a temporary measure will often pick very restricted eating plans
and then go back to their old eating habits after the diet ends. If
you do that, all of the weight will go back on, in 99% of cases.
Unless you only have a few pounds to lose, it is much better to pick an eating plan that gives you flexibility. You need something that you can follow for weeks, months or even years. In fact, you need something that will allow you to live your life.
Instead of using a
band-aid, you need a diet that will become like a new skin: a
permanent way of eating that will enable to maintain your goal weight
after you achieve it.
3. The Wrong Goals
That leads us to the
third of our big diet mistakes: setting the wrong goals. In anything
that we do, goals should be clear, set out in steps and achievable.
In terms of weight loss, this means that as well as having an idea of
your ideal weight or clothes size, you should also set smaller goals
along the way, and reward yourself for each one achieved (but not
with food!).
Be flexible about your
final goal: as you approach it, you may want to change it. That's OK.
If you avoid these diet mistakes and have the right attitude toward
dieting, you will be able to achieve a weight that you are happy with
- and that is much more important than numbers.
I am looking at my goal in terms of my dress size, not the number on the scale. I want to drop three dress sizes. My reward to myself is a new outfit with each new dress size and a new wardrobe when I reach my goal. I posted my picture with my last weight loss post at the end of May and will do another one at the end of June.
I am looking at my goal in terms of my dress size, not the number on the scale. I want to drop three dress sizes. My reward to myself is a new outfit with each new dress size and a new wardrobe when I reach my goal. I posted my picture with my last weight loss post at the end of May and will do another one at the end of June.
Disclosure Policy
I just wanted to leave a comment on here as well :)
ReplyDeleteI think the band aid approach has done me in many times :/ Good Luck to you!
Thank you, and yea I am trying to change my attitude about the whole dieting thing.
DeleteOh I am so a band aid dieter. I'm trying to do better.
ReplyDeleteIt really is all about changing our attitude. Good luck to you as well.
Delete