Dieting is hard and can be totally miserable. So many dieters experience short-term weight loss and success but then regain that lost weight.
This truth highlights how difficult and miserable dieting really is. Diets often promise great and long-lasting results, but very few actually yield any long-lasting results.
The truth is that habits die hard. Our habits are our life. Drastically changing a few habits may seem doable at first, but after time, when life gets in the way, our old habits often creep back in. Were left feeling like a failure and are back to square one.
So, is any diet that promotes major lifestyle changes increasing your health and happiness? Or does it set you up to head straight back to where you started? Is it actually successful?
Instead of falling into this ever-frustrating yo-yo dieting trap, here are a few common dieting pitfalls that you could be making and what to do instead.
If you find yourself connecting to this, youre in the right spot. Seek the help of a registered dietitian who is trained in intuitive eating and a non-diet approach, like me, or click here to get back to living a life thats not so miserable.
This truth highlights how difficult and miserable dieting really is. Diets often promise great and long-lasting results, but very few actually yield any long-lasting results.
The truth is that habits die hard. Our habits are our life. Drastically changing a few habits may seem doable at first, but after time, when life gets in the way, our old habits often creep back in. Were left feeling like a failure and are back to square one.
So, is any diet that promotes major lifestyle changes increasing your health and happiness? Or does it set you up to head straight back to where you started? Is it actually successful?
Instead of falling into this ever-frustrating yo-yo dieting trap, here are a few common dieting pitfalls that you could be making and what to do instead.
- Youre exercising a lot. You know, to lose weight. Exercise has become a chore and its miserable. Its exciting for a bit, mostly because youre anxiously awaiting the major benefits youre sure to see someday. But the reality is that innately we dont do well with punishment. A miserable exercise plan only lasts for so long or can negatively impact our well-being if we follow it for an extended period of time. Instead of exercising in a way thats miserable, try out ways of moving that youll look forward to. Whether its walking, hiking, dancing, playing sports or whatever, try something different.
- Youve cut out whole food groups from your diet. Gluten is the enemy, or so youve been told. But, really, whats so scary about a couple proteins? Psychological principles tell us that when we deny ourselves foods that we want, we just want what we cant have. Were setting ourselves up for binging. Thats why so many diets are followed by binging episodes, and why the weight often comes back on even quicker than it came off. Instead of cutting out food groups from your diet, or restricting foods you really love, try mindful eating. Try really paying attention to what youre eating. Mindless eating sets the stage for overeating without satisfaction. Mindful eating allows us to feel satisfied with what were eating and usually on less. Practicing mindfulness is powerful stuff. Try it.
- Youre following a diet that stresses you out. Youre following a diet that requires lots of work and uncomfortable restrictions. We way underestimate how much of an impact stress has on our health and happiness. Instead of trying to follow a restrictive diet that requires you to uproot your whole lifestyle, make small changes over time that you want to make. Also, certain "healthy lifestyles" cost a lot of money. Lucky thing is, eating healthy doesnt have to be gluten-free (unless you have been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance or celiac disease), organic or any other way of eating that costs more than conventional food. This is not an anti-organic or non-GMO plea; its important to separate this ethical issue from the nutritional one. Long story short, theres no one way of eating thats best for everyone. If you notice that your diet is stressing you out, take a minute to step back and re-evaluate. Think about what you have time and the desire to do, and go from there.
- You think you'll like yourself once you lose weight. Since when is your self-worth and your value tied up in a number on the scale? Sure, accomplishing your goals is motivating its really encouraging and may feel empowering to see your weight creep down. But unfortunately research shows that very few people can actually maintain weight loss after a year or so. And when that weight creeps back up, what then? Instead of restricting and then binging, or focusing on your weight that isnt as modifiable as we believe it is, focus instead on the positive and your health habits that you can measure and change. You can monitor this daily and itll give you a way better picture of your health than your weight would.
- You try to overhaul your lifestyle and try to make too many changes at once. Something clicks and youre ready to overhaul your whole life, clean out your pantry, get a gym membership and buy all the healthy foods. But over time, it gets hard. You start to miss that favorite food that is so not allowed on your new healthy lifestyle. But research suggests that restriction leads to binging. The point is not about willpower, the point is about finding pleasure in eating and not finding stress from eating. Finding pleasure from eating and being mindful about it allows us feel satisfied with less food. Now that's life.
If you find yourself connecting to this, youre in the right spot. Seek the help of a registered dietitian who is trained in intuitive eating and a non-diet approach, like me, or click here to get back to living a life thats not so miserable.
