It’s a new year and most of us have made a promise to ourselves that we will be healthier and slimmer. Sadly, it takes a lot of time, energy, and money to switch to a new eating regimen and actually sticking to a diet on the long term. If you have failed implementing a diet in recent years, you may not know it, but here are the reasons why you most likely quit on your plan. In this article, we will also tackle quick fixes that you can do so you can stick with it on the long haul.
It takes a lot of work and discipline to strictly adhere to a diet. It also takes a lot of patience in that going on a brand new diet means the results will take some time to be noticeable. If you have made a firm decision of changing your ways of eating, the first thing that you need to do is to completely alter your usual routine. You need to carefully plan and map out your meals, count calories, and make time for physical activities. If you come to think of it, you have a lot of things to do in order for your goals to actually come true. And this is perhaps one of the reasons why you can’t stick to a healthy diet regimen.
So exactly how long does an average diet last?
Men and women implement diets frequently. The average length that an average person can actually stick to a diet is at 19 days. By day five, a lot of dieters have already cheated on their diets, and break the fast by binge eating, or eating the food items they are trying to avoid altogether.
In a study conducted in the UK among 1000 women, it revealed that majority of dieters quit after an average of five weeks and two days since they start with their respective diet regimen.
With these results, it is safe to say that majority of dieters are simply having difficulties sticking to their diet plans.
Now the question is- how can you succeed before your next diet plan? And more importantly, what are the things you can do that can help you in making a healthy and balanced eating regimen a part of your life?
Diet Fail #1– Your chosen diet does not match your lifestyle
When people say that they are going “on a diet, “ you are implying that at some point in time, you are going off your diet as well. This usually happens among individuals who simply have chosen a diet that don’t fit their lifestyle, The diet plan that yu have in mind may be very effective, but since it calls for tedious food preparation and long hours of cooking time, you may be unable to follow the diet altogether.
Another problem is that diets may have a lot of food restrictions, thus making it hard for people to follow the plan to the letter.
Easy Diet Fix
Rather than trying out the latest fad diet, it’s more preferred to make small but crucial lifestyle changes instead. If you have a tight and busy schedule and have no time to cook, you may simply want to check out healthy recipes that require fewer ingredients, shorter preparation and cooking time.
Diet Fail #2– Unrealistic expectations
Never set unrealistic goals before getting on a diet. This is one of the most important points that dieters should realize when they plan on sticking to a diet long term. If you want to lose a lot of weight within a limited period of time, you are most likely to fail after a few days or a few weeks of trying. You are simply pressuring yourself to lose a lot of weight, and one slip, you will feel that all those hard work and sacrifice are down in the dumps.
Easy diet fix:
Identify a safe and reasonable weight loss within a limited period of time. Don’t expect to lose 20 lbs in a month. Although this may be possible, but this is unhealthy in that drastic weight loss can result in stress, fatigue, and sickness.
In addition, you need to recognize that you will slip or cheat once in a while. This is totally understandable and forgivable especially if you are a newbie in tryng out a certain diet. Learn from your mistakes, and give yourself adequate time to develop new and healthier eating habits.
Diet Fail #3- You fail to change your environment
It’s too easy to give in if you are not willing to make the necessary changes to your environment. For instance, take out all the junk food, desserts, and sweets that may be lurking inside the refrigerator and pantry. Try to stay away from temptations such as dessert places near your place of residence, or that bar that you frequent after work.
East diet fix:
Replace all your unhealthy food items and junk food with healthier alternatives. In addition, get rid of food items that are not included in your chosen diet plan. Instead of eating chips, why not replace it with vegetable sticks instead. You should stock up your refrigerator with ingredients that you can prepare for a healthy meal. And make sure to take a new route that can help you avoid your favorite fast food joints and restaurants.
Diet Fail #4– You don’t eat regularly
Majority of us think the fastest way to losing weight is by eating as little food as possible. With this belief, we tend to simply skip snack and even the major meals of the day. Skipping meals and snacks actually does the opposite to your body. Hunger will only make you more tired and cranky- leaving you craving and eating for on your next meal. Skipping meals isn’t healthy at all as it slows down the metabolism too.
Easy diet fix:
Try to implement a regular and consistent eating pattern. This will help you in avoiding sudden cravings and hunger pangs. Ideally, you should eat at least four times a day- three major meals and one snack either in the morning or afternoon. By setting this healthy eating schedule, you can control the amount of food that you eat per meal. Make sure that your snack is healthy and does not include low-fat protein food items to keep your cravings at bay.
Diet Failure #5– You eat even when you’re not hungry
If you are an emotional eater, sticking to a diet will be extremely hard for you. Emotional eaters on a diet essentially restrict themselves from the comfort that food brings, thus this makes them more emotional, depressed, and stressed more than ever. You need to find other ways to make you feel better other than eating if you want to lose weight.
Easy diet fix:
Instead of giving in to emotional eating, just take some time to reflect on the emotion you are feeling as of that moment. Instead of binge eating, try to write down your feelings and thing about ways on how you can beat it without having to eat food. In addition, you may want to divert your attention to some other activity such as talking to a friend or getting yourself busy do some other important activities at home or at work. Instead of drowning your sadness with cakes and sweets, why not exercise instead. Studies show that exercising is an excellent way of uplifting your mood.
