Thoughts On Dieting Success
Some thoughts on fat loss/ dieting success:
1. Diets don’t work.
Well, they might ‘work’ for a short period of time, but what happens post-diet era?
Unfortunately, most people regain all the weight they had lost, plus more.
And this is why...
Healthy eating habits > any specific diet.
Cultivating healthy eating habits and a positive relationship with food, both, take time.
Changing habits is hard work.
Changing mindset and emotional attitudes towards food is hard work.
Understanding how you behave & why, as well as how you can change your behavior isn’t easy.
Internalizing the fact that food is not ‘good’ nor ‘bad’ ,it’s neutral, takes a whole different mental approach to eating. However, this shouldn't deter you from not trying. Dieting is a process of self-exploration. It's the process of learning to recognize pattens, and knowing we have the power to control and change our behavior. The weight loss, or the end-goal, is really a by-product of your road to understanding yourself better, and connecting with yourself. We often eat not due to hunger , but due to sadness; boredom; needing a break in our routine; social situations; stress; lack of sleep, and so on. Becoming better at listening to true physical hunger, and being in touch with our feelings and emotions is what we truly strive for. This is why my approach to fitness and nutrition is founded in 'strong mind, strong body'.
Improving eating habits is different for everyone, and as a result, the time it takes for one to ‘see’ results depends on the individual.
It doesn’t take a month or two, or even 6.
It truly depends on where you are, emotionally and physically, and your ability to slowly progress, and build one habit at a time. A new habit may be eating protein in every meal or adding salads to two of your meals. Whatever habit you choose, you'd want to practice it daily, and make it... 'habitual' so that it's so automatic, that it doesn't take any mental energy out of you. You just do it. Then, once you feel ready, maybe 2-3 weeks later, you add another habit, and so on. I found that this approach to changing eating habits trumps any diet that is out there. why? Because habits stick, diets are usually short-lived.
2. No two people start from the same place, so please stop comparing yourself to others. You have your own unique set of characteristics and past history that require a different route than the person standing next to you. Respect yourself enough to appreciate all you've been through and all of the hard work you've been doing in order to increase your health and well-being.
3. Be self compassionate- love yourself and focus on bettering yourself. Better yourself because you love yourself, and you treat your body with respect. You wouldn’t treat your best friend the way you negatively treat yourself. Or, you wouldn't tell a baby to stop trying to walk just because he/she fell.. then why do you put yourself down when you come across an obstacle?? You're stronger than that. Learn from obstacles, and get back on the horse. 4. Patience is a virtue. It really is. It's always the people who are patient and keep their eyes on the prize that reach success. Patient, not perfect. You got this!
