How to stick to a diet ...?

Question

I always yo-yo diet. I find that i can start a diet that is healthy with a balanced low calorie diet and exercise but after a few weeks or maybe even a month I find that I get overwhelmed and feel deprived and unsatisfied. Then I give it all up and start to binge. gained it all back and some. Then I feel bad and start all over again. I need some real advice how to stay motivated and stick to a diet that will show results but with out feeling so deprived and overwhelmed.

Answer 1

I have lost 170lbs. In 1994 I weighed 354lbs. I never went on a "diet." Here is what I did.....I started eating sensibly, following the dietary guidelines for a healthy 150lbs woman and I added lots of toning exercises to my daily routine.

In the beginning I went to the gym 2 times a week. Within 6 months I was there every weekday morning at 7 am for 30 minutes. At the 1 year mark I was weighing in at 235lbs and wearing size 14. I could take the Saturday morning aerobics class and kick the skinny chic butts with my endurance. Today I weigh in at 185lbs and wear a size 10-12. There is no more time in my life for a gym. I walk, play at the park and beach with the kids and do lots of stairs going to the second floor.

I am happy to say no diet here. I eat the occasional sweet more often than you would think. Go slow and be sensible. What you need is not a diet to go on. You need a diet to live with the rest of your life. Good luck.

Answer 2

Hi,

You are not alone on this one. I'm at my idea weight but I think is becase of genes cause it sure aint the way I eat. However, I always test high for colesterol. So, diet is important for me. Like you say it is hard to stick to a diet but, I have found a simpler way to stick to it. What I do is start in small increments. I don't change every single thing in my diet only a few items. For example, vegetables where almost non existance in my diet. Then my wife started introducing them in my food. So, I kind of force myself to eat even if it was a spoon full. Over time you get used to it and the day you don't have them you'll missed them. Then increment the amount fo vegetables. Maybe two spoon fulls. Ok, a bit more than that. Same with everything else. I started eating more baked meat as opposed to fried. Over time the fried one did not taste as good. It wasn't an over night thing. I also beleive in rewarding yourself. If you want a cake then have the cake. Its ok. The trick here is not to have the cake everyday. How about cake wednesday. Is half way through the week and it will help you get through it.

The idea here is not to commit yourself to unrealistic goals. Do small simple goals that you know you can achieve. For example the cake wednesday. For some people this works fine but for others is just too much. Having cake only once a week is not enough. So how about twice a week. twice a week is better than every day. Or every other day. The thing is that if you always have cake after dinner you are putting extra calories. However, stoping a 20 year old habbit won't happen over night. So, you might start of with cake every other day. Then cake only twice a week. Finally cake every wednesday or every other week or what ever. It is important thoug that you need to know that you will still have your cake. Never having cake is not an option. Is not realistic. Eating it every day is not realistic eaither. So, you make a comfortable compromise that you know you can keep.

Answer 3

The first thing you need to decide to do is to stop dieting. Diets are short term and eventually lead to regained weight. You need to make a life style change. Eating healthy, well balanced and proper portions are key to maintaining weight loss and need to be done throughout you life. To keep from feeling deprived you simply don't deprive yourself. If you feel like you need a piece of chocolate or some ice cream than by all means have some, but that is where portion control kicks in. Just limit yourself to a couple of bites and you'll feel better. If you feel like you may start to binge eat than you should stick a piece of gum in and go for a walk. Guaranteed that you won't want that piece of cake when you get back. For sugar cravings fruit is the perfect solution. Fruit is naturally sweet with natural sugars and won't harm your healthy life style. Have a piece of fruit with breakfast and an afternoon snack. On other suggestion: eat breakfast like a king, dinner like a queen and supper like a piper (ie: a big breakfast, medium dinner and small supper). Also, you should have at least 2 small snacks throughout the day so you are eating every 3-4 hours. This will help keep your metabolism up and your energy to help burn fat and calories. Sipping on water throughout the day also helps metabolize fat and keeps you hydrated which is very important. Finally, don't stress out about it. Stress can cause weight gain, so don't worry about it. If you overeat one day - that's okay - just get back on track the next day. Try keeping a food journal by writing down what you eat, how many calories and how often. Seeing it in writing will help in a huge way - and if it helps you can show it to somebody so that they can help hold you accountable for your new life style eating plan until you feel comfortable enough to handle it on your own. You should also be doing some form of exercise - 20-30 minutes of walking a day at least with some moderate weight training.

Answer 4

Maybe you can tackle this dilemma from a psychological point of view. The fact of the matter is that the weight did not come on overnight and it's not going to go away overnight. You will need to keep a food diary complete with notations on how you felt, time of day you ate and why. For two weeks write down absolutely everything - you may see a pattern emerge that you could work on. Then set some reasonable goals for yourself.
"Today I will walk for 30 minutes"
"This week I will eat breakfast every day"
"This month I will lose 3 pounds"
All of this takes time, so you may as well give up "dieting" forever in favor of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle whose side effect happens to be weight loss. Good luck!

Answer 5

Both women and men alike are becoming hooked on yo-yo diets. Repetitive weight loss and gain is hard on the body, especially the heart and of course, it is hard on the emotional state of the dieter as well.

Sometimes, good old diet and exercise is just not enough. Maybe it's the genes. Maybe it is behavioral choices that we make everyday without realizing how they are undermining our health. So how do we change these behaviors? One method is through weight loss motivation hypnosis. You may have visions of a creepy soul dangling a pocket watch in front of your face and your eyes beginning to spin. However, this is not what hypnosis is. Read the article below for more information..

Answer 6

Make a permanent life change. Eat healthily all the time, after all its your body. Diets don't work because they're a quick fix and a bad health choice. You can eat as much fruit and vegetables as you like because they are low in energy and they don't make you gain weight. The fats and oils you eat are limited in how much they contribute to your body fat by whether there is carbohydrate available, but you wouldn't eat too much of these, after all a few nuts and seeds will provide the essential fatty acids for your body. Remember to take some vitamins but more importantly take some minerals. There are some good colloidal minerals around. You might be surprised at the lift it can give you particularly if you're nutritionally depleted.
Limit how many times you have starch. Cereal for breakfast, biscuits for morning tea, bread for lunch, cake at afternoon tea topped off by pasta, rice or potatoes at night will not give your body a chance to access the fat reserves you are trying to lose. It is important to lose weight (or put it on) gradually. Sudden fluctuations mean that you are pushing your body to the limit, which can't be good for you, can it?.

Answer 7

Try deiting with someone you live with. Motivate each other to stick to it - a friend, a parent, a SO.

You could also try an award. I often suggest weekly awards to new deiters (they are small, rent movie, a small desert). If you can go monthly, go for a bigger reward - a shopping spree (with a spending limit), a favorite restaurant, a day-trip to get-away. Whatever your reward, make sure its something you ONLY get if you have stuck with your deit and exercising

Answer 8

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