Need to diet but can't get into the right head frame - Help please !?

Question

I need to get back onto a diet (know what I need to do already) - have been on them before and done really well but I can never stick to them. Go back onto "normal" eating or eating badly (especially when I feel down in the dumps).

At the moment, I can't get into the right head frame to do so but really need to now. Does anyone have any tried and tested ways of getting the motivation to diet and to stick to it? Thanks, Snowflake

Answer 1

I know exactly how you feel, I was on a diet until I decided to come off it for christmas and new year, and never went back on it! I started back on it 3 weeks ago (after a few false starts) and the change in my emotional well being is unbelieveable. Different things work for different people, I think when you've reached the stage of being so fed up and disgusted with the way your treating yourself something just kicks in. just now you're really down on yourself because you feel you have no willpower, you just need to get through the first 2 days of your diet and the rest will fall into place, then you start felling emotionally better about yourself and the diet isn't even a problem to stick to anymore. Well, thats how it is with me anyway, food is closely tied to how I feel emotionally. Now I feel better about myself and confident, I feel that if I came off it I would go back to feeling so bad, and to me that's way worse than being on any diet. Really hopes this helps in some way, you know you can do it, it's just the first steps that are the hardest. Good luck!

Answer 2

A simple trick that could help:

When you see a very fat person or a sick person due to poor nutrition, (TV is great for that) thing if you want to look and be like that. Imagine yourself in that situation, and then think it is in your decision where the solution is. Things like keeping your good nutrition habits are the ones that make the difference.
Do the same when carving times appear.

Congratulate yourself, give yourself pats in the back when you avoided the snacks, the comfort eating, or when you have eaten properly. See yourself closer to your goals and well being.

Do not make a diet plan. Rather make a change in habits. Learn and keep good nutritional habits and make them part of your life a second nature to guide your conduct. Things will get easier as time goes by and you get used to your new habits. ( a new "normal" eating). This is easier to live with that with a restrictive diet that you want to skip and cheat every chance we have to do it!

When down the bumps, try to spend some time away from your house; (fridge, pantry, etc.) You will most likely be active outside (walking, etc.) and keeping away from food and conditional behaviour. (Changing your environment will help change your behaviour).

Hope some of this ideas are helpful.
Take care.

Answer 3

There are too many distractions in your life. You need a good reason to diet. You also need to make a habit of being hungry. You are the master of your body. It will tell you that you are dying when you know well and good that it has the necessary nutrients to take care of business plus all of the fat energy that it needs. In a word, let your body die in a sense of the word. Think of yourself as a strong parent over your body. You will not budge on what you know is good and proper for that fat, spoiled bag of protoplasm and excess lipids.

Answer 4

diet is not a sprint, you cant go ON and OFF diet, its a way of LIFE.
people who go ON a diet end up being yo-yo dieters, develop heart deseases and other problems like celulite.
find calorie/fitness calculator on the net, enter all your stats and it will tell you how many calories you need a day to maintain, take off 300-400cal off that number and thats how much you need to lose.
dont try to lose more than 1-2lbs a week - its not healthy to lose more.
eat 5-6 small meals a day (eat every 2-3 hours)
5-8 servings of fruit and veggies a day
8 glasses of water
have complex carbs for breakfast - they give you energy
have lean meat (protein) for dinner - repairs muscle
cardio exercise 4-6 times a week for 30-50min, light weight training
dont consume foods that are made of white flour (white bread, cakes, past etc.), sugar loaded foods (cookies, icecream, candy etc) and nothing fried - no junk food.

Answer 5

There is one easy solution for you to do : Get a medium size mirror, place it inside your bathroom, so everytime you take a bath, whether you like it or not, you can really see the real you...Then you will be motivated to do what you are suppose to do.

Answer 6

I felt this way until I read Derren Brown's book.

It includes his feeling about motivation. To his mind, motivation doesn't exist, its just a phrase to explain laziness. He argues you either do something or you don't. Looking for motivation is pointless.

Sure as hell motivated me to get on with it!