How to Diet for a Lifetime

The term "diet" often results in more negative reactions than positive. People often associate it with bland foods, staying hungry, and dreaded hours of exercise. By redefining the process of dieting you can establish practical boundaries and healthy goals that are obtainable for a lifetime, instead of starving yourself into a certain size only to have the weight quickly return.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Understanding of nutrition and healthy eating
• Realistic expectation
• Support from family and friends
• Scheduled time for physical fitness
• Good multi-vitamin

Redefine, Routineand Results

1. Redefining how you view food, your body and your lifestyle is essential to any meaningful change. Food is not the devil, contrary to many "miracle" diets on the market. Food is meant to nourish your body and keep you healthy. It is essential to maintaining a quality life. The problem comes in the choices we make. With an ever-increasing population of Americans reaching obesity, it is reasonable to assume that we are neglecting the responsibility we have to our own health. Most often, we make bad choices because of sustained bad habits. Once you can begin to view foods in a friendly way, you can begin to make smart choices and eliminate bad eating habits.

2. Remember that food pyramid you had to learn in school? Believe it or not, it really was more than just pretty parts of a triangle that we could color in. Our bodies use food in a multitude of ways. It is used for energy, to help us fight off disease and illness, and to keep healthy overall. By neglecting certain food groups and over-eating in others, we throw off the balance our bodies require for optimal performance. Begin your new lifestyle by printing out a copy of the food pyramid, understanding it, and making food choices that you know you can live with for each food group.

3. You will have to replace to replenish. In other words, go to your pantry and refrigerator and take a long, honest look at what you find. In the absence of consciously choosing good foods, we often fill our daily diets with junk until it becomes a habit that we reinforce during every grocery run. If you can't make yourself throw out those sugar donuts then you haven't yet redefined food. Yes, sugar donuts are delicious. No, having one occasionally will not ruin your life. But until you can break some of your bad food habits you're much more likely to let a bad day or a habit craving sabotage your efforts. You did not develop bad food habits overnight and you won't be able to correct them all at once. Be kind to yourself and don't keep unnecessary temptations around in abundance.

4. Once you've cleaned the bad habits out of your pantry and fridge, make a grocery store run that is realistic. If you come home with nothing but rice cakes, tofu, and lettuce, this is likely to sabotage your new lifestyle as quickly as coming home with more sugar donuts. There is a plethora of delicious and healthy food choices. Use healthy cookbooks, online low-fat and low-calorie recipes to redefine your daily diet. Play around with some of your old favorites by making health substitutions, such as replacing mayonnaise with low-fat yogurt. You'll be surprised at how many calories and fat grams you can eliminate from your diet just by substituting. Begin taking a multi-vitamin every day. If you prefer, you can get a recommendation on beginning vitamins from your physician.

5. Quick results are rarely lasting results. Losing weight shouldn't be a race. Your goal is to create a long-lasting healthy lifestyle, not to get the results of a crash diet. Concentrate more on nutrition and your health than on weight loss, which will come naturally and in a healthy way. Don't handcuff yourself to your scales.

6. Look for health benefits in your food choices as well as weight loss benefits. For example, the Nutrition website states that eating as little as 1/2 cup of cooked dry pinto beans per day can lower cholesterol. Beans are fabulous low-fat food that can be used as a protein substitute. Be cautious about food labels. Foods that are labeled "low-fat" can still be extremely high in sugar.

7. Find a physical activity that you enjoy. Many people just enjoy walking on a regular basis. It gives them the physical exercise they need, plus the opportunity to clear their mind and reduce stress. Perhaps you always wanted to try out a sport, like golf or tennis. Experiment with different activities until you find one or more that you are willing to dedicate a few hours every week to. If you're looking for a social outlet, then look to your local gyms or YMCA for group exercise or swimming programs.

Tips & Warnings

• Try something new. Even if you once disliked a particular food, try it again. Our tastes change and you might find you now enjoy it.
• Make good choices when eating out. Most restaurants offer healthy menus.
• Discuss your new goals with family and friends. Chances are you'll find someone who wants to get on the same program with you.
• Talk to your doctor about nutrition and weight loss. They can often give you reading materials, dietary guides and more to arm you with good information.
• Drink water, water, water. Your body loves water and uses it in healthy ways and to help you loss weight.
• Don't set unrealistic goals. Progress has its up and down weeks.
• Do not attempt new physical activities if you have any injuries, arthritis, or illnesses that could be affected by them without consulting your physician.
• Avoid any diet pills, drinks, or formulas that offer unrealistic results. Talk with your doctor before beginning any diet plan.

Resources

• Nutrition.gov
• My Pyramid for Personal Eating Plan

[grouch]

on 12/7/2007 Wonderful information. You hit the finer points. I would like to add with every diet we cheat no matter how hard we try. Just be ready for it and bring home something that you really enjoy that is not completely over the top. Keep it in the back of the freezer as a reward some day.