By John Hoeber, MS, RD, CSSD, CPT
Sticking to a diet sounds simple, but there are powerful biological and cultural forces that make it a challenge: everything from your own cravings to pressure from family and friends to eat what everyone else is eating. In fact, there are lots of reasons people don’t stick to their diets, but there’s also a trove of proven advice about how to stay on a weight-loss plan. Try these 9 tips to help you stick with your diet:
Set a realistic weight loss goal. Start with 5 to 10% of your current weight. Once you’ve achieved that, set a new goal. Also set weekly weight loss targets of 1 or 2 pounds.
Set a weekly goal to change one habit. Be specific. For example, instead of saying “I'm going to give up ice cream,” you might say, “On 6 out of 7 days this week I will eat a piece of fruit for dessert instead of eating ice cream.”
Plan your meals whether eaten in or out, allowing for real life — without overindulgence. For example, if you know you’re going to a party, take control by planning to have one treat, like a piece of birthday cake. Most of us can’t cut out treats 100%, so we might as well put them in our diets on our own terms.
Set up your environment. Use smaller plates, glasses and utensils. Keep healthy foods front and center. This helps minimize mindless overeating without taxing your willpower.
Be accountable to someone on a weekly basis, preferably a professional coach (rather than family or a co-worker). Then, find a diet buddy and an exercise buddy and be accountable to them, too. Keeping a food log is a great way to stay on task. Track what you eat and how much you exercise with our free My Diet Diary app (for iOS and Android).
Review your reasons for change, every day. Writing them down to read aloud is a great way to motivate on a daily basis. Or, create at least one positive statement that encourages you when you need it, then repeat it often.
Reward yourself for sticking to your habit change plan (instead of rewarding yourself for weight loss). Food rewards are OK as long as they are part of your plan. Non-food rewards, such as new earrings and the like, are akin to trophies. Surrounding yourself with trophies of your accomplishments creates a winning mentality.
Learn the differences between physical hunger, cravings and emotional needs. Take care of emotional needs appropriately: proactively work on issues that cause you stress (e.g., job or family worries) and find healthy outlets for your feelings, such as exercise, meditation or prayer, creative pursuits, or talks with friends.
Be consistent. The most important factor to the success of a diet is, you guessed it, following it. Diet programs that include long-term follow-up at regularly scheduled meetings are the most effective — participants keep the weight off. The longer the follow-up, the better.
Published on January 20, 2015.
John Hoeber helps people improve their health through diet using practical and lasting solutions. He is a registered dietitian, certified specialist sports dietitian, personal trainer and wellness coach. Contact him at [email protected].
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