Of Diets and Exercise
Diets are a lot like relationships. Most of them start with high hopes and good intentions. But the diet fizzles out, we slip, we give up and we become disappointed. Those high hopes now gather dust at the back of our closets, along with the expensive training shoes and the free bag that we got from the one year gym membership that we used for only a month. We then lament what went wrong, drowning our sorrows in a pint of ice cream.
Here are some tips on how to stick to our diet and make it work.
- Set up an attainable goal
Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by setting impossible goal and standards. There is nothing wrong with having big dreams but you have to base it on reality. In order to do this, you have to know your body type and ideal body weight. Set goals for each week and month. Keep them concrete by listing the number of pounds lost, the length of your workout, your diet and other details. This way you can keep track of your progress and be inspired. Pace yourself correctly. Slowly increase the difficulty of your workout and ease slowly into a strict diet. Do not give your body and yourself a shock. You also have to stop seeing diets as a race. It is not how fast you lose weight but how long you keep the pounds off. - Diet for the correct reasons
Your primary reason for going on a diet is yourself and not for somebody else. You do not get other’s approval in order to get moving. Make yourself the driving force behind your dieting because whatever the outcome of it, you only have yourself to congratulate or feel bad. If being mad helps you to start on a diet, then good but being happy will help you stick to it. Make a list of all the positive things that it is doing for you such as you like what you see in the mirror or you feel more energetic. Do not attach you goals to people or situations outside of yourself. Instead of “I want to be the sexiest girl in my high school reunion”, make it “I want to wear the clothes that I really like”. Stop caring what other people think. It is easier said than done but it starts with complementing yourself rather than waiting for other’s reaction. Focus on the fun of the moment. Look at what you like about yourself right now like how sexy you feel when you shake your booty in your belly dancing class or the pride that you feel when you refuse a slice of your favorite cake. - Consider your personality
There are hundreds of diets and exercise programs but not all of them are suited for you. For example, some women will be bored to death by yoga lessons but get a high with taebo. If you are an outdoorsy type, you can take up biking, hiking, badminton or tennis. For music lovers, there’s aerobics or belly dancing. There is no sense in making things harder for you by doing a program that you do not like. Same thing goes with diets. Some sacrifices should be made but make sure that they are realistic and attainable. It will be less traumatic on you and it will also give you a higher chance of success. You can list the activities that you like and the things that are not negotiable like you have to eat meat but you have to limit the serving and size. Examine your schedule for time slots that are most convenient for you to do your exercises. As for your diet, look at your cooking capabilities. Do you know how to cook or at the mercy of whatever’s being served? if you do not cook, how do you plan to stick to your diet? Look at your personality; do you respond better to flexible or strict rules? To figure which category you fall under, look at the situations where you feel most productive and fulfilled. - Lousy timing
There really is not perfect time to go on a diet but some situations will make it harder. Do not start your diet during holidays when there are a lot of temptations and your self control is weak. There are also transition times like having a baby or changing jobs. Modify your diet to fit these situations. Choose a simple, no-frills diet and ease into it slowly. Get a diet buddy so that you will have someone to encourage, sympathize and make the stress more easy. Support each other. - Your diet was a scam
Sorry to tell you than not all diets live up to their hype. The key is not believing every diet you hear. Do not rush into a diet just because your fave celeb is into it. Check if the diet meets with the recommended daily allowance for you. Be wary of any diets that require you to buy a product because it is more often than not, a scam.
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