For diet success, focus on the positive. 80% of successful dieting is in your head! How many times have you started a diet, telling yourself you’ll have willpower and stop eating sugar? How many times have you failed when the goodies come in to work and you succumb? If you are like me, when that happens, I immediately mentally beat myself up and figure that since I failed for the day, I may as well have a few more goodies. This repetitive cycle is not conducive to long term diet success.
I believe this behavior is rooted in universal human nature. When the focus of a diet is on what foods you must resist, you are setting yourself up for a cycle of defeat. The problem is that the tempting foods are not going to go away, they will always appear somewhere and total abstinence is not realistic for most people. So how do we set ourselves up for long term success?
- FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN EAT. With the Robin Becker Coaching Healthy Lifestyle Plan, you start making permanent changes in your lifestyle. You’ll make a few commitments and focus on your new habits. The most important is to eat every 2-4 hours and every time you eat, you consume a serving of fruit or vegetables with a protein source. For sugar addicts, this acts in the same manner as a nicotine patch for smokers. The protein evens out your blood sugar and keeps you from sugar cravings. The second most important thing is to think about your week and stock up on fruit, vegetable and protein sources so they are easily available to eat. Check http://www.robinbeckercoaching.com and sign up for our Free Healthy Snack Hacks for the Lazy. This gives you lots of easy options for snacking. The key is to prep ahead for instant snacking.
- MAKE NO FOODS OFF LIMITS. That being said, when donuts appear at work, you can’t be eating half a dozen and expect to lose weight. You want to think about your situation and set up an action plan that will help you moderate the temptation. Some people think ahead and can eat one bite. That does not work for me, but a delayed gratification plan does work. I tell myself I can have that goodie, but I will wait until the end of the day. That way I focus on my good food and grab one donut as I head out the door. You can still lose weight that way. Also, you can have any dinner entrée you would like, just have one serving and make half of your plate vegetables and you will still lose weight while not feeling deprived.
So focus on the positive. Focus and put effort into what you CAN eat. Make no food off limits. Make action plans to help you minimize poor food choices…..and you’ll be on your way to permanent, healthy lifestyle change.
We wish you a successful week!
