A new year and a new diet?
Healthy Diet: Fresh fruits, vegetables & low-fat dairy
There’s something about a new year that fosters renewed hope. Are you ready to make 2011 the year you finally get serious about your weight? Are you ready to give up fad diets and find a better way to lose those pounds?
One of the biggest pitfalls for people with a lot of weight to lose is that mindset of “Let’s go, go, go! and see who finishes first!” This pressure to “get on board and get it done” results in diets that are unhealthy in many ways. Those women who want to lose 25, 50 or 100+ pounds, need to realize that this is not a race. To lose that much weight, we must first change how we live and then watch the pounds come off as a result of those changes.
Key #1 to losing a lot of weight
~ Slow down and make your life changes thoughtfully by integrating them gradually ~
(If you don’t do this, I can guarantee you will fail to lose your weight – again)
Choosing a diet program can be difficult. Many popular diets – like Atkins – emphasize some food groups over others, for example “high protein, low carb.” The Mediterranean diet takes a more vegetarian, “high carb, low protein” approach. Others advocate cutting calories drastically – under 1,000 calories a day. This is hard on your kidneys and will slow your metabolism. You may see some (temporary) results but you won’t be able to stay on a diet like that long enough to lose all of the weight you want to lose. Any diet that doesn’t support your overall health is dangerous. The simpler the diet and the closest to eating food in its raw, natural state (like salads and fruit), the better.
The fact is, you know your body so much better than any diet program. It may take awhile to figure out the best way to implement a weight loss plan, but you can do it. A good place to start is working with this Lifestyle Changes list. These are areas that trip people up. You could begin to lose weight by working on the things on this list.
Lifestyle Changes
- Controlling portion sizes
- Journaling how you’re doing and what you’re eating
- Eliminating sweets
- Adding more vegetables to your food plan
- Controlling stress
- Eating breakfast every morning
- Setting reasonable goals*
- Giving up eating in fast-food restaurants
- Giving up or limiting foods you’re “addicted” to
- Packing a lunch and two snacks so you’re prepared to nourish your body during the work day
- Giving up sugary sodas
- Finding a healthy “diet” plan
- Using the scale appropriately
- Starting an exercise routine
- Eliminating dairy and/or wheat
- Drinking more water
- Learning how to order in a restaurant
Setting reasonable goals*: be sure they are attainable and give them a deadline.
I’m planning to write blog posts covering many of these things in the weeks to come. In the meantime, you might want to copy these ideas into your journal and add anything that’s not on the list that you want to work on.
Dear Reader: I’d love to hear about your lifestyle changes. What areas are you working on? What goals have you set for 2011? Let’s talk about how you’re doing. Please leave a comment at the end of this post.
Until next time,
Susan L Stewart
