Mindset for Health Wellness and Fitness
Being a quitter never feels good. But when we quit on our diet it’s more than just a decision not to do a task in life. It’s a sign that we’re not valuing ourselves as much as we should be.
Most people diet for one of two reasons. Either they don’t like the way they look being overweight, or they want to prevent or treat health problems that occur from obesity.
It’s okay to have vanity as the reason why you want to lose weight. Even wanting to look good is a sign of self care. When you quit on yourself, it can cause you to go into a frumpy state when you stop getting fixed up and taking pride in your appearance.
It’s as if you don’t feel worthy of getting fixed up because the pounds didn’t come off. This can cause a great deal of depression because your self esteem is taking a hit.
Allow Yourself Freedom to Enjoy Food
Quitting a diet is often caused by deprivation. You’re suddenly eating healthful foods that you didn’t eat before. A diet of fried chicken, marbled steaks and mashed potatoes is replaced with vegetables and lean meats grilled to perfection.
You don’t want to suffer from food boredom. You need to keep things interesting and never make a off limits or you’ll end up gorging on it. All foods should be acceptable, with mindful eating and proportions in place.
Try to learn various new cooking styles. For example, maybe you’ve never owned a pressure cooker. You can cook lean meats where the juice is packed in and the end result is tender and tasty using a pressure cooker.
You can also drop in a mess of peas with a bag of okra and pressure cook the ingredients for a healthy side item that’s not filled with fat or butter, clogging your arteries.
You can try out a variety of cooking styles using new kitchen appliances and cookware. Look up recipes online or get advice from a YouTube cooking channel as to how to properly use it for healthy cooking.
If you already have a favorite dish, find out new ways to make the meal healthier. For example, let’s say you absolutely loved lasagna. You might miss the decadent meal while dieting because your usual version is a rich combination of pasta and cheese with meat and sauce.
Look up a way to make it healthier online. For example, you can substitute vegetarian crumbles for the meat. Or make your own healthy sauce that has less sugar and salt in it. You can use a fat-free or low calorie cheese.
You might even find recipes that are similar, but that don’t even require you to make substitutions. For example, you can find a vegetable lasagna where you cut thin strips of squash and eggplant and other vegetables and layer that instead of pasta.
Try new ethnic foods, too. You might have an All-American diet with fried chicken and steak, but you can expand your repertoire to include foods like:
* Sushi
* Mediterranean Greek meals
* Vietnamese foods that focus on flavor
* Japanese meals like Miso soup
* Spicy Indian food that helps burn calories
You can also try cooking classes to help you prevent diet boredom, and ultimately, quitting. Cooking classes can be done in groups or one on one with a chef.
Make sure you sign up for a class that teaches healthy cooking. Much of this will be centered around herbs and flavoring, not the actual selection of the meal. You might have an entire new world of flavors opened up to you when you rely on a professional to show you the ropes.
Even for those foods that you know you already like and aren’t willing to give them up, make concessions for them to exist. Once you get past the guilt of allowing them to be on your menu, it will be easier for you to use them in moderation.
Sometimes, you might want to have an entire piece of cake. You’re hungry enough, you crave it enough – and it’s okay to allow that to happen. But the key is to be aware when you eat.
You want to eat slowly so that you’re not full before you can even have time to notice it. You want to put the fork down between bites to give your brain time to get the signal from your stomach that you’re no longer hungry.
Notice we didn’t say full. We said not hungry. That’s because this is when you want to stop eating. Just satiate your hunger and wait until the next meal to eat. This might mean that half of your cake is left on the plate.
That’s perfectly okay. Over time, you’ll learn what portions your new hunger needs. Until then, just wrap it up and put it in the refrigerator until the next time you want to eat the leftovers.
You can make a chart for yourself that showcases your hunger cues from starving all the way to stuffed, You want to be somewhere in the upper middle when you quit eat, which is around the point of “no longer hungry, but I could eat more.”
It takes awhile for you to get past your old habits. You won’t feel comfortable listening to your hunger cues, but this is what you did as a baby. Eventually, it will feel natural to you, just as eating two bites of cake will make you feel content.
When a typically “off limit” food is suddenly okay again, don’t worry if you initially binge on it. Keep making it available and when you consciously understand that it’s okay to eat and it’s not going anywhere, you will find yourself less attracted to it – because it’s not a situation of, “I’d better scarf that whole cake down because tomorrow I go on a diet!”
Lose “Fail” From Your Vocabulary
Guilt foods no longer exist. You still might have other issues that you’re struggling with when it comes to dieting, like the exercise part. It can seem too difficult to go to the gym when so many people there are already fit and perfect (to you).
But you don’t want to be a quitter. If you’re tired of dieting, then the very last thing you want to do is quit. That’s because you know that eventually, you’ll have to go through this entire rollercoaster all over again.
You’ll have to feel the guilt and humiliation of being fat. You’ll have to hit your rock bottom again – something that motivates you to make a decision to diet. You’ll have to go through the process of researching the best diet, buying everything you need for it, and announcing to everyone that this is when it’s going to happen for you.
All of it is setting you up for failure. It’s a routine. You already know how it’s going to end – and this is because you’re not approaching weight loss with common sense, long-term solutions.
You have to stop living like a dieter. Instead, become someone who is a healthy person. You eat well, you get up and move – and you treat your body right for the most part.
Don’t see this as a timed event. Saying things like, “I’m going to diet for 6 months” means this isn’t a lifestyle change for you – it’s a punishment. You need a lifetime modification.
When you get on a stringent diet, it prevents you from living a normal life. Suddenly, you’re chained down to calorie counters, kitchen scales and bathroom scales, too!
The tips you implement should not become a burden. They should allow you to approach weight loss effortlessly. Sometimes the burden they put on you isn’t time at all – it’s money.
Diets can cost you an arm and a leg. If you’re used to living on cheap past and suddenly you’re facing an $11 bag of apples, it can cause sticker shock at the checkout stand.
Find ways to cut costs and eat healthier without it putting a strain on your pocketbook because that can present as a reason why you should be allowed to quit.
When you diet, have you ever noticed that you just feel sluggish and tired? You may have been confused, because it seems like eating healthier should make you feel energetic.
But if you slashed calories too much, you’ll feel the fatigue – and your metabolism will also grind to a halt. That means everything you do eat will go straight to your fat stores because your body is worried about you.
Set Small Goals-One Step At A Time
Don’t just see the big picture. If you do, you’ll want to quit because it will seem unachievable. Instead, set small, doable goals.
Let’s go through some examples of these.
* Stop adding extra sugar to foods that already contain it.
* Eat one new vegetable per week.
* Drink 8 glasses of water each day.
* Lower your cholesterol by 10 points.
* Complete 10 minutes of exercise each day. (Build up to 60)
* Lose 1 pound per week.
* Lose one inch every 2 weeks.
* Learn one new healthy recipe every week,
Make sure you reward yourself when you meet these goals, but not with a cookie. Do it with a non food reward, like a mani/pedi or a new iTunes gift card so you’ll have new workout music.
Consult Your Healthcare Team
You don’t have to go it alone, even if it might seem that way when you’re staring down a plate of desserts and you’re trying really hard to ignore it. There are many professionals who can help you to the finish line.
Counselors are there for you. You might be eating for emotional reasons, or suffering from food guilt. A counselor who specializes in weight loss can stop you from becoming a quitter.
Nutritionists are very helpful. They work with you to balance your diet so that you’re not hungry, you’re getting the proper nutrition, and you gain the maximum health from your efforts.
Courses are great! They may or may not give you access to the trained professional, but they can be inspiring as you read along with someone else’s triumphant story.
Trainers at your local gym will motivate you to push through any plateaus. They know better than you what your body is capable of, so when you say, “I can’t!” they’ll say, “Yes you can!”
Doctors are a great source of support during your weight loss journey. They know the specific health issues you’re setting up for yourself, and they want you to win the battle of the bulge.
With a team of professionals by your side, there’s no way you shouldn’t be able to overcome your negative, quitter’s mindset.
You just have to trust the slower process and change your lifestyle habits to do your part.