How you begin your weight loss plan may have a large bearing on your future success. Approach your weight loss plan as a lifestyle change rather than a short-term period of deprivation. Drastic diets are doomed to failure. Even if you succeed in reaching your goal, you will struggle to keep it off. Most people who practice short-term dieting fall into a pattern of yo-yo dieting, sometimes regaining more weight than they lost.
When you change your lifestyle by acquiring healthy habits and limiting unhealthy foods, you are more likely to succeed in the long term.
Keep It simple.
A complicated diet plan is hard to follow. You will often find yourself in changing circumstances where your original plan will not help you. For example, you plan out your daily menus in advance and purchase all the food on your plan. But an unexpected work emergency means you are eating take-out on the job. What can you order? Do you even have time to figure it out? A simple diet plan based on healthy eating habits allows you to change plans midstream, always choosing the most healthy foods available.
Start Slowly
When you change your diet drastically, you can find yourself in unfamiliar territory, not knowing which foods to choose. Start slowly, analyze your eating habits, and start with the changes that have the most benefits first. If you drink a lot of soda or other sugary drinks, this may be a good place to start. Once you have learned to enjoy water or unsweetened teas, move on to the next healthy change. By changing one bad habit at a time, you build success without making drastic changes that may be hard to follow.
Don’t Expect to Be perfect.
Very few people are able to diet without occasional relapses. The important thing is to get right back on your healthy eating plan and don’t let a single misstep become a binge of overeating.
Plan Ahead
Try to build a healthy eating plan that allows for all of the normal circumstances in your life. If you eat out a lot, spend time researching the nutrition information at your favorite places. If you normally cook at home but get derailed when you are pressed for time, plan and prepare an emergency meal that can be ready in minutes. Or prepare a freezer meal for a quick, healthy meal when you are too tired to cook.
When you begin your diet with healthy expectations, you are more likely to succeed. Focus on making healthy lifestyle changes, including a variety of healthy foods and an exercise plan. Small changes accumulate over time to make large improvements.