November 5th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, alternative ideas, food, goals, healthy eating, wellness
For many dieters, the biggest problem they face isn’t necessarily their own lifestyle change, but rather the fact that the people around them refuse to go along with the idea. It can be nearly impossible to focus on eating the right way when you eat out or are sitting across from other people that are relishing the food you can’t have. This is a frustrating issue that kills many diets, but it doesn’t have to. Here are some great tips to stay the course even when your own family won’t help you.
First, you may want to consider eating in another room.
It sounds horribly anti social, but if sitting in the living room will keep you from going off your diet, it is worth it. This works in two ways. First, you are giving yourself the help you need to keep eating the food you need to be eating. Second, by depriving your family of your companionship at meals, they’ll start to question their decision to eat the foods you can’t.
This kind of psychological ploy can actually work quite well, but it may take a week or two to have the full effect. When your family sees that you are committed enough to your diet to avoid them, they may start to question their own food choices. As a result, they may even decide to join you in the diet.
Next, you can try running through a list of the nasty diseases and problems that can occur by eating that food and keeping them at the forefront of your mind.
It’s a lot harder to drool over a cheeseburger when you’re thinking about what that cheese can do to your arteries. This technique will be most effective if you are truly committed to losing weight for the sake of your health, not just your appearance.
It may be impossible to get your family to switch their eating habits at first, but with time, if you can stick with it, you’ll be benefiting everyone. They’ll notice your increased energy and how good you look, and they may start to think twice about what they are putting into their own bodies. Again, it takes time, but you should start to see them get a little more interested in healthy food, a little bit at a time.
One word of caution. No one likes a food nazi!
If you are eating right, and your family isn’t there is no need to lord it over them. Simply state your case, stick to your diet and let your actions, your state of mind and your improved health do the talking. Everyone needs to find their own lifestyle changes on their own, and beating them up for food choices may backfire.
It’s not easy when you are trying to go it alone, but there are steps you can take to make sure that you do stick to your diet. Try to find at least one friend that supports you to make your journey easier.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
Related Stores
July 31st, 2008 — exercise, healthy eating, motivation, trigger food, wellness
When you first start a diet, it's easy to get all excited about the amount of weight you're losing and how great you look. Unfortunately, most of us reach our goals and then go off of our diets. Within a few months, we may be back where we started, or in many cases, worse off. If you want to lose weight over the long term, you're going to have to make some total lifestyle changes that will ensure that you not only lose weight, but manage to keep it off for years to come. Here are some helpful tips to help you lose that weight and keep it off.
1. Identify your danger foods.
These are the foods that will consistently cause you to go off your diet. The foods that you simply cannot eat one of. In essence, these foods hold a sort of control over you and their siren call is simply too much to resist once you take that first bite. You're going to need to figure out what your danger foods are and then you're going to have to completely remove them from your life. This isn't easy and there may be times when you slip. However, if you can successfully stop eating these target foods, you're going to see a huge difference in your weight loss. You may never be able to eat them again, but then again, what is really more important? A few minutes of food bliss or a lifetime of looking great?
2. Start making healthy substitutions.
You don't have to eat like a rabbit for the rest of your life to lose weight, but you do need to start making healthy substitutions to keep your weight off over the long term. This may take some time since your palate is probably used to the food's you like. However, food substitution doesn't have to be painful. For example, if you can't live without pizza, try it without cheese or use a cheese substitute. It will take a little getting used to, but over time, you'll develop a taste for that food and you'll find that those old favorites are pretty disgusting if you try to go back to them.
3. Make an exercise plan that you can stick with.
The key to healthy weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is getting plenty of exercise. Don't pick something that you can't stand, it will be all too easy to give up. Even if it is something as simple as walking a few miles every day, you need to get out there and get active. The longer you do, the easier it will be to keep going. You won't need to exercise at the same level for the rest of your life, but you will need to get active if you want to stay slim and healthy.
Lifestyle changes do take time and it won't happen overnight. However, these tips will help get you on the road to health and you'll be able to enjoy the process once you get there.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
Related Stores