Weight Loss Journal

Whenever you start a new diet, cravings are pretty much inevitable. It can get to the point where you feel as though you'll literally stop existing unless you cave in. Countless diets are broken due to cravings, but there are a few techniques that you can use to retrain your cravings and keep your diet on track.

First, before you even start your diet, you'll need to figure out what your trigger foods are, the ones that you simply cannot do without, the ones that always derail your diet. By looking at this process logically, you can skip a lot of the problems that can happen when you first start your diet.

Whatever diet you pick, you'll most likely find that you'll have to give up these trigger foods. You're brain is convinced their necessary and it will start sending out the signals that start the craving process when it doesn't get them.

In order to retrain your cravings, you're going to need to start gradually. As an example, let's use sugar soda to illustrate this process. If you currently drink 3-4 sodas a day, you're dealing with two major triggers, caffeine and sugar. Cutting out soda is a great way to lose weight, but it can also be very difficult.

Personally, I like diet soda which has caffeine but not sugar and there are some varieties without caffeine. First try switching to diet soda from sugar soda. The taste will grow on you. Then you can move on to caffeine free diet soda. However, if you simply cannot diet soda. Then here is another technique you can try...

Let's concentrate first on dealing with the craving for caffeine. Soda does pack quite a punch in this department, but not as much as tea or coffee. Instead of reaching immediately for a sugar soda, try a cup of tea (no cream or sugar) or a plain cup of coffee. You're getting the same amount of caffeine you're used to, without any of the calories in soda.

Now, let's move on to handling the sugar problem. Since there are literally at least ten teaspoons of sugar in the average can of soda, your body is used to quite a bit of sugar at this point. Sugar cravings are some of the hardest to face, and your best bet is to avoid going completely cold turkey.

You can start by cutting back on one soda a day (replacing it with a cup of coffee or tea) and then gradually keep cutting back until you're completely off it. This gradual method helps your brain and your body retrain from relying on this burst of sugar. You'll get more time to adjust and it will be much easier to completely get it out of your life with this technique. You can also try substituting with something that has a little sugar but fewer calories.

The key to retraining your cravings is to take it slow and avoid going cold turkey. Sugar and caffeine are quite a bit like serious drugs or even cigarettes. They can be addicting and without help, it can be very hard to simply stop. Weaning is by far the easiest method to try and it will help reduce your risk of failure.

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Originally posted 2008-08-19 05:51:15. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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The road to wellness is paved with potholes for many people and dieting mistakes are rampant. However, if you pay attention to the warning signs as you travel down that road you will know when to swerve and when to look out for danger spots. Here are the most common dieting mistakes that are waiting to derail your progress.

1. Allowing yourself to cheat.

We all get tripped up by this one. After all, what is a piece of cake in the grander scheme of life, right? Well, if that one piece of cake is the trigger that will throw you off of your diet, it should be avoided. We all have trigger foods that start the avalanche of other foods we shouldn’t eat. If you are aware of the foods that you simply cannot resist, get rid of them now and do your best to stay away from them. It won’t be easy, but in time, you’ll be able to overpower them.

This also works for exercise. How many times have you put off going to the gym one day, and then had that one day turn into a week, a month or a year? If you honestly can’t make it to the gym, that’s one thing. If you are justifying not going, that is something completely different. It’s going to take discipline to reach your goals and now is the best time to start working on that.

2. Justifying anything and everything.

It is only human nature to make excuses and justify eating the things that we enjoy. However, if the foods you enjoy are killing you (albeit slowly) it is not an option to justify them. Learn all that you can about nutrition and the foods you are eating. Once you know that your plate of fettuccini may send you to an early grave, you may rethink eating it.

3. Starving yourself.

This is by far the most common mistake and it’s responsible for thousands of diets failing every year. Starvation diets are not smart, and in fact, they may be dangerous. You may see some short term results, but in the long run, you are only damaging your metabolism and creating an unhealthy relationship with food. The best diets are the ones that limit calories the smart way, leaving you satisfied and giving your body enough fuel to function properly.

4. Putting off until tomorrow what you could get done today.

This old cliché certainly applies to dieting. How many times have you said, “My diet starts tomorrow?” Instead of putting it off, start right now – this second even. A diet is more than limiting the foods you eat. A good diet involves changing your mindset, your lifestyle and the way you view food.

Now that you are prepared to face these potholes, you’ll know how to combat them when they loom before you. A diet is a journey that may have a few setbacks, but if you keep on moving forward, you will be successful.

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