May 12, 2015

15 Diet Traps And How To Beat Them

We've been there: turning over a new leaf, you're determined, you're ready, one day strong, two days alright, three days you're starting to think it's not doing anything and before you know it, everything you've sworn off has managed to creep it's way back in. So, how do we stop this? We have a list of 15 diet traps and how to beat them - because you can.

"I'm Too Busy" Trap

The feeling: Your life is so stressful you either don’t have time to work on healthy eating, or think healthy eating will cramp your style and make you more stressed. The solution: Focus on a healthy meal plan. If ir's something you're in control of, it'll actually reduce your stress. Prioritize activities like meal planning and grocery shopping. There will always be busy times in your life - learn how to manage around them.

"I had a bad day so I deserve this" Trap

The feeling: You believe you deserve to comfort yourself with food. The solution: Food can be an immediate comfort, but when you’re finished eating, you still have the problem that upset you in the first place. Not to mention you're now beating yourself up for getting off track. Take your mood out on a serious workout instead.

"I'm bored" Trap

The feeling: You turn to food when you’re bored, tired, or procrastinating. The solution: When you want to reach for some munchies, ask yourself where the urge to eat is coming from. If there’s actually an empty, rumbling sensation in your stomach, you’re probably actually hungry. If it’s not actually hunger, ask yourself what it is you really need - because it's not food. Recognition is the hard part—the solution is simple: If you’re bored, find a way to entertain yourself.

"I'm not fun anymore" Trap

The feeling: You feel responsible for making others feel bad about what they’re eating or drinking. The solution: It’s not your responsibility to make others feel better about what they consume. Losing weight and being happier and healthier are completely legitimate reasons to eat in a healthy way, no matter how other people might feel about it.

"They'll be upset if I don't eat it" Trap

The feeling: You don’t put up much of a fight because, truthfully, you want to eat.

The solution: So your family made your favourite dessert not knowing your new goals. They'll live if you don't eat it. In order to be firm with pushy people, you have to first to be firm with yourself. Learning the art of being nicely assertive doesn't hurt either.

"Whatever, I'm home" Trap

The feeling: You revert to old (and unhealthy) behaviors when interacting with your family. The solution: A lot of dieters come from a background of unhealthy habits—whether it’s permission to eat junk guilt-free or criticism for even thinking of indulging. As adults, being around family can trigger old habits. Make sure to tell your family to respect your new decisions and to not guilt or make commentary on your choices.

"But My Kids Like It" Trap

The feeling: You don’t keep tempting foods at home because you don’t want your family to “suffer.” The solution: Some people use their family as an excuse to buy whatever they themselves actually want whereas some truly do believe their family will suffer if they ban the tempting potato chips and ice cream. If you fall into the first - fess up. For the second, try single servings for your family OR better yet, get them on the healthy train with you. You're setting everyone up for success, that way.

"I'm out, so I'll have a treat" Trap

The feeling: You think every meal out should be special (even though you eat out all the time). The solution: If you’re eating out once or twice a week, it’s totally reasonable to plan in advance to splurge a little on the treat front. However, if you're a dine-out king or queen, this is a recipe for disaster. Instead of always getting extra, focus on the other perks of eating out: The food is prepared and served by someone else; you have no kitchen clean up; and you get to really focus on the people you’re dining with. That's a treat in itself.

"I don't have options" Trap

The feeling: You don’t have control over your food while traveling. The solution: Yes, it's definitely trickier, but relinquishing all control just because you don’t have your normal kitchen essentials is not the answer. It’s all about the prep work: bring your snacks, request a mini fridge at your hotel, do your research on healthy dining options around you.

"But the office is filled with treats" Trap

The feeling: You can’t avoid free treats in the office kitchen. The solution: Sugary carbs seem to be most offices' choice in terms of nourishment. “No treats ever” is probably not realistic—especially around the holidays- but give yourself one free pass a week of a guilt free treat.

"This is unfair" Trap

The feeling: You feel resentful for having to restrict what you eat. The solution: "Life’s not worth living if you can’t enjoy good food.” You have a choice, though: You can eat everything you want, whenever you want—or you can keep the weight off and feel healthy. You can’t have it both ways. Deprivation is really a state of mind, when it all comes down to it. Restricting yourself under the mindset of missing out will just make you feel worse. Just think of how awesome that dessert is when you allow yourself to have it once in a while?

"It's not worth it" Trap

The feeling: You get tired of focusing on and putting effort into weight loss. The solution: If you’ve been trying to stay on track and continually falling off the wagon for a while, the effort that goes into losing weight will eventually get to you. Real talk: Losing weight can be hard, but not constantly dreaming after a body and health bill you don’t currently have is even more exhausting. It’s important to push past moments of self doubt and remind yourself why you set this goal for yourself in the first place.

"I messed up today - it's a free for all now" Trap

The feeling: You tell yourself you will get back on track tomorrow. The solution: This is not a opportunity to keep eating crappy things for the day because of a morning or lunch-time mishap! If you drove the wrong direction for 20 minutes would you give up on your road trip and drive the 5 hours home? No, you’d immediately turn around and head back to the path you set out on. Don't use one mistake as an excuse to keep making more. Mistakes are unavoidable. Get back on track the same day - not tomorrow.

"I'll start tomorrow" Trap

The feeling: You have a tough time restarting your diet after you’ve gotten off track. The solution: The hardest part of any change is starting—or restarting. Once you have positive momentum working in your favour, dieting gets so much easier. Just get started, that's all there is to it. Once you’re in control, you’ll never question whether or not it’s worth it because you feel good.

"I can't have anything anymore" Trap

The feeling: You have to give up all your favorite foods to adhere to a diet. The solution: More often than not, we consider foods they really love to be “bad” foods and try to stay away from them entirely. As we all know, though, this doesn’t work long term because sometimes nothing can satisfy a craving like the actual food you're craving. Eat at least one favorite food a week from your “bad” list. Knowing you have a free pass coming up will make it easier to pass on treats during the week. Not to mention, not completely cutting yourself off will help you avoid falling off the wagon entirely.