in a man can help you to finally find your prince – and the same can be said for your diet. After all, the way to weight loss wellness is through a harmonious relationship with food, while that love-hate thing you have going on can be detrimental to your wellbeing.
Registered dietician Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, author of the New York Times best seller is S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches, urges, ‘I encourage you to create your list, one that includes what you really need from an eating plan, as well as attributes you’re certain just don’t work for you. I’ve seen this exercise help clients finally stop the vicious cycle of starting another diet that fizzles out after a few weeks or gaining back fifteen pounds after losing 10. In fact, this upfront tactic is actually one of the most effective ways to lose weight for good, because it will help you find an approach you can stick with, which in my experience is the most important ingredient for success.’
So how do you create this list? On one side of a sheet a paper, write down the characteristics that are vital for your eating strategy. According to Sass, ‘Some of my clients will list things like: must include foods I enjoy; must be easy to follow; and must allow for splurges and dining out.’ On the other side of the paper, jot down any of the things you’ve tried in the past and thought “never again.” What eating techniques have just made you feel overwhelmed, tired, hungry, irritable, or basically like throwing in the towel? ‘On this side of the page, I frequently see things like: too complicated; too boring; not flexible; too repetitive,’ says Sass.
While it’s unlikely to find the perfect diet plan to fit this list, you can use it as a tool to evaluate the weight loss programmes that you come across. ‘I once had a client who was considering starting a diet that only allowed one type of fruit,’ Sass remembers. ‘She was enticed, because a co-worker following the programme appeared to be shrinking by the day. But this client loved fruit, and in the past, she eventually gave up on any diet that deprived her of foods she knew she couldn’t live without. And by giving up, I mean she binged on forbidden foods, and wound up right back where she started.’
Sass continues, ‘We talked about the fact that she probably would lose weight on this plan, but in her gut, she knew that shunning winter grapes, spring cherries, summer melons, and fall pears (all no-nos) was going to make her resentful enough to eventually dump the diet, and fall right back into the old habits that led to her 40 pound weight gain. To break the cycle, she had to find a strategy that would not only help her shed pounds, but also allow her keep the weight off, because it felt good enough to stick with. In other words, much like dating, if you can’t see yourself in the relationship six months from now, it’s probably not going to work, and in both love and weight loss, stick-with-it-ness is ultimately what matters most.’
So if you’ve been unlucky in dieting, why not try the list approach? It’s far better to work out the pros and cons of a diet plan before you waste your time, money and energy on something that just won’t work. Get wise to your “must-haves” and “never-agains” and do dieting your way.