When someone says the word ‘diet’ to you, what do you imagine? For most people, the word ‘diet’ has extraordinarily negative connotations, probably because we think of losing weight as being an arduous and horrible thing. Perhaps when you think of a diet you think of eating only greens and salads. Or do you think of cutting your portion sizes in half and eating food that you hate? It could even be worse where you exchange some of your meals for shakes and don’t even get proper food for one of the main meals of the day. If you do think like this maybe it is no surprise that there is such a hatred for the idea of diets.
The simple fact is that if you are trying to lose weight or tone up by using some sort of diet and you are thinking of the sort of thing that has described above, then you’re in for a long and highly disappointing process. The problem is that attempting these sorts of diets can only go one way. Even if it results in some weight loss at first, the fact is that regimes like this with draconian rules on what you can eat and how little of it you must just aren’t sustainable. You’ll slip back into old habits because there is no sensible way of staying with that sort of diet.
But does that mean that there is no hope for dieting? Does it mean that we are all doomed to gain weight constantly and never achieve the look that we want for ourselves? Well, no, it does not mean that. But what it does mean is that you can’t rely on fads and tricks for losing weight. It means that if you want to shed those pounds you need to start using your mind and not a dieting miracle cure. Common sense and long term changes in your lifestyle are the only way forward if you want to achieve weight loss for any length of time.
So, what does ‘common sense’ mean in dieting terms? Well, everyone knows that eating more fruit and vegetables is good for you and you need to bring more of them into your life if you want to slim down. It’s not just that they don’t contain as many calories, fat or sugar as some of things that you might currently eat – it is also that they are packed with nutrients that make your body stronger, fuller for longer and faster at metabolising the food that you do eat. Eat more fruit and vegetables and you’ll be on the path to genuine weight loss that you’ll be able to stick to.
Another common sense assessment of the weight loss situation is that you’re going to need to exercise more. If you’re not losing weight it simply means that you’re taking in more calories than you’re burning off. So, it’s simple – you’ve got to burn off more calories. Exercise is great for you, it will make your muscles stronger as well as improving your lungs and other facets of your body, and you’ll naturally feel after a workout, so it is definitely worth doing.
So it’s time to start thinking sensibly. You know that the best and easiest way to lose weight is the only sensible way that anyone ever does – eat more good things and do more exercise. It doesn’t matter if you slip up and have a huge pizza one day or a tub of ice cream. Just dust yourself on and get back on with living the healthy way.