Whatever your reasons, starting a diet can be an exciting and invigorating idea. But after a few weeks, or even days, dieting isn’t quite so appealing. You may be missing some of your old food choices, you may feel hungrier, or you may just feel deprived and angry.
But there are success strategies that will help you stick to your diet and reach your goals without stalling out. When you understand diet basics and tips for maintaining your progress, you’ll reach your goal in no time.
Sticking to your diet actually starts with choosing your diet in the first place. There are thousands of diets you could try and it’s important that you do your homework before you start one.
A diet needs to fit in with your lifestyle and be something that you can do realistically. For example, eating a diet of raw foods may be extremely healthy and help you lose weight. But it’s not for everyone.
If you work 2 jobs it’s probably not the best because of all the time-consuming food prep. If you don’t have time to prepare the appropriate foods, it’s not likely that you’ll stick to this diet for very long.
And there are hundreds more diets that have components that may not work for you while some diets will be perfect for you. So you must choose a diet that will not defeat you in the very beginning.
Here are a few things you should ask about a diet before beginning it
- How much food preparation will be involved?
- Will you have to buy special products?
- Do you need specific tools that you don’t already own?
- Is the food something you already like?
- Does this diet work with your current work schedule and lifestyle?
- Will you have to diet alone, or can your family also practice this way of eating?
- Will you be able to eat out? Or will all food have to come from home?
- How much money will you need spend each month for this diet?
- Will you have to attend meetings for it?
- Will the diet interfere with any health conditions or medications?
- Have you tried this diet before?
You want to choose a diet that fits within your budget and fits within your schedule. If you have a lot of free time, a diet that requires a lot of food preparation may be appropriate.
However, if you’re very busy, you’ll want to find a diet that you can fit into your erratic schedule. If you don’t have time for a lot of food prep or you eat out a lot, you need to make sure your diet is compatible with these requirements.
This is the first step in sticking to your diet. If you choose a diet that fits well into your existing lifestyle, you’ll have a better chance of continuing. If you choose something that is difficult to fit into your lifestyle, you’ll have more of a struggle ahead of you.
1. Be Mindful of Your Budget
In today’s economy, many people are working to make sure they don’t overspend. Dieting is one of the places where people spend the most money. But it is possible to diet without overspending.
There are two routes you can take to dieting success when it comes to your budget. You can join a program that has costs attached to it or you can do it on your own and use a program from a book or other source.
Diet programs that offer fee-based services have benefits and drawbacks
- Often program fees are high and don’t cover the cost of food
- Even a diet that comes with prepackaged food must be supplemented with more food
- You may get personal one-on-one service
- You may get support group meetings
- You have accountability and regular weigh-ins
- You have someone to coach you when you’re struggling and celebrate your successes
- You must make time in your schedule for any regular appointments or classes
- You may have to pay for meetings or appointments even if you don’t attend them
Alternatively, if you choose the option of going on your own, you’ll find that there are also benefits and drawbacks
- You can use information from books, magazines, or online resources to tailor a plan for you – many of these sources are inexpensive or free
- You won’t have as much accountability
- You won’t have to buy expensive prepackaged food, but you will have to spend more time preparing food
- Support can be encouraged by working with friends, but you won’t have a built-in coach
- You won’t have to schedule regular appointments or meetings
Ultimately, you need to choose a diet you can stick with in the first place. If you’re choosing something that’s way out of your budget, you won’t be able to afford it long-term. It’s important that you make wise financial decisions early on in the process.
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