YOU STILL A FEAST!
With Christmas behind you and such a clear promise of fast weight loss, you might be tempted to start dieting immediately. But it’s important to plan before you throw yourself into a radically different eating regime like this to ensure you are properly prepared. That means doing some preparatory ground work — on yourself and in your kitchen.
It is vital to get your head in the right place before making long-term changes to your way of life, but the psychological aspect is something we often ignore in our quest to get going, and it’s one reason why so many diets fail.
The best way to boost the chance of any diet plan working well is to make sure you are absolutely clear about why you want to do it. If you can pin down your own personal goals, you will have a mission statement you can continually refer to if things get tough, or if you have a bad day.
TRY THIS G.O.A.L SETTING EXERCISE
GET: What do you want to get out of this diet? Weight loss? Better blood sugars? A smaller waist? To avoid needing medication? To come off medication? OPPORTUNITIES: What resources and opportunities are available to help you succeed? Friends and Family? Professionals? APPROACH: How do you intend to approach this diet? What steps do you need to take to help you succeed? What has
worked in the past? Which combination of 800-calorie days could work for you?
LOOK FOR SUCCESSES: Take one day at a time — look for small changes in your measurements, how you feel and your energy levels. Notice and celebrate small positive changes.
Use a notebook to record your goals, write them on a piece of paper and, if you can, laminate it and stick it on the fridge. A constant reminder of why you are doing this diet will really help in those moments of weakness, when motivation starts to falter.
FIRST GET YOUR KITCHEN READY
WILLPOWER is hugely overrated. Relying on willpower alone is one of the main reasons diets fail.
The problem is that old habits, particularly when it comes to eating, can be very hard to break. It’s a great idea to take a little time before you start dieting to create an environment in which it is easier to succeed than to fail.
So before you start, make it your mission to rid your house of junk food.
There is a lot of truth behind the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’.