Starting a healthy lifestyle is not as hard as you think! You just have to set a rigid “diet” system that restricts you from eating all of the “junk” food that you know you are tempted to eat, and ensure the dieting system plan you chose is one you can be committed to, cause in effective Dieting you can’t be weak-willed.
Before you start dieting there are 5 things you should do.
Dieters in several studies have always been experiencing a changed relationship with food, such as powerful urges to eat or excessive preoccupation with food and feelings of being out of control around food, hence they are naturally vulnerable to breaking their diet in the face of temptation.
Effective dieting requires effective planning so here are 5 things you should do before starting.
Before we rush into the things you should do before dieting, let’s define what dieting is all about.
Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way with a particular aim. You may go on a diet to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
- Know why you are Dieting.
Dieting is not for the weak-willed. There will be a time when you want to eat what’s not on your Diet plan, so you must know why you want to go on a diet cause this would constrain you and pinpoint what healthy habits you need to inculcate because of your diet plan. People go on diets to :
- Lose unhealthy weights or keep fit (especially for sporty people) or models.
- Improve heart health.
- Manage stress level
- To eat healthier overall.
Eating a range of healthful foods in the appropriate quantities is the greatest approach to diet. Drink water instead of sugary beverages like soda, juice, and sports drinks, and make more of an effort to eat fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, and lean protein. Reduce your intake of junk food, chips, sweets, and fried meals.
- Know your Eating Pattern
Simply put “know how you eat”.
Know the kinds of food you like and the portions your stomach can take for each meal. Know what easily feels you and what sweet things you enjoy that you want to curb as you go on this diet. To meet nutritional demands without going overboard, foods that are ingested as part of a healthy eating pattern fit together like a puzzle because they meet all nutritional needs. Eat a diet high in cereals, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and oils, as well as protein (in enough), and restrict added sugars, salt, and saturated and trans fats.
Following dietary habits that support good health and guard against chronic illness is the personal objective of selecting a healthy eating pattern.
- Stock up
Always have the food you are to eat on hand. To avoid consuming your trigger foods, don’t buy them at all, or better still buy up your healthy groceries. With a balance of sweetness, protein, and fiber, protein bars are a great food to have on hand since they satisfy your hunger without packing too many calories. Better and easier-to-grab choices include dried fruit in individual boxes, little whole fruits, yogurt, or even a block of cheese.
If you love making your food from scratch make it, then freeze it so it’s always ready for you when you are hungry.
Invest also in healthy snacks, because you’re more inclined to eat whatever is convenient than to prepare a meal when you’re truly hungry.
- Be Accountable
Your dietician, doctor, support group, or buddy can be your accountability partner. You need to build an accountability system around you less you give in when weakened.
After you have created a food diary that tracks what you eat and tells you how much portion you eat. If for any reason you have strayed from the plan, the accountability system is to help you get back on track.
Being accountable can be tiresome. That’s why most people:
- Pick accountable partners who are aiming to get the same target as they are.
- Consider giving themself a modest reward for persevering and following through with their diet plan. (Remember you reward yourself with healthy snacks or what’s in your Diet Plan).
- Exercise
Exercise is important for overall health and it’s to boost your weight loss results.
Effective dieting gives you results if it’s combined with strategic exercise.
3,500 calories, or roughly 500 calories each day, must be burned to lose one pound of fat in a week. A 200-pound individual walks 391 calories at 3.5 mph for an hour, so burning 500 calories with exercise alone is challenging. Fortunately, reducing the number of calories in your diet is a feasible strategy to lower your net caloric intake.
Dieting without exercising would slow down your metabolism
You can go on a crash diet without exercising but this can cause you to lose the wrong kind of weight. Combining Diet and exercise has been shown to:
- Promote muscle building and improve mental health and stability.
- Prevent or reverse the effects of certain diseases.
- Better heart health, which is associated with eating a diet high in whole foods, low in processed foods, and high in fiber, lean protein, and healthy fats. Regular exercise also lowers specific heart disease risk factors and maintains your heart stronger.
Examples of Exercises you can do for effective dietary results.
- Walking
- Jogging
- Running
- Yoga
- Swimming.
- Push-ups
- Lunges Etc.
Maintaining a nutritious diet throughout life can help prevent a variety of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and illnesses, as well as malnutrition in all its manifestations. These days, a lot of people don’t eat enough fruit, vegetables, and other dietary fiber-rich foods like whole grains. Instead, they eat more meals high in fats, sugars that aren’t processed, salt, and potassium.
You should create a Food diary that helps promote health and manage weight including a variety of healthy foods not forgetting to be accountable too.
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