Cant seem to get your diet to work? Have you actually GAINED a pound or two since youve been on it? Here are 10 things that you should look at before you decide that your diet just doesnt work and go off looking for another one.
Have you been on a new diet for a couple of weeks and found that you STILL cant lose weight? Have you actually GAINED a pound or two since youve been on it? Are you just about ready to throw this diet out the window and try something else? Well, hold on a minute. There might be something else going on thats preventing your diet from working.
Getting your diet to work is like planting a seed in a garden. In order for the seed to grow, you have to plant it in good soil. You have to water it, fertilize it, and protect it from weeds. In other words, a seed needs a good environment if its going to have any chance at all to sprout, take root, and grow.
Similarly, in order for your diet to start showing results for you, it also needs a good environment. Here are 5 weeds that will prevent the success of any diet and may actually be the reason that yours isnt working.
1. YOURE NOT REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT
For your diet to work, you obviously have to be serious about losing weight. You need to have the right mental attitude about weight loss. In other words, you have to get your head right. This includes:
a. Making a firm commitment to lose the weight, no matter what.
b. Making sure youre doing this for the right reasons. Trying to lose weight to please someone else never works.
c. Convincing yourself that you CAN lose the weightand that you WILL!
If your diet isnt working, it could be because youre not really serious about losing the weight in the first place.
2. YOURE CHEATING ON YOUR DIET
Cheating on your diet and cheating on love both end in disappointment. Consistent weight loss requires, well, consistency. Most of us work so hard to stick to our diet during the week that we convince ourselves that we can splurge on the weekend. Or we think that because we skipped breakfast, we can have dessert with lunch. Both are a bad choice.
Its easy to convince yourself that having a small snack wont hurt, or that youll work it off later. The problem is it does, and you never do. If your diet isnt working, it could be because youre not following it consistently.
3. YOURE NOT EATING FEWER CALORIES
I heard of someone that started one of those protein shake diets. He actually gained a couple of pounds. When he was asked how often he was drinking the shakes, he said, I drink one with every meal. It never occurred to him that the shakes were supposed to replace his meals, not supplement them.
Many dieters buy low-cal foods, and then eat twice as much. Dont be one of them! The only way to lose weight is to reduce your total caloric intake. Make sure you reduce the size of your portions and cut out all snacks that are not part of your diet plan. If your diet isnt workingor if youve actually gained a pound or twoit could be because youre not eating fewer total calories.
4. YOURE NOT EATING THE RIGHT FOODS
Eating fewer calories is only part of the battle. You need to make sure that the foods you do eat are the right types. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you get plenty of fruits, salads, and dark green vegetables. Stay away from refined foods and starches and eat meat in very small amounts (sorry, Im not an Atkins fan).
Leafy, green, water-rich vegetables will aid digestion, help keep you healthy, and will actually help your body get rid of excess fat. If your diet isnt working, it could be because youre not eating the right foods.
5. YOURE EXERCISING TOO HARD
This may be counterintuitive but its true. If you exercise too hard, your body goes into an ANAEROBIC state (without oxygen). This is when you get so out of breath that you cant seem to take in enough air. When the body is in this state, it burns mostly carbohydrates and very little fat. This is why runners carb up before a big raceand also why runners have just as much body fat as the rest of us.
Slow your exercise down to no more than 85% of your maximum heart rate (subtract your age from 220 to get your max heart rate). At this pace, your body is in an AEROBIC state (with oxygen) and most of the calories that are burned are from fat, not carbs. An added benefit is that aerobic exercise tends to be low impact making it easy on your joints.
If you already get plenty of exercise and your diet still isnt working, it could be because youre exercising too hard.
Once you get all of these issues resolved, youve cleared the way to get your diet back on track. As your diet takes root and begins to work, you should start to see the weight come off easily and naturally. Source
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