Diets still don’t work, but ….

Diets still don’t work.

 

If you want to make a long lasting, sustainable change to your health, going on a diet is not the solution – they don’t workyoung woman weighs herself.  The good news though is that diets can help bridge between where you are at now, and a healthier lifestyle.  If this seems contradictory, let me explain briefly.

Most people “go on a diet” to accomplish a short term goal (usually to lose some weight – not a bad thing for most Americans, but more about that in another post).  The problem comes in when you end the diet.  If the goal was just to lose weight, you may or may not meet that goal – but after you stop the diet – what then?   Most people either merge back into their old way of eating – or “reward” themselves with desserts and treats and find they end up weighing more than when they started their diet.

Losing weight is not a bad thing, but is it the right goal?  I believe that is part of the problem – shooting for the wrong target.  Consider weight gain as a symptom of the problem instead of the problem to be targeted.

Start by visualizing the healthy you – what does that look and feel like?  Be really specific about how you visualize the healthy you, and remember -It’s not just about weight loss.  Even though losing some weight would be good for most Americans, you need to  visualize the version of you that you want to be –  truly healthy and feeling good.  Visualizing the healthy you is the first step to making the lifestyle changes that will help you get there.

Ask yourself what it would be like to get up every day, feeling good, and eager to do things to nourish and care for your body.   Many healthy, active lifestylepeople don’t even remember a day where they “felt really good” – but what if you could make some lifestyle changes that would have you getting up most every day feeling great?

You won’t make lasting changes until you line up your goals and priorities with a specific visualization of a healthy you.  Once you do that, you’re ready to start looking at some specific steps to get there.  The next few posts will look at a few of the diets that are out there that can help you move toward that goal.  I will also give you some specific guidance on some other important lifestyle choices, and how to make these changes stick – so that they can become part of a healthy lifestyle.

 

 

 

 

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