Author: Diane Carbonell

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How To Break The Cycle Of Using Food As A Reward

Had a bad day? Eat some chocolate. A child falls down on the driveway while running after a ball? Here’s a lollipop to make her feel better. No matter what the scenario, using food as a reward is a bad idea when it comes to weight loss and beyond. If you struggle with wanting to have food as a reward, here are some things to consider before eating a piece of chocolate after a long, hard day.

Food is a universal need that crosses gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines. Everyone needs food to survive. Back in the ancient days before food was easy to purchase, people had to work for their food. They toiled in the fields, foraged for food, and stored food for lean times.

Now that food is readily available to us 24 hours a day and we don’t even have to leave our homes to get it–think pizza delivery–food has taken on a role beyond fuel.

Food is the center of most social events, from weddings to funerals, and serves as a companion during television and movie viewings. Chocolate always seems to make you feel better after a tough day.

I get all of that.

The problem is that using food as a reward is the absolute last thing you should be doing when you are losing weight.

Food is not a reward. Food is fuel.

Why Do You Want Food as a Reward?

That’s the question, isn’t it? What about food makes you feel good?

There is a multitude of answers to that question, but here are some of the most common reasons I’ve found for why people use food as a reward. See if any fit you.

– It reminds you of your childhood when mom took care of you and gave you food after a hard breakup or a skinned knee.

– Food doesn’t judge. That chocolate bar won’t talk back to you or judge you. It just seems to soothe you and make you feel better as you eat bite after bite.

– You like the way food makes you feel. When you eat, your body releases dopamine, which “acts on the reward circuitry” in your brain, according to an article in “Psychology Today.” 

– Food is easily found. It’s easy to stop by the corner store and pick up a candy bar or buy a few donuts from the donut store.

Once you know why you might be using food as a reward, the next step is to identify situations when you are rewarding yourself with food.

Do you reward with food when…

– Things have been hard at home or work?

– You feel physically tired?

– You’ve been sick or injured?

– You are celebrating?

– You’ve reached a goal or completed a task?

The Solution

Reversing your habit of using food as a reward is pretty simple, but does require you to really pay attention to how you are using food and when food serves as a reward.

The next time one of the situations occurs when you would normally reward yourself with food, stop and ask yourself what you are doing. When you are losing weight, the last thing you want to do is eat fattening food for no reason at all.

Remind yourself of your goals and how many calories are in the food you are about to eat. Then find another way to reward yourself for a job well done or a hard day. Some terrific ways to reward yourself without food are to spend a special evening with friends, get your hair or nails done, go to a ballgame, talk a walk outdoors, or spend some quality alone time.

After a while, you will break the cycle of using food as a reward and rely on food as fuel for your busy life.

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The Ups And Downs Of Using A Nutritionist To Lose Weight

I saw a nutritionist twice when I was overweight and even though she asked me to, I never went back because I didn’t like her analyzing my diet and finding it lacking. I missed an opportunity to take advantage of her skill and expertise and later regretted my decision to skip my next appointments. If you are thinking about using a nutritionist to help you, here are some upsides and downsides.

Upsides

Individualized Attention
A nutritionist looks just at you and no one else for the hour you spend with her. And for me, that made me uncomfortable and left me feeling guilty because I wasn’t doing what she recommended.
In spite of that potentially uncomfortable feeling, it is definitely an upside to have someone who is interested in your health and your nutritional status and who is invested in your weight loss.
Analyzes Your Health
A nutritionist is qualified to look at your overall health and not just focus on your weight. She will plan your diet based on your medications, whether you suffer from a chronic illness such as diabetes, and take into account how both these affect your weight.
Sometimes Covered by Insurance
Some insurance policies cover visits to a nutritionist. If yours does, take advantage of it and make an appointment. Even if your insurance only covers a small number of visits, the things you learn about food and nutrition can help you long after your appointments are over.
I’m a testament to that. Even though I only visited the nutritionist twice, when I was finally ready to lose weight, I remembered her advice to forget fad diets and focus on eating real foods.
Coordination with Your Primary Care Physician
Your primary care physician and your nutritionist can work hand in hand to give you the best possible chance to lose weight. Not only will they share information but they will also be able to assess whether something either of them is doing is working against your weight loss.
For example, if one of your medications causes weight gain, your nutritionist can consult with your doctor about a medication change.

Downsides

Follows Strictly Prescribed Nutritional Guidelines
If you are heading to a nutritionist in hopes of getting the green light on using HCG injections, ignoring whole food groups, or following a fad diet, you will be disappointed.
Nutritionists as a whole follow established nutritional guidelines. While there are some exceptions, meeting with a nutritionist usually means you will be using a medically approved diet.
Not that that’s bad or anything–to the contrary. But if you want to lose weight using another method, a nutritionist may not be for you.
Can Be Expensive
Nutritionists are not cheap. Even if covered by your insurance, you may be required to pay a copayment or have her fee go toward your deductible. Check with your insurance before committing to a visit.
May Not Understand the Overweight Life
I personally had a problem meeting with a nutritionist who had never been overweight, and I’m not alone. A number of people I’ve talked with find it hard to believe that someone who has never been overweight truly understands the struggles overweight people have with food.
If this describes how you feel, your best option is to be totally upfront with your nutritionist. She may be able to reassure you or even refer you to someone else. In any case, give the meetings a chance before throwing in the towel.
Requires Regular Meetings
While some people may just have a single meeting with a nutritionist, you will likely meet with her several times. I was scheduled to meet once a week to be weighed and discuss my food diary.
Regular meetings can be difficult if your schedule is unpredictable or the cost of the meetings becomes prohibitive.

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Resolutions Already Blown? 8 Steps To Reset Your Weight Loss

Have you ever resolved at the beginning of the year to lose weight? Have you ever said, “By this time next year, I will have lost weight?” If so, you aren’t alone. 

Every year, scores of Americans make resolutions to lose weight. I know I always did. While weight loss resolutions are common, excellent results are not. Fortunately, a broken weight loss resolution can be reset in a short time.

Step 1: Acknowledge Your Misstep

The first step in any type of reset is to acknowledge your lack of progress toward meeting your resolution. Okay, let’s be real–that’s a nice way of saying it. The hard truth is you’ve got to face up to the fact that you didn’t follow through. And that’s okay.

Step 2: Determine What Went Wrong

You may have never started. You may have half-heartedly tried, or perhaps there was a problem with the diet you picked. No matter what happened, figure out what went wrong so you don’t repeat the problem when you reset your diet.

Step 3: Figure Out if You Are Ready

Timing is everything. If this isn’t the right time for you, then reset another time. Although I think any time is great to start losing weight, there could be very real factors working against your weight loss success. Only you know what they might be, but some examples are fighting an illness or depression, having to care for a sick family member, or even a lack of finances.

Step 4: Don’t Listen to Popular Opinion

It’s easy to jump on the latest diet bandwagon. I tried all kinds of crazy diets before finally landing on one that worked for me.

Turn a deaf ear toward popular opinion and pick a diet plan that works for your lifestyle, your preferences, and your needs.

Step 5: Test Your Diet Plan Against Real Life

Once you’ve settled on a diet plan you think you like, test it by mentally walking through what a day on that diet will be like. For example, if you want to try a diet based on intermittent fasting but you wake up every morning feeling starved, that diet is not for you. Conversely, if you never really liked bread or dairy products, a low-carbohydrate diet might be a good fit.

Step 6: Begin Anew

Now that you’ve ironed out all the wrinkles and figured out what to do to avoid a repeat of a failed diet from your earlier resolution, begin anew.

I know it sounds like old fashioned language, but beginning anew has a good ring to it. Start fresh, reach for your goals, and look at your weight loss journey in a new light.

Step 7: Start Each Day With an “I Can Do It” Spirit

Each day when you get up, tell yourself that you can:

– Stick to your diet

– Not give up

– Not give in to temptation

– Correct yesterday’s errors

Step 8: Stay Focused on the End Goal

If you’ve ever played sports, your coaches probably told you to keep the basket, the goal line, or the finish line in your mind’s eye. Do the same thing when resetting your weight loss. Keep your end goal in mind and ask yourself if actions you are taking move you closer to that goal.

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Do You Still Believe The Diet Food Myth?

The diet food industry is a huge money maker. The Global Industry Analysts’ most recent report indicates that the diet food segment of the global food market would likely hit $47 billion dollars for 2015. Diet food may seem appealing because it is designed and developed specifically for dieters. However, the truth is you can successfully lose weight without specially marketed diet foods.

The Myth of Diet Food

The term diet food always reminds me of the term flu season. Yes, there is a time when flu is more prevalent, but at the end of the day, the flu is an illness not a season. The same holds true for diet food. All food can be part of a diet, not just certain types or brands of foods marketed to dieters.

Diet food can be healthy or not. It’s a marketing term and nothing else. If you keep that in mind when shopping and planning meals, you will be able to avoid the diet food trap and make sure you purchase foods that you like, will eat, and will help you meet your goals.

What Is Diet Food?

When I use the term diet food I don’t mean whole, natural foods that are popular with dieters, such as salads, vegetables, fruits, and other lower calorie whole foods. I’m talking about foods that manufacturers market directly to people wanting to lose weight, like:

– Low calorie crackers- Low calorie cookies- Diet drinks- Diet ice cream- Fat free or lower fat dairy products- Low fat processed meats- Diet shakes- Diet granola or fruit bars- Fat free fruit snacks- Frozen diet dinners

Why Avoid Diet Food?

Food manufactured specifically for dieters isn’t necessary for successful weight loss. I used to eat a chocolate diet cookie called SnackWell’s. Boy those things were good, and you know what? I didn’t magically lose weight eating a diet cookie. Nor did I lose weight drinking a diet soda or choosing baked chips over fried ones.

A cookie is a cookie, a chip is a chip, and a diet cracker is about the same as a regular cracker.

The reason to avoid diet food is that it’s not necessary, and because the foods are highly processed, they contain ingredients that aren’t good for you, don’t help your weight loss, and can increase cravings.

Take those SnackWell’s cookies, for example. They weren’t any better for me than a regular cookie–they just had not quite as many calories. But since I ate way too many of them, I definitely didn’t lose weight.

Numerous research studies have shown that artificial sweeteners used in many diet products increase your cravings for sugary foods, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

How to Break the Habit

If your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer have diet foods in them, relax. You don’t have to ditch them or donate them if you don’t want to. Just use them wisely and don’t buy any more once they are gone.

It is easier to buy a frozen diet dinner or diet cookie than make them yourself, but think about what’s in the food. The ingredient list reads like a chemistry experiment.

Here’s an example of the ingredients in a SnackWell’s reduced fat vanilla cookie:

Unbleached enriched flour (Wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (Vitamin B2), folic acid), sugar, soybean and/or palm oil, dextrose, glycerin, high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, wheat, starch, salt, emulsifiers (datem, sodium stearoyllactylate), leavening (baking soda, calcium phosphate), cellulose gum and gel, cornstarch, natural and artificial flavor (contains milk).

Sure they are lower in fat, but definitely not good for you.

I believe if you want a cookie, you should make a small batch using wholesome ingredients. Eat one or two, freeze or give away the rest, and count the calories toward your daily allotment.

Do the same thing with any other diet food. Choose a less processed option, make your own, or skip it entirely. After all, no one needs diet soda or diet cookies to survive.

Over time, you will likely find the taste of highly processed diet foods to be unappetizing. I can’t tell you how many clients of mine end up turning away from these types of foods and drinks completely after getting used to whole food options. They say things like, “It tastes like chemicals” or “All that food tastes the same.”

Breaking the diet food cycle can help you lose weight because you are relying on real food that is good for your body and your weight loss.

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7 Secrets To Controlling Portion Sizes

Value sized meals at restaurants, king sized candy bars, and fountain drinks with enough soda to feed a family are not a dieter’s friends. The huge portion sizes you are confronted with every day are one of the biggest stumbling blocks to successful weight loss. In order to lose 150 pounds, I learned to conquer portion sizes and want to share my best tips with you.

1. Put it away.

Out of sight, out of mind. Put the main serving dish, bag, or box of whatever food you are eating away after you serve yourself. Constantly looking at the larger container full of tempting foods can make you go back and get just a little more. That little bit more can add unnecessary calories to your day.

2. Switch sides and mains.

Buck tradition and make classic main dishes into a side dish and serve the dishes most often thought of as sides your main dish. For example, have a lot of vegetables and just a bit of meat.

Why does this work for portion control?

Because side dishes are frequently lower in calories and fat than main dishes. Salads, fruit, and vegetables are often considered side dishes and are generally much lower in calories than meats.

3. Use a small blue plate.

Smaller plates make it appear as though you have more on your plate than you really do. I know it’s like playing mind games with yourself, but it does work.

Make the whole small plate thing really work by using a blue plate. Researchers have discovered that the color blue tends to suppress appetite.

4. Visualize before you serve.

This is another mind game but a good one. Visualize how a proper serving should look on your plate before you dish it out. If you can see how much 1/2 cup of pasta is, you are more likely to not overdo it.

Of course, this is really important with higher calorie foods and less so with salad greens or vegetables.

5. Prepare snacks in advance.

Snacks can really mess up your weight loss if you aren’t careful. The problem is that most snacks are just so small. Popcorn, pretzels, raisins, nuts, and other snacks take up little room in your hand but can pack a calorie punch.

Prepare your snacks in advance. I still do this after all these years of weight maintenance. I portion out nuts and dried fruit, and I cut too-big granola bars into the right snack size. Then there is no guessing, no fudging, and no chance of eating too much at once. Unless, of course, you go back for a second bag and that’s another issue entirely.

6. Get ready to explain.

Your friends and family are going to notice you are not eating as much. They may ask you questions about it even if you already told them you are dieting.

Part of portion control is being able to stick to your diet even in the face of temptations or questions. When someone asks you why you aren’t having more of a particular food, you may be tempted to tell them to mind their own business. And of course, you could say that.

A gentler response is to say one of the following:

“It’s what my doctor recommends.”

“This is all I need right now.”

“I’m good with this amount.”

“I’ll let you know if I want more.”

7. Remind yourself that you can have more.

Always start with a small serving. It seems silly, but sometimes I would get more than I really needed because I knew I’d want more or worry it would be all gone. Instead of being satisfied with a small amount, I’d eat the whole thing.

Start small and remind yourself there is more where that food came from. After you finish the first serving ask yourself if you really need more or just want more.

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6 Habits That Are Slowing Down Your Weight Loss

Weight loss seems to take forever. Each pound lost is a victory, and the fear of regaining the weight you lose is real. The last thing you want to do is have eating habits that make your weight loss even slower than it already seems. Here are six habits that might be slowing down your weight loss. Break these and get to your goal weight faster.

1. Eating Too Fast

My mom used to tell me that I inhaled my food and she was probably right. Eating fast is a common problem and one that doesn’t do your weight loss any favors. In fact, some researchers found that chewing your food thoroughly not only slows down your eating speed but might help you lose weight because you eat less food.

If you are always the first one done, here are some quick tricks to help you slow down:

– Chew more times- Put your fork down between bites- Be the liveliest conversationalist at the table- Take a sip of water every few bites

2. Not Planning Your Meals

Meal planning takes time, I get that. But the time it takes is 100 percent worth the outcome. When you know what you are going to eat before the day begins, you can control your calorie intake much more easily.

Get in the habit of planning at least a day in advance and work up to weekly meal planning.

3. Eating with Large Groups of People

Large groups of friends are great fun to hang out with. However, it can be hard to stick to your diet when you are eating out with them. I was very easily influenced by what my friends were ordering. It didn’t take much for me to be persuaded to go along with the crowd and have the fried mozzarella sticks instead of a salad as an appetizer. Before I knew it, I would have eaten all my calories in one meal.

I’m not saying to never go out with a lot of people, but instead be mindful of your diet when you do. Decide before you head out what you will order, how much you will eat or drink, and stick to your decision. Set a reminder on your phone or even ask a friend to help you stay strong.

4. Not Paying Attention

Raise your hand if you’ve ever finished eating and been surprised by how much you ate. I know I have.

Pay attention to what you are eating and how much, especially in social situations. How easy is it to stand around the food table at a party and eat cookie after cookie or handfuls of chips? Way too easy.

Practice mindfulness when it comes to food. Look at what you are about to eat, take the time to really savor the flavors, and stop before you are full.

5. Going Too Long Between Meals

Starvation and healthy weight loss don’t mix. If you let yourself get super hungry between meals, you are going to have a hard time controlling how much you eat when you finally decide to eat.

If your job is busy and you forget to eat your lunch, set a reminder on your phone to eat. If you are deliberately skipping meals in an attempt to speed up your weight loss–stop. It won’t help and will backfire.

Eat on a schedule that works for you. The members of the National Weight Control Registry, who must successfully maintain their weight for at least a year to attain membership, typically eat five small meals a day.

6. Grazing While Cooking

A taste here and there while preparing meals won’t hurt your weight loss, will it? Well, it can if you aren’t careful.

Here’s an example:

You are making lunch for you and your child. After you spread the peanut butter on her bread, you put the knife in one last time and then eat the peanut butter. You’ve probably just had 100 calories in one bite. Then, if you take some of your child’s crackers and cheese while preparing a snack, there are another couple hundred calories.

Grazing while preparing meals backfires big time. When I cook, I often chew gum or make a deliberate effort to not have a large taste before I sit down to eat whatever I’m cooking. Find a technique that works for you and stop grazing while cooking.

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Weight Loss is A Marathon, Not A Sprint

Marathon runners don’t mess around. The successful ones train hard, regularly assess what’s working, and never give up. In many ways, being successful at weight loss is like running a marathon. If you ever feel frustrated with your slower-than-slow weight loss, remember that winning the weight loss race is a marathon rather than a sprint.

1. Nothing Happens Fast

Marathon runners take a long time to train for marathons. Almost no one can go from a couch potato to a marathon runner in a week. And once the marathon runner is prepared to race, it takes an average of slightly more than 4 hours to complete the race, according to Running USA’s Annual Marathon Report.

Weight loss is just like training for a marathon. No one wakes up one day magically 50 pounds lighter. At least, no one I’ve ever met.

Like many people I’ve talked to over the years, I would start my diet, and then after a few days I got frustrated with the lack of immediate progress. I often wished I would lose 50 pounds after a good day but sadly that didn’t happen.

The frustration with slow weight loss is a common reason for quitting. But when you develop a marathon attitude, you accept your pace and do the following:

– Train your mind to accept a new way of eating, which takes time. 

– Adopt a new lifestyle, which is rarely easy.

– Be prepared for a long journey.

2. Stumbling Happens

A marathon runner knows there will be times she stumbles. Either she will literally stumble and fall or have stumbling blocks that figuratively get in the way of her goal of finishing a marathon. It could be an injury, a busy work schedule, or family issues. Whatever the stumbling block, a dedicated marathoner will continue working toward his goal.

As you lose weight, you may very well stumble. You will need to control emotional eating, work through the desire to eat anything you want, and possibly deal with physical injuries. The key to success is following the example of the marathoner. Never give up, jump over the stumbling blocks, and focus on the prize.

3. Fuel Matters

No marathon runner fuels their body haphazardly and successfully runs a marathon. Because of the exertion required to finish the race, a marathon runner fuels carefully and deliberately–both during training and the race itself.

You should do the same thing. There were times when I thought losing weight was only about calories and nutrition wasn’t super important.

I was 100 percent wrong.

The food you put in your body fuels you. Cheetos, candy, chips, and sugary drinks do nothing good for your body. Just like a marathon runner can’t survive on junk, neither can you.

Do what your mom probably told you to do. Eat your vegetables and fruit, cut out the junk, and focus on lean cuts of meat and dairy. Don’t snack all day long, and eat dessert occasionally instead of daily. Who knew mom was so smart?

Final Thoughts

Having a marathoner’s outlook instead of that of sprinters helps you in your weight loss no matter if you are just starting, right in the middle of it, or reaching your goal weight. You see, weight loss and eventual weight maintenance is a lifelong process rather than a one-time race.

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Why Weight Loss Motivation Doesn't Matter As Much As Just Doing It

There are a lot of really fine-sounding motivations for losing weight. You might say you are losing weight for your self-esteem, losing weight for your health, losing weight for your wedding, or even losing weight for your kids. All of those motivators are noble and important, but at the end of the day, your motivation matters less than just getting the job done.
If I had a nickel for every time someone told me they were having difficulty finding a new motivation for losing weight, I’d be rich. Truly I would.
Oftentimes the person was trying to lose weight for one of the reasons I listed above. For example, one lovely woman in my weight loss class wanted to drop 25 pounds before her daughter’s wedding the following year. She hadn’t lost much weight in six months, despite the wedding date quickly approaching.
Why not?
Because her motivation wasn’t strong enough? No, she really was motivated to lose weight.
What wasn’t happening was action.
Her motivation was terrific. It was a great reason to lose weight. But her actions weren’t falling in line with her motivation.
I am often asked what my motivation was for losing weight. The truth is my motivation changed over time. At first, I was just tired of being fat. As the weight started to come off and I was no longer officially [linkbuilder id=”6435″ text=”morbidly obese”], my motivation shifted to feeling better about myself, being able to do more with my kids, and looking better.
Motivation shifts like the wind but actions stay constant.
In order to lose weight, you’ve got to find a motivator and make your actions match what you want to accomplish.
For instance, if you want to lose weight for your health but don’t exercise, change the types of foods you eat, or cut your calories, all the health-related motivation in the world won’t cause you to drop pounds.
On the flip side, if you make the changes required to lose weight for your health, the weight will begin to come off, even if your motivation changes over time.
To help you out, I’ve created this action checklist as a way for you to quit focusing solely on motivation and instead focus more on actions.
– Ask yourself what your motivation for losing weight is. Write it down.
– Analyze your weight loss plan. Does it have all you need to successfully lose weight? For example, do you know how many calories you need, how much exercise you should be doing, and what to do if you mess up?
– Accept that motivation alone is not enough to lose weight.
– Set up an accountability system for your weight loss. Find a group of like-minded friends, join a Facebook group, or join a weight loss community online.
– Check in with yourself regularly to see if your motivation for losing weight is still the same or if it has shifted. Accept the shift if it happens, but keep doing what it takes to lose weight.

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8 Smart Techniques To Ensure Dieting Success

Have you ever felt like you are one big diet failure because you can never seem to actually lose any weight no matter how many times you try? I know I sure did. If this is how you feel, take heart because there is a way to quit failing at losing weight and start succeeding. It’s not easy or quick but it is possible, and you can start right now.

1. Choose The Right Diet

One of the most common reasons for failing at your diet is picking the wrong one. Let’s be real. Fad diets don’t work for anyone. They set you up for being a diet failure.

Think carefully about what type of diet will work for you. If you want structure, choose a diet like Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. If you want to have more freedom, put together a diet based on healthy eating guidelines and track your food intake regularly. Stick to a low-calorie diet and you will lose weight no matter if you eat low-carb, high-carb, low-fat, or something in between.

2. Ditch Bad Habits Completely

Bad eating and exercise habits contribute to diet failures. Identify your top five bad habits and vow to get rid of them. When trying to figure out what your bad habits are, ask yourself these questions:

Do I eat in secret?

Do I overeat from stress, boredom, or happiness?

Am I consuming too many calories in the evening?

Are snacks a large percentage of my calories?

Am I eating fast food more than once a month?

Do I say I will exercise but never do?

3. Prepare Your Surroundings

One of my challenges to succeeding at losing weight was cleaning up my surroundings. Not the dust bunnies that lived under the couch but the chocolate bunnies that were living in the pantry.

Take a look at your kitchen and pare down any unhealthy foods you have around to reduce temptation and make way for healthier options.

4. Get The Right Mindset

Start your diet with a winning mindset. Tell yourself that you can do this, you will succeed, and you won’t give up no matter what. Write down these positive affirmations and repeat them to yourself regularly.

5. Set High Expectations

Sometimes when people diet, they aim too low and expect too little from themselves. Don’t expect failure but instead set high expectations for yourself in terms of sticking to your diet and not giving up. If this seems impossible, think about how children often rise to the expectations of their parents. Set the bar high for yourself and reach for your goal.

6. Expect The Unexpected

Don’t expect that everything will go smoothly during your diet. When an unexpected roadblock pops up, just go around it and keep going. For example, if you have bad news that makes you want to eat or an injury that prevents you from exercising, don’t give up on your diet. Just take the steps necessary to make your diet work by being flexible and creative.

7. Don’t Skip Exercising

Exercise can’t replace a bad diet, but exercise holds an important place in dieting success. Not only is it good for a calorie burn and your health, but when you exercise you affirm to yourself that you are worth the effort it takes to work out and get to a healthy weight.

8. Prepare In Advance For Maintenance

A common reason for dieting failures is not thinking about weight maintenance when you are still losing weight. It can be frightening to realize that someday you will hit your goal and need to maintain your weight loss.

Do some reading on weight maintenance, cement good habits into your life, and find ways to stay accountable once you reach your goal weight.

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Adopting The Stick-To-It Diet Spirit

Whether you’ve been overweight your whole life or just recently, losing weight can be frustrating. One of the more frustrating aspects of dieting is finding that “stick-to-it” mentality that you need to succeed. As someone who has tried more diets than I can count, I know firsthand the importance of learning how to stick to your diet. Here are some of my best tips for sticking to your diet and not giving up.

Before I share my tips with you, I want to encourage you. It is perfectly normal to find it hard to stick to a diet.

Why?

A weight loss diet is something new and different than you have done before and is often hard to follow. When you decide to lose weight you are committing to eating differently from many of your friends. You may feel deprived of your favorite foods and see slow progress on the scale. It’s no wonder you have a recipe for giving up.

That being said, if you don’t stick to your diet you will never reach your goal. So don’t give up on yourself; take advantage of these tips to help you develop a stick-to-it attitude.

1. Weight Loss Doesn’t Happen Fast

When I was on the Dr. Oz show several years ago he asked me what advice I had for women who needed to lose weight after pregnancy. I told him, “They need to have patience and perseverance.”

It’s the same thing with sticking to your diet. You didn’t gain the weight overnight and you won’t lose it overnight either. You have to have patience with the process and the perseverance not to give up no matter what.

2. Try On Smaller Clothes

If you find yourself faltering and cheating on your diet, pull out some clothing items from your closet that used to fit but are currently too small. Try them on. Look at yourself in the mirror. Remind yourself that fitting into smaller clothing sizes is one of your goals.

If you don’t have any smaller clothing items in your closet, try on the next smaller size jeans at a store and assess how much more weight you need to lose to make them fit. Sometimes this can be very motivating and help you stick to your diet.

3. Have An Eating And Exercise Schedule

Although it is fun to be spontaneous, spontaneity can lead to problems with your diet. Stick to a schedule of eating and exercising at certain times and days of the week. When you schedule your meals and plan them carefully, you will find it easier to eat a well-balanced diet that has the right number of calories.

4. Don’t Expect Perfection

You may be the type of person who wants everything to be just right. While that is a noble goal, it can cause problems with your diet. Let go of perfectionism in eating and be satisfied with making good choices 80 to 90 percent of the time.

When you let the perfectionism go, you will be more forgiving of eating mistakes and less likely to just give up after a day or two of poor choices.

5. Know What Hunger Feels Like

In today’s culture of 24-hour food, it can be difficult to truly identify hunger. Teach yourself what hunger feels like to you by allowing several hours to pass between meals instead of snacking continuously. Sometimes you might find it hard to stick to your diet because you are eating too frequently and not waiting until you are slightly hungry.