When most people go on a diet, they don’t intend to be yo yo dieters, it just happens. You start a diet, lose some weight, give up for some reason, gain weight, start a different diet, and the cycle keeps on happening. Why do we do this? How do we stop it?
STOP THE DIET!
Being “on a diet” is the thing that causes you to fail. Yes being on a diet can result in weight loss, but often it is only short lived. This is because you cannot keep up with the diet – it is too restrictive. And after a while, your body will feel deprived and you will just end up eating it all and gaining weight.
Being super restrictive and “on a diet” is the main problem here.
SO WHAT SHOULD I EAT IF I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT?
You CAN lose weight without being on a diet. What you need to do is:
Eat less than your body needs
You don’t need to eat super low calorie, starve yourself or be hungry all the time. I mean a slight deficit. To work out your ideal calorie intake, read this blog post. Once you have worked it out, count your calories for a few days maximum. This will give you an idea on how much you should be eating. Don’t get obsessed with calorie counting and do it everyday.
Eat mostly whole foods
You still need to be eating healthy everyday. If you find out you need 1500 calories for weight loss, you can’t expect to eat 1500 calories of junk food and lose weight. It doesn’t work that way. Focus mostly on lean protein, healthy fats and fruit and vegetables. Read my clean eating guideline for more detailed information.
Treat yourself when you want to
This is the part that’s different to being on a diet. You don’t deprive yourself. Yes you still need to eat healthy the majority of the time, but it doesn’t mean you can’t eat bad food if you want. I try to follow the rule: “eat healthy 80% of the time and treat yourself 20% of the time.” When I’m treating myself, I usually make it a time when I REALLY want something bad, or when I’m out for a meal with friends and family.
As I mentioned, depriving yourself too much is usually what causes you to fail. But if you allow yourself to be more relaxed with your eating and just focus on trying to eat well most of the time, you will have much more long term success. And I promise you will be happier!
Whenever I’m putting together a weight loss program for anyone, diet is the number 1 thing I include. You can lose weight without a workout program, but you can’t lose weight without good nutrition. That is why both of my eBooks contain nutrition plans. And both of them include treats! Find out more about them here.
It’s FREE
Hi Rachael! :) Thanks again for your precious advice.
I have 2 questions for you: because of my hard studies, I don’t have much time for myself, namely I can’t do regular exercises and I’m sad about it :/… I’m used to streching and walking but could you give some tips to tone my body while doing something else? I’d like to optimize my time as much as possible :)
Plus, I usually cook vegetables but sometimes, I can’t. In that case, what is better in terms of health? (not too much salt, sugar and oil, and the max of vitamins): canned or frozen vegetables?
Thank you!! Have a nice day
Hi Claire! You can still tone up with only 10-15 minute workout each day. I would do it at the start of the day if you can so it’s out of the way. Make up your own circuits at home with body weight and HIIT exercises. Check out these blog posts here and here for some body weight exercises you can do at home. And definitely frozen vegetables! xx