How To Swap Dieting For A Lifestyle Change This Year
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How To Swap Dieting For A Lifestyle Change This Year
Every January, people promise that they are going to go on a diet, lose some weight and feel amazing. And every February, the majority of those people are right back where they started – or they might have even gained some extra weight.
Are you tired of jumping on and off the diet bandwagon? Let’s talk about what will actually help you transform your life this year.
Why diets don’t work
Every now and then, the new ‘it’ diet comes along. A couple of celebrities show up looking slim and strong, and claim the new diet is the reason why they dropped so much weight in a short period of time. You look at them and think ‘if it worked for them, it can work for me!’
But after a little while, you realise it’s not working at all. You might not be losing weight, or you might experience side effects such as fatigue, brain fog or bloating. Maybe you see some results, but then you end up eating one little treat and the next thing you know, you’ve eaten every snack in the cupboard.
The important thing to note here is that you are not a failure if this happens. In fact, this is how many diets are designed to work! You see some results, but because the diet is unsustainable, you can’t stick to it. But instead of blaming the diet, you blame your lack of willpower and motivation.
All of this can not only be damaging to your physical health, but also your mental health as well. Chronic dieting is associated with low self-esteem, overeating, depression and even development of an eating disorder. And if you started dieting in your early teens, you’re more likely to gain excess weight long-term, which feeds back into the desire to diet and lose weight.
Is your weight actually a symptom?
Society tells us to look at excess body weight or body fat as a condition that is a result of your behaviour. And if you are not the ‘perfect’ weight, then you are the only one to blame for it!
But your body weight is not a condition – more often than not, it’s a symptom. And it is not something that is solely a result of your behaviour. After all, your weight can fluctuate daily based on fluid, hormones, digestive processes, inflammation and more!
When it comes to holding excess body weight, it is rarely as simple as ‘I was lazy and ate too much junk food, and this is the result’. Weight gain is a symptom of common health concerns including:
Blood sugar imbalances including insulin resistance
Hormonal conditions including PCOS
Chronic sleep loss/poor quality sleep
Fatigue and pain disorders including chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia
Mental health conditions including depression and some eating disorders
Even if it started out with a few unhealthy habits, weight gain can feed into many of these health concerns as well. It could also be that those unhealthy habits snuck in because of your mental health or a sudden interruption to your usual routine.
So what began as a simple pattern of unhealthy behaviour turns into health concerns that can have serious long-term implications. And in most cases, you are unaware of these underlying issues, which can hold you back from successfully losing weight.
It’s time to focus on your habits and behaviours
So now that you know why dieting is not the answer to losing weight and feeling great – what is? It all comes back to your habits and behaviours.
The goal is to set yourself up to build habits and behaviours that support your health and, as a bonus, increase your chance of weight loss. But what we want to do is focus on what you can do, rather than what you ‘shouldn’t’ do.
For example, you might have previously said:
‘I’m not going to eat chocolate, I’m not allowed to eat after 7pm, and I’m not going to order Ubereats anymore’
While you might have set this with the best of intentions, these are too rigid and focused on what you think you shouldn’t do. But remember, establishing healthy habits are about what you do, not what you don’t do!
Instead, you can flip it around to positive behaviours that help you to feel better. For instance, it could be:
Waiting for at least 30 minutes after dinner before having a snack or dessert
Eating at least 3 homecooked dinners every week
Going for a 15 minute walk every morning before work
Adding 10 minutes of meditation or deep breathing before bed
Each of these can help to improve your overall energy balance and metabolism, but they also support your health in other ways.
Want to transform your health this year?
If you’re sick of feeling unmotivated, discouraged and unsure where to start, now is the time to take action. Together, we can overhaul not only your nutrition and exercise, but also boost your motivation and master your mindset – learn more about my 1:1 coaching here.
Hey there, I’m Rachel!
NUTRITIONIST, PERSONAL TRAINER, WELLNESS COACH
Here I share healthy recipe ideas, training plans, and nutrition & wellness advice you need to know.
Check out my free guide to healthy eating to design your own version of a healthy lifestyle so that you can feel energised and vibrant, or hire me to work my magic on your health through mindset, nutrition, and movement.
While we make every effort to make sure the information in this website is accurate and informative, the information does not take the place of medical advice.