Diet vs. Lifestyle change

Diet- to eat less food or to eat only particular kinds of food in order to lose weight: to be on a diet (merriam-webster)

 

Most likely when you hear the word diet it makes your skin crawl. When you think of diet you think of eliminating something completely that you probably always eat. I have tried every diet in the book from Atkins to HCG which are both extreme diets. A diet is something that is meant for a short period of time. Usually it is not something that you should realistically do for more than a couple of months.  It seemed like every week I was doing a new diet where I would just keep gaining and losing the same weight because I was never consistent. Finally I went to the doctor and also did a lot of research where in order to get the results that I wanted I needed to set a long term goal and stop looking for a quick fix. That is where a “lifestyle change” became the answer for me. With a lifestyle change I began to focus more on being healthy instead of trying to drop weight quickly. Of course I want this weight to come off of me as quick as possible but I also want to do it the healthy way. With the lifestyle change I basically eat healthy 80% of the time and then 20% of the time if I have a craving I eat it!!! This is a change that is more realistic as appose to just eliminating certain foods out of your diet because at some point you will probably give in where you will find yourself over eating. With my 80/20 lifestyle change I do allow myself 1 cheat meal a week which typically is either Chipotle or a sandwich from Jimmy Johns which really isn’t a cheat but I no longer have cravings for fast food such as McDonalds (ill never eat there again) Wendy’s, Cookout, ect. If I was to go to one of those places honestly it would be once in a 6 month time period and I probably would be on vacation or something.  With my lifestyle change I never feel hungry I eat mostly protein (some form of lean meat) Greek yogurt (light& fit) fruits, veggies, oats , gallon of water a day, almonds, kettle corn pop corn (100 calories), and when I get a chocolate craving I get Russell Stover’s sugar free chocolate which usually is when my cycle is on(tmi). Losing weight does NOT have to be hard at all. You just basically have to make better choices. Even if you want that chicken sandwich or those ribs you can still have it but you just have to make a healthier version of it. An example of a healthier version of a chicken sandwich is make sure the chicken is baked not friend and choose either whole wheat bun or if u want to go over and behold use lettuce in place of the bun! Limit your sauces also! Mustard (0 calories) is always my go to sauce!! There is always a way to make your favorite meal more healthy! You just have to do your research on it! I promise you that Google has all of the answers lol! So before you think about doing another diet how about you just try to do a lifestyle change because it is a greater chance that you will stick to it! Consistency is the biggest key! Keep at the healthy eating and exercising at minimum 3 times a week (for a hour)  and I promise you that you will see change OVERTIME! Its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise! I always suggest getting you’re eating down first before focusing on exercising.