Can we escape from the “All or Nothing” thinking?
During our weight loss effort many of us might start thinking "all or nothing". That is, you either think you have to follow a strict diet with a rigid eating regimen that offers no flexibility in order to succeed; or, you think if you eat junk for a day or two, you’ve blown it and there’s just no use trying. This is very easy to get caught up in and it can be very detrimental to weight loss.
3 easy steps you can do:
Loosen up The first step in choosing to avoid all or nothing thinking is to shake the idea that to lose weight you have to be on an extremely restrictive diet. The fact is, most people who successfully lose weight and maintain it don’t go on diet. They make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes: they decrease the fat and calories they consume, they get moving and they learn how to deal with emotional eating issues. These are skills that will serve you long into life if you master them now. We need to focus on weight management, not just weight loss.
Give In... Just a Little Plus, severely limiting your food intake or completely cutting out your favourite foods only sets you up to binge. Temptation becomes much less powerful when you can have just a taste of something now and again instead of thinking you can’t have it at all. Some people think it’s just the opposite: if I eat a little bit, I’ll just want it all. Granted, that may be the case the first few times you try to partake just a bit of your treats, but the more you get used to satisfying your craving with a small amount of food instead of a larger portion, the easier it will get.
Still Saying the "D Word"? Still not convinced you don’t have to diet to lose? If you need the structure of a support group or eating program, you can still have your freedom to choose what you eat. A good example of a lenient program is Weight Watchers. As long as can you work your favourite treat into your Points budget, it’s allowable. Be leery of any diet that restricts entire food groups or that relies on the same type of food as its mainstay. We need variety not only for our personal tastes, but for nutritional purposes as well.
During our weight loss effort many of us might start thinking "all or nothing". That is, you either think you have to follow a strict diet with a rigid eating regimen that offers no flexibility in order to succeed; or, you think if you eat junk for a day or two, you’ve blown it and there’s just no use trying. This is very easy to get caught up in and it can be very detrimental to weight loss.
3 easy steps you can do:
Loosen up The first step in choosing to avoid all or nothing thinking is to shake the idea that to lose weight you have to be on an extremely restrictive diet. The fact is, most people who successfully lose weight and maintain it don’t go on diet. They make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes: they decrease the fat and calories they consume, they get moving and they learn how to deal with emotional eating issues. These are skills that will serve you long into life if you master them now. We need to focus on weight management, not just weight loss.
Give In... Just a Little Plus, severely limiting your food intake or completely cutting out your favourite foods only sets you up to binge. Temptation becomes much less powerful when you can have just a taste of something now and again instead of thinking you can’t have it at all. Some people think it’s just the opposite: if I eat a little bit, I’ll just want it all. Granted, that may be the case the first few times you try to partake just a bit of your treats, but the more you get used to satisfying your craving with a small amount of food instead of a larger portion, the easier it will get.
Still Saying the "D Word"? Still not convinced you don’t have to diet to lose? If you need the structure of a support group or eating program, you can still have your freedom to choose what you eat. A good example of a lenient program is Weight Watchers. As long as can you work your favourite treat into your Points budget, it’s allowable. Be leery of any diet that restricts entire food groups or that relies on the same type of food as its mainstay. We need variety not only for our personal tastes, but for nutritional purposes as well.
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