How come it’s so hard to stick to a diet??

You know the feeling … you’ve decided to give it one more shot! You’ve embarked on yet another diet in your unending quest to finally shift that blubber you’ve been carrying around for so long. Okay, it might just be a few pounds … but it’s still there, and you want it gone! And yet you know that every time you diet it doesn’t end well. Even when you manage to lose some weight, it never seems to stay off. And you’re left feeling down. You don’t just feel disappointed, you feel like a failure. You’ve tried, again and again, and the sad fact is, when it all goes wrong you feel like you failed and that makes you feel pretty much worthless.

Just because your diet’s junk, doesn’t mean you’re a failure

So how come diets pretty much always end this way? Why can’t you find a diet that works? Of course, lots of diets are destined to fail right from the start; they’re badly thought out and ‘not fit for purpose’. Fad diets come to mind – the ones that mean you can’t eat carbs, or fats, or whatever, or you have to survive on nothing but greens. Some of them (most, probably) are not just lousy diets, they’re actually bad for your health.

We all know you have to have a reasonable proportion of all the main nutrients to be able to call it a sensible diet, but we get drawn into the idea that there’s a quick fix out there somewhere, and if we can only find it we’re willing to accept the fact that it might look and sound a bit crazy. So there we go again … embarking on another hopeless diet journey and knowing, in the back of our mind, that it can only lead to disappointment.

Getting back to the question … just why is it so hard to stick to a diet? Lots of reason, but here’s a few of them:

• They’re restrictive
• They leave you feeling hungry all the time
• They make you feel deprived
• They make you feel you’re under pressure
• You just want to EAT!!
• Time drags …

Let’s take a look at each one …

1 – Your diet it too restrictive. No wonder you fail if this is the type of diet you choose! Did you really think you could stay the course? You’ll end up bingeing on ‘forbidden’ foods at all kinds of odd hours and making excuses to make yourself feel okay about it.

2 – The diet you’re on leaves you feeling hungry. So naturally you’ll do something about that, what did you expect? Of course you’re gonna eat! You might last a fair while, but sooner or later you’ll start to up your food intake. It might be by the addition of snacks (or should that be more snacks?) … or you might start filling your plate up a little more, even though you know you’re supposed to stick to a certain amount at each meal. Fatal. Never gonna work!

3 – Of course you feel deprived, if the diet you’re on means you can’t eat most of the things you’re used to eating. That approach is destined to make you feel deprived and cheated, and it’ll play havoc with your metabolism too.

4 – You feel permanently pressured because you’re trying hard to stick this restrictive diet that’s leaving you hungry and feeling like a prisoner on survival rations. Who wants to live like that? And how long do you think you can keep it up? You know it’s never going to work.

5 – You just want to eat! Of course you do! It’s only natural, and you shouldn’t feel bad about that.

6 – Time drags … ‘course it does, you’re HUNGRY!! And it’s hours till your next meal (if you can call it that).

Look, these reasons, the causes of all your dietary ‘failings’, all boil down to more or less the same thing – you’re on an unhealthy diet. A proper diet is based on good, natural foods, and reasonable amounts of them (and in the right proportions). If you eat high quality, natural food you won’t feel hungry all the time. So sticking to your diet won’t feel like a penance, or a torture.

Hey, I’m not a nutritionist, so I’m not going to tell you exactly how to put together a foolproof diet, but I can give you a nudge in the right direction. Mike Geary is a Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Nutrition Specialist, and I think it’s safe to say he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to diet. That’s why more than 700,000 people subscribe to his Lean Body Fitness Secrets  newsletter.

If you’re going to diet anyway, why not do it right …

If you feel the need to diet to lose some stubborn body fat, and if you’re just about fed up with the diet merry-go-round, why not check out his books – I mention a few of them on this page. Get as much information as you can about the foods you should be eating and the ones you need to avoid. Diet according to his principles and his suggested eating plans and you won’t feel deprived or leave the table hungry. You’ll feel full after a meal, and you’ll feel satisfied. And what’s more, you’ll be making some serious improvements to your health at the same time.

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