Starting a diet can be easy, but maintaining one is another thing entirely. Motivation usually comes in waves. What happens when that wave subsides and you are left without the drive and discipline to continue your healthy eating regimen? By planning ahead, you can place yourself in a position for success. Use a disciplined and intelligent approach to your diet.
Plan Ahead
Plan ahead for eating out and other "dangerous" situations. Think ahead about what you can eat at various fast food restaurants and still maintain your diet. For example, order a grilled chicken salad with vinaigrette dressing on the side and water to drink instead of the combo meal with french fries and a soda. If you are invited to dinner at a friend's house, ask ahead what will be served. If the meal doesn't fit your diet plan, eat something small before going to help fill you up ahead of time. Or, bring something healthy with you, such as a salad, to supplement the meal that's served. Just let your host know that you're following a specific diet.
Grocery Shop When Full
Avoid grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Shopping for food when hungry can be disastrous. You will be more likely to make impulsive purchases like candy, chips, and other foods that don't fit within your diet plan. Shopping when hungry forces you to rely on your willpower to stay on track. When you're full, it will be much easier to only purchase the foods on your grocery list. By planning your meals ahead of time, you will avoid the situation of not knowing what to eat or not having the right ingredients in the house.
Eat Often
Eat often to avoid letting yourself get overly hungry. Eating regularly throughout the day helps to keep your blood sugar levels stable and will help minimize food cravings that can result from low blood sugar. Eat three meals and two snacks per day. Or, if you prefer, eat five or so small meals per day. This concept is also known as grazing, versus gorging which is eating one or more excessively large meals.
Another benefit of eating often is that you won't feel deprived. When you feel deprived or hungry on a diet, you have to rely on your willpower to adhere to the diet. But, willpower alone will almost always fail in the long run. To stick to any eating plan, you need to receive satisfaction and an appropriate feeling of fullness from the food you're eating. Have healthy snacks, like a small bag of almonds, in your car.
Keep a Food Journal
Write down everything you eat each day. Compare that with your meal plan you previously created. Take note of whether you followed the meal plan for a given day, and if not, try to figure out what went wrong. For example, did you let yourself get too hungry and eat something off-limits?
In addition to recording the foods you eat, jot down a short note about how you were feeling when you ate each food or meal. Try to pinpoint patterns that may trigger unhealthy eating habits. For example, did you overeat out of boredom or from feeling stressed? Knowing what triggers unhealthy eating for you will help you to be better equipped to prevent it from happening in the future.
Develop a Support System
Surround yourself with like-minded people. It can be difficult to follow a diet plan if you're constantly tempted by the unhealthy food choices of others. For example, you may not be able to change what your significant other eats, but you can choose who you eat lunch with at work. Surrounding yourself with people who also make healthy food choices will make it that much easier for you.
Let others know about your diet plan. By telling others about your diet, you make yourself more accountable to sticking to that diet. And if your family and friends know about your diet, they often can help provide motivation and encouragement.
Considerations
This advice is for nutritional education only. The above information has neither been verified by the FDA, nor been reviewed by a medical doctor. Please consult your physician for any medically related concerns.
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