Mental Preparation For Dieting

The word "diet" often scares people, preventing them from losing weight and improving their health. You might be one of these people, believing failure awaits you. Although you desperately want more energy and a higher self-esteem, you feel defeated before you start, listening to your mind rather than the desire deep within. Taking steps to strengthen your mind before making behavioral and dietary changes is vital to your success.

Keep a Food Diary

A food diary helps you discover why you overeat; perhaps it's out of boredom or during times of stress or emotional unrest. Unearthing the underlying cause allows you to deal with the true problem at hand before making necessary dietary changes that increase your chances of long-term weight loss success. Write down everything you eat for one week. Include the time you eat, where you eat, who you eat with and how you feel when you eat. Show this to your doctor or dietitian. They can then devise an eating plan you can adhere to.

Write Down Why

Knowing why you want to lose weight puts things in a different perspective. Fitting into a pair of size 2 jeans is a great motivator, but something substantial such as preventing your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease might change your outlook. Every person has different reasons for losing weight. You need to make yours as personal as possible.

Keep It Realistic

Healthy weight loss is between 1 and 2 lbs. each week. Although it is nice to lose 5 lbs. each week, this is a risk you don't want to take. Rapid weight loss can cause you to feel sluggish and drained, explains HelpGuide.org. You may also fall off the dieting wagon when setting your goals too high and fail to reach them. Prepare yourself mentally for small increments and if you lose more, consider it a bonus.

Prepare Yourself With Positive Thoughts

Make a list of positive thoughts to motivate when discouragement strikes. Rather than thinking, "I can't continue," "I'm destined to be overweight" or "I'm fat," say to yourself: "I can make these changes," "I am thin" or "I am a fat-burning machine." Making dietary changes and losing weight is not always easy, but taking control of your thoughts can increase your chances of success.

Realize This is a Permanent Change

Believing the changes you make are temporary only sets you up for failure, leading to weight gain once your "diet" ends. This results in the discouragement that prevents you from trying to lose weight in the future. Before making any behavioral or dietary changes, realize these changes are permanent. Until your mind is ready to accept this, it is senseless to begin any diet program.