Low-carb diets may accommodate your eating preferences and have wide selection of tasty recipes. Unfortunately, sticking to even a good diet can be challenging. Rena Wing and James Hill writing for the "Annual Review of Nutrition" report that 80 percent of dieters fail to maintain weight loss for one year. An effective diet is one you can live with permanently.
Family
Family members either help you stick to your low-carb diet or make dieting more difficult. To ensure your family helps you, make it part of the solution. Share with family members that you are trying to lose weight and why. Tell them about the benefits and constraints of the low-carb diet, including what you can eat and what you should not.
Do not make two different menus for every meal--one for you and the other for your family. Instead, give family members the opportunity to choose from a list of approved low-carb meals. There are hundreds of choices in low carbohydrate recipe books. If necessary, add one of their favorite foods for lunch or dinner, even when you cannot share that one item with them. For example, include mashed potatoes for them into a meal with roast beef and salad. If you think you will suffer potato-envy watching them, add a serving of mashed cauliflower with butter for yourself.
Remove Temptation
Go through your cupboard and refrigerator and remove all items that are restricted on your diet. Put the items into sacks and give them to a local food pantry. You may be strong and resist temptation at the outset of dieting, but many people give in under conditions of stress, boredom or fatigue. If there is ice cream in the freezer or cookies in the cabinet, it is tempting to give yourself permission to cheat just a little. However, if you have to get in the car and drive to the store to get a forbidden treat, you may decide the effort is not worth it.
Several Small Meals
A diet you can live with permanently cannot be one that leaves you hungry all the time. Eating several small meals throughout the day controls your hunger better than two or three large meals with several hours in between. Snacks in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon make it easier to eat appropriate foods and quantities at mealtime. Snacks should be small and consist of a bit of protein, fat and carbohydrate. A bite of cheese, two pieces of celery with peanut butter, or a small handful of nuts will work to quash hunger and see you through to the next meal. Keep approved snacks handy in the refrigerator or in your purse or briefcase.
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