You’ve decided to adopt a better and healthier lifestyle. One of the first big changes you’re probably going to do is to alter your diet. Although it’s a great way to begin a healthy way of life, you should know that changing your diet is meaningless if you don’t take steps to maintain it.
You might have promised yourself that after Christmas and Thanksgiving you’d start eating healthier, but it’s so easy to revert to unhealthy routines.
These three tips will help you achieve your goal to live a healthier lifestyle and maintain your commitment to your new diet.
Maintain Your Motivation
You may find it tempting to give up on your newfound healthy lifestyle. Or you could grow tired of all the rules and restrictions you have to live with now, especially when you encounter all the food you used to eat. Without constant reminders of your motivation, it’s all too easy to give up.
Before temptation becomes an issue, you need to make a list of all the reasons you’re adopting a healthier diet in the first place. Is it because your doctor gave you some less-than-ideal news about your health? Do you no longer fit in your favorite outfits? Do you feel unattractive and unwell?
Put all of your motivations in a list along with your goals. Whenever you encounter the temptation to quit, take out your list and remember why you want or need to stay healthy.
Prepare When Eating Out
It’s one thing to monitor what you eat in the comfort of your kitchen and quite another when you’re eating with friends at a restaurant. You should always have measures in place to help you adhere to your diet when eating outside.
Always travel with a high-protein snack when leaving the house like yogurt or a packet of almonds. Research indicates that eating high-protein snacks reduce your hunger. This can help you avoid ordering a lot of food at the restaurant or stopping for snacks that don’t align with your new diet.
You should also practice mindful eating when dining outside. This technique focuses on how you eat than what you eat. Mindful eating teaches you to savor each bite, which helps you eat less while increasing your satisfaction.
Supplement Your Diet with Exercise
It will take more than just a diet if your goal is to lose or maintain weight. For your body to shed pounds, you need to burn more calories than what you ingest through your meals. Although a healthy diet and reasonable portions are important in keeping your weight down, you need to supplement them with exercise.
Even a weekly goal of at least two hours of moderately intense physical activity, like aerobics or cardio exercises, go a long way. These activities help you burn off calories and improve your heart rate, which you can’t achieve easily through dieting alone. Achieving your weight and health goals faster can be a big boost in keeping you motivated.
The decision to adopt a healthier lifestyle and to start dieting is an admirable one. But if you’re not focused on your goals and take steps to prevent yourself from giving up, it won’t have much of an impact. These tips will help you stay on your diet and put you on a path to a better life.
