A diet alone won't help you lose weight. It may even make things worse for you. People who diet for a certain period of time, only to revert to their former eating habits once the diet is over, will put on even more weight than they've lost. Restricting your food intake slows your metabolism. As you deprive your body of calories and nutrients, it goes into starvation mode. You're setting yourself up for more weight gain: this is the 'rebound' effect.
A diet should not be a temporary thing, something you do to lose a few kilograms or pounds, over a period of time. Much better and more effecting is a change of lifestyle. The word 'diet' actually means 'way of life'. It encompasses every aspect of eating, exercising, sleeping, as well as smoking and drinking. To have a healthy body within the normal weight range, you need to nourish it with healthy food. You are what you eat, so choose wisely what you decide to put into your body. If you eat junk food, you will become junk!
Exercise regularly, but don't do anything that you can't stick with long term. Choose a form of exercise that is moderate and that you find enjoyable. Your new habit needs to be sustainable. If you know you won't be able to go to the gym five days a week, then don't fool yourself into believing that you will do it. Be realistic about what you can do. It's better to walk for half an hour a day at your own pace, rather than pushing yourself too hard, and put yourself off exercising altogether.
A lifestyle is something you do for the rest of your life. An easy and sensible easy way to improve your diet is to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. Drink eight to twelve glasses of filtered water a day. Sleep at for at least seven to eight hours a night. If you don't sleep enough, your metabolism will become sluggish. You will be moody, volatile and less likely to resist temptation.
Have a wholesome breakfast that includes complex carbohydrates, protein and fruit. Oat porridge with banana, nuts and seeds for instance, or poached eggs with tomato and parsley on wholemeal toast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it kickstarts your metabolism. Instead of three big meals a day, make it a habit to have five or six smaller ones. This will stabilise your blood sugar levels and give you sustained energy until bedtime.
Avoid refined sugar and anything with hidden sugar in it, like muesli bars or even fruit juice. Sugar comes in a lot of disguises and has many different names. Just because you choose honey doesn't mean you don't eat sugar! It's the same thing. Honey may be more natural, but it is still sugar. Fructose and high fructose corn syrup are just as bad. Watch for names that end in 'ose' like maltose or dextrose: they all mean sugar.
Change can be frightening, so implement changes progressively. It works better to do things step by step, rather than trying to stick with drastic changes overnight. It took you a long time to develop unhealthy habits, so it will take you a while to undo them and replace them with healthy ones. But does it really matter? As long as you actually make these changes, there is no rush.
This is your body, your health, your journey. Only you decide how you will do it, and how long it will take you to transform yourself. Start with one little thing, like eating an apple instead of an ice-cream. This will lead to the next thing and to the next, until you replace all your negative habits with positive ones!
With love,
Bella
Painting: 'Red Bell with Vase' by Debra Sisson
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