Dieting for Health
There is no greater reason to diet than for your personal health and well-being. Those of us who are overweight know better than most the risks and possible consequences that may result because of our weight. Much like smokers, however, the risks do not always seem quite so cut and dry until we reach our very own turning point. Whether your eating habits are born of an addiction to certain foods, an emotional need, or years of learned behavior and conditioning, things will not change until you completely adjust your eating habits and your lifestyle choices.
Dieting for many has become a lifestyle in and of itself, with people rapidly flip-flopping or yo-yoing from one diet to another with little success and growing despair over a sheer lack of results. The truth is that until you decide to forgive yourself for your failures and get right back on the wagon, so to speak, after falling off, no diet is going to be successful. A simple diet isn't going to magically make the pounds disappear, and constantly depriving yourself of those things you enjoy most may have a more detrimental effect than a positive effect.
The number one thing most people need to learn is that dieting isn't always a good thing. What most people who are overweight need more than anything else is to incorporate positive lifestyle changes into their daily routines. People scoff at the notion of taking the stairs or parking farther away, and yet those are perfectly plausible methods of working a little more physical activity into your day. If those do not work for you, how about learning to dance? Seriously, there are beginner dance classes in most communities that will welcome and invite dancers of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels if you are willing to make the effort. What a great way to get fit, learn something new, and have fun without feeling deprived.
Another great thing about an activity such as a dance class (consider ballroom dancing with your significant other) is that you are not eating or tempted to eat during the time that you are dancing in most cases. Another great thing is that you are burning those calories you didn't eat. If dancing isn't your thing, try joining a walking club or finding another hobby. Anything that gets you on your feet and away from the temptation of your refrigerator is a good thing when it comes to dieting and weight loss. You cannot lose a significant amount of weight by dieting alone. You must incorporate physical fitness into your daily routine to achieve those immediate and visually stunning results that many dieters are hoping to achieve.
Another pitfall when it comes to dieting is that people give up far too quickly. Just as the results are beginning and progressing, people get tired of the process or frustrated that they aren't accomplishing enough dramatic weight loss as quickly as they had hoped and give up altogether, marking off yet another failure when they could have achieved greater success than ever before if they had stuck with their original diet plan a little longer.
One more thing you should remember when it comes to dieting is that the scale can be your best friend or your worst enemy. If you are weighing yourself every day in hopes of watching the scale tick off yet another pound, you are dooming yourself to failure. You will never achieve the results you are hoping for if you are going into depressive bouts of Rocky Road or Chunky Monkey every night because you didn't lose 10 pounds overnight.
When it comes to dieting, there are very few diets that work. There are, however, many lifestyle changes that, when practiced consistently and aggressively, will work. The thing to remember is that you are the one who must work because it is quite unlikely that any diet will.
