Oh dieting, a lover who makes so many empty promises. We see these diets all the time. "Lose ten pounds in two weeks!!" Obviously, we know they don't work because our *friend* cough cough* tried it and told us it didn't work. By now I'm more than a little skeptical of diets, having been burned by many. Recently, I tried a new one, of my own invention (kinda).
As a psychology major, I understand the importance of not shaming yourself, of not lingering over guilt, and of not having a negative attitude about my endeavor (positive psychology goes a long way). Psychology tells us that holding on to these things is not good for our health at all. So with that in mind, I made up my mind.
My non-diet diet, referred to as my lifestyle change, consisted of 3 main points.
1. Moderation is key
I definitely lay in the camp of no extremes. Unless you have extreme self-control, extreme diets are a no go. Yo-yoing is more dangerous in my opinion than anything else to making you fail and get discouraged. So with that in mind, I decided I would not set a specific line. Instead, I would focus on replacing different foods for healthier ones (Did you know that sweet potatoes are actually delicious?). I started using lentils instead of rice and sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes.
I had previously been on both calorie counting diets and low carb diets (abet, not by choice, it was for a medical condition and it was horrible). I decided that while those both were good, I didn't like the extremes of either. So instead I decided on lower carb or good carb instead of low carb and bad carbs, and I decided that if a particular day I was focusing on carbs, I would leave calories alone. On days I didn't count carbs, I would count calories. I decided how many calories to set my task on by using one of those "this is how many calories you need to live" calculators. They give you a range of calories you can eat in and still be satisfied and healthy. It's wonderful and completely different than those how many calories to eat to lose weight calculators. Don't believe me? google it.
2. Embrace the cheat day
Whether or not you like Honey Boo Boo or not, I'm pretty sure that we can all relate to her situation. Cheat day is inevitable, but has I tried to incorporate it, it made me feel gross and I never took it on the right day. So instead I had three choose meals. Cheat made me feel like I was doing something wrong. I wasn't. I was just living my life. So I started three choose meals. Separate meals were so much better. I could have a choose meal one evening and the next if someone asked to go out to eat, I didn't have to decline! It's basically the best thing ever.
3. Be forgiving
This was pivotal. I did not want this to be the kind of thing where I would have a bad day or bad week and give up. I wanted this to be permanent. So being forgiving and being able to start over with a fresh attitude was crucial.
So that's that! I in no way claim that this is the perfect diet or that you should try it. I'm no doctor and to be honest, I didn't consult a doctor about this because it's my body and my dietary choices. Hey, that's my sassy butt.
Dieting (lifestyle changing) is a crazy roller coaster and it sucks, but does it really have to suck as much as people say? I just don't think so. So diet on friends, be the best, healthy, beautiful, self-loving you that you can be!