The Diet: Do's and Don'ts
I'm not going to pretend I'm some kind of diet master but I can tell you something. I learn a whole lot from the mistakes I make and it takes a while to forge better habits. Coming from this angle, I present to you some diet Do's or Dont's, regardless of whether or not I'm capable of staying on a diet. Sorry, actual results may vary!
DON'T
Dont try convert everyone. Be happy. Share your stories with the right people. Get out of my face and I might even ask you about it.
Don't obsessively calorie count the food of everyone else in the room out loud and openly. This is in the book of no's no's along with reminding people where jelly comes from, traditional sausage skins and talking about the amount of sugar in each item WHILE PEOPLE ARE INGESTING IT. Are you informing people because you think they don't know? While what you say is really facinating and life changing maybe you should pull back and bit, time it right and share it with those that appreciate it. Anything else is just rude.
Don't beat yourself up. I don't know how it happened. I was at Wendy's last week and next thing you know I was having one of those mega shakes or super shakes for lunch and I say for lunch because it was huuuuuge and I felt so silly afterwards. Oops. The guilt hit before she even finished making it, but I'm not going to throw a perfectly good shake with those little aero things in it out. Mmmmm aero.....I'm glad I felt bad and I had to make up for it (which is the worst part honestly). I think a little guilt is healthy if you do something about it but don't go overboard with the self shaming. Alright already, you did it. Lesson learned.
Don't forget what you first set out to achieve. It means something to you, so it's worth working on. You're important.
Dont put yourself in situations where it's exception after exception after exception. If you have to 'bring a plate' and it's Christmas bring some stuff you know you actually like eating that isnt going to make you panic later. Or you could do something really weird like eat before going to a party. I worked this one out a while ago. Never tried it though...
DO:
Stay level headed about it. I say this because 'stick with it' only counts if what you are going to stick with is a good idea. Be ready to improve, know what works for you and focus on your strengths.
Be reasonable. What is your most recent healthier weight and could it be better? I'm a female. We have these ideas we can't shake that maybe we can be the size we were when we were 20. Maybe I can. I don't know. What I do know is that recently I was looking at a photo of myself only 5 years ago when I wanted to be the size I was 10 years ago and I thought 'I would kill to be that size now.' The reality is that one of them is more possible than the other and I had no idea at the time I actually was doing pretty good. Perception is everything!
Set Multiple Goals. Your ultimate goal is awesome right? Good for you but how are you going to get there? Get on track and know you are on track by having some sort of checkpoint or way of identifying that you are making progress. If your ultimate goal is your only goal then you may have less to motivate you to keep going. The more the merrier. I have a few ultimate goals. I'd like to fit in to some of the clothes I like and that one day people wont wonder if I'm pregnant. Maybe your goals and checkpoints are weight specific.
Know your stuff. If the paleo diet is your thing then you better know it backwards because somebody like me is going to say something like 'what are you really doing differently?' or 'what if I pretty much already like to eat like that?' I worked with a lady once who was happy about her paleo diet a few years ago and I mean raging happy. Always one of the first things we checking in when I asked her how she was going. Paleo orientation. She told me she was now having a poo every day and... ok I dont remember much else other than that. As you can see that part really stood out for me. Make sure what you say is memorable for the right reasons in case someone asks you about it. If I already have a poo every day I probably wont be happy for you like I should be.... I just find that kind of stuff distracting. She was really happy.
Accompany it with exercise. This used to be last resort for me, but the truth is if you can find your niche you could probably lose weight on even exercise alone if you went all out on it. You can't argue with results. Whatever your limits are (time, physically, financially) you gotta make the best of what you've got.
At the end of the day it's up to you. If you want it pretty bad you gotta work for it. In the meantime think positively that you are focused on a better sense of wellbeing for yourself and that you are going to be looking after yourself. Remember this because it will feel like forever. Those dark clouds of thoughts may come creeping in and you need to be ready to uphold respect for yourself.
*sigh* nothing makes me feel like icecream more than icecream..... Icecream has really improved over the years. I'm going to pretend I already had icecream today so I dont have to have any 'more'. I dont like the icecream in thats in the freezer anyway. Handy idea 4073.
Have some icecream for me while I hold out as long as I can.
-Mez