Weight Loss: Stop Trying To Be Healthy - Change Your Habits
Too often I've decided I'm going to eat healthy to lose weight and it goes great.
For about a week. 😒
It usually ends when I eat one of these.
All of a sudden I'm back to where I was a week earlier and no better off.
I did this too many times so I decided to take it step by step instead of jumping in feet first.
Going from eating poorly to all healthy is a big shock and most people can't sustain it, well I can't! This is a pattern I recognised so I had to flip it on its head.
This is where the baby steps came in.
I figured that if I start adding healthy foods into whatever I was eating then I'm getting some benefit.
Next it was time to start cutting down (not out) on some of the bad stuff. So instead of having 2 burgers and fries for dinner, I'd have one burger, less fries and some corn on the cob.
Then I started looking at the foods I eat and seeing how I can then make them healthier.
For example; instead of buying a packaged burger to cook, I bought lean mince and made my own. Instead of using frozen fries I made my own and cooked them in the oven.
Once I was able to make my own versions of meals I realised I was in complete control of what I put into my body.
This means what foods you put into your body and quantity of food you put into your body.
This is where I am at at the moment: I try not to eat processed foods more than 2 times a day, I limit carbs to dinner, I like to have a very healthy dinner once or twice a week and I eat smaller portions. Before I would eat whatever I wanted and as much as I wanted.
Am I as healthy as I want to be? No! Do I still eat rubbish from time to time? Yes! Do I eat better than I did 1 year ago? Damn right!
The important question: am I slimmer?
That's the way to go for you and for me as well but everybody is different. We should listen to our inner voices what works. Cutting down in carlos worked for me
I agree 100%, each to their own. You need to find what works for you.
I tried counting calories, that was too much work for me, all I ever did was look for numbers and it was affecting my mood so I stopped. I'm glad you found something that works for you!
I would be more miserable if I couldn't eat my Chocolate cake once in a while 😜 I prefer a few pounds more than being in a bad mood
I agree!
As long as you are happy, you do you.
Thank you for your post. It is great to see your results. People often think a crash course diet is the way to go, but in fact eating healthy is a continuous struggle. As you suggested you need to slowly transition yourself into a healthy lifestyle in order to be successful in it. I hope many people read your blog!
Thanks for your vote of support!
I get what you mean, dieting isn't sustainable, changing your habits is. Luckily it's something, I believe, everyone can do.
Hey @stopbeingafatty,
congrats on your success! Another nice effect on healthier food: You should feel better. More energy, better digestion, better skin etc. Maybe you could use this fact as an additional motivation.
I think changing your habits is very important and not that easy! If you do something new/different for 20 times in a row (example: taking a cold shower every day) it becomes an habit. Maybe you can use this rule of thumb for your next steps.
Speaking of cold showers: They are supposed to be very beneficial if you want to lose weight because the cold water helps to burn the "brown fats".
I lost a lot of pounds myself through changing my habits. The better body feeling by reason of the healthier food was a huge motivator. I felt bad and tired after a big, fatty meal or an oven-ready meal. I reduced meat to one time a week and increased the amount of vegetables. Another problem I had was wheat. It has a lot of energy but not much else useful for the body. I felt pretty heavy after eating wheat products. So I reduced them as well with huge success.
The body feel was the motivator I was missing until then. I wanted to loosing weight but couldn't stop to eat all this delicious stuff. Now I know it's only delicious for some minutes, than comes the bad feeling.
I'm still having problems to maintain my healthy diet on weekends where my schedule is different and I can't form easy habits. Next I will try to change the meals in very small steps like you.
I wish you all the energy you need to continue your journey!
Thank you for your reply.
I know the body feeling you are on about, after I have eaten well, the last thing I want to do is consume rubbish. It's definitely a motivating factor.
I plan to write about it and some of the other things you have mentioned.
I went straight from having a really bad diet to cutting out meat, wheat, caffeine, alcohol, carbs and dairy and I was eating a mainly raw vegan diet. I suffered a lot of headaches, and couldn't sustain it.
I reintroduced some carbs and dairy and now i'm feeling loads better. I'm still losing weight and I can cut out dairy further down the line.
So yeah just a warning if you want to go 'all out' the consequences might be bad.
And the best way is to change your habits slowly over time.
I'm glad you are on the right path and look forward to more of your posts :)
That's fantastic to hear. Well done.
I've learnt we won't get it right first time but that doesn't mean we've failed, we just need to take a different path.
Thanks for the support.