Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series called Ditch the Diet!  These posts will be about tips and tricks and things that have helped me to be successful at living a healthy life without having to be a slave to a diet.

When you think about going on a diet, it usually implies a starting and an ending point, right?

The word diet has such negative feelings that go along with it.  We immediately start thinking about all the deprivation, suffering, cravings, and hunger that are associated with dieting.

A strict plan will probably not get you where you want to be, and if it does, you probably won’t be able to stick to it long term.  Keep in mind that this is not a quick fix approach. It will require time and patience. (Some people have a medical reason that they definitely have to be on a strict diet: colitis, Crohn’s, diabetes, celiac disease, kidney disease, food allergies.)

Most diets include lists of what you can and cannot eat. Most diets want you to change years of habits overnight setting you up to fail from the start. With all those cards stacked against you from the beginning, of course, it is overwhelming!  It also requires an enormous amount of discipline.

Losing weight and being healthy are so much more than just choosing a “diet plan” and following it.

Think to yourself, why do you do the things that you do? Most everything we do is because of habit.  Even what and when we eat is usually based on habits.  Habits are hard to change!

Instead of changing everything at once, I am suggesting that you change one small habit at a time. Instead of struggling all week to deny yourself and ending up being upset with yourself for any failings, think about making one small manageable change a week. Focus on that one change and once it feels easy and natural move on to the next change.

Changing old habits for new healthier ones one at a time.  Over time, you are more likely to feel healthier, lose weight and keep it off for good.

Getting started is as simple as beginning to apply healthy habits to your life one at a time. One day at a time, one choice at a time, and one tip at a time.  Making small changes easy will make you more likely to add these healthy habits into your life making them part of your lifestyle.

One year from today, you may just find that you have lost excess weight, kept it off and didn’t have to go on a diet to do so.

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