Sticking to a diet is one of the hardest things about healthy eating. Or is it? Is everything we know about “diets” true or not? In my experience, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about dieting, weight loss and healthy eating. There’s so much that you can get totally confused and ultimately side-tracked before you even begin with a new diet.
Do you have to avoid fat? Do you have to avoid sugar? Can you still have treats here and there or do you have to deprive yourself of super-tasty foods?
I was always totally confused about weight loss and found sticking to a diet almost impossible.
But I was a victim of the conflicting information. The truth is, one study will say fries are healthy and then the next day, another study will say they are bad for you. So it’s no wonder healthy eating is a confusing mess.
But it wasn’t until I cut through the noise and went back to the age-old, time-tested truths about weight loss that I began to see results. I discovered that most of the information out there is complete rubbish, making sticking to a diet impossible for most people.
I’m not a nutritionist or a dietician. I’m just a regular guy who has tried different diets and seen the people in my life try different diets before doing my own research and listening to my own body.
Because that’s the key – we’re all different, we all have our own bodies. And on some levels, we all know what’s best for us. It’s our environment that makes it hard to stick to a diet, the conflicting information that’s thrown at us.
So how do you realistically stick to a diet? Here are the 4 long-term steps I learned in my own experience that helped me to lose 24 pounds gradually.
1. Don’t think about dieting as dieting
When I first began my own transformation, I had a light bulb moment. I realised that I was thinking about “dieting” all wrong. If you had asked me to define dieting I would have said something like;
Dieting is a period of time where you consume less calories that normal.
But I now think that’s a very unhelpful way to think about things.
In fact, I think this definition is why there are so many fad diets out there that completely waste your time and money.
Instead, I now believe that rather than “going on a diet”, you need to change your diet.
It’s a complete lifestyle shift. You recognise where you were falling short in the past and you’re committing to a healthier future, almost becoming a new person in the process. And the reason you must become a new person in the process is that it’s not enough to just eat a salad every day (even though I don’t think that’s healthy either, but more on that later).
You also have to become aware of nutrition, you need to become someone who will cook their own meals from scratch, learn cooking techniques, try new recipes, and become someone who is not militant but mindful about what they put in their mouth.
And all these things sound like a lot of effort and they certainly can be in the beginning if you’re not used to them. And that’s okay.
But I’d argue there’s not a lot in life that’s more important to investing time in than what you eat. Amongst other things, what you eat determines how you feel and interface with the world. It’s how your body gets the nutrients it needs.
So instead of thinking that you need to go on a diet (like a 2 week soup cleanse) think about the person you want to be long-term.
Once you’ve done this inner work, you can move on to the next thing…
2. Acknowledge the obesogenic environment
The reality is, that the odds are stacked against you when it comes to sticking to a healthy diet long-term (and this is why you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you often blame yourself). Everywhere you turn in the Western world there are advertisements for pizza, burgers, takeout, etc, etc. So it’s no wonder it’s hard to stick to a healthy diet.
Junk food has become normalised. It’s been made the status quo, even though your body demands quality nutrients to be healthy. In the space of 70 years, we’ve gone from nutrient-dense real foods to packaged foods with 30, 40 or 50 ingredients that the human body has no idea what to do with (if you ask me).
We live in an obesogenic environment.
Whilst it’s a luxury to have cheap, available calories, I think it’s reasonable to think that this can, at some point, become a problem. Cheap junk food tastes good after all and the fact it’s cheap means that if you’re struggling for money, there’s always an available option.
But I believe you can eat healthy food for cheap too.
Overall, I think it’s important to recognise the obesogenic environment we find ourselves in. Once you pay attention to how much junk food is pushed your way, it’s easier to put yourself in positions where you can avoid it, making sticking to a diet much, much easier.
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3. Create realistic boundaries
Sticking to a healthy diet is easier when you put yourself in the right environment. One of the things that can completely throw you off your new healthy lifestyle is the everyday celebrations and events we have like birthdays and vacations. In my own experiences, I know it can be very easy to spend a weekend eating junk at a wedding, for example, and then allow that eating pattern to spread into the following week.
This is especially true when it comes to drinking alcohol. Alcohol is something a lot of us consume throughout the week as we attend various events but it’s a great way to kick you off your diet when you drink it too regularly.
Sticking to a diet (or a new way of eating) is easier when you set yourself boundaries. That might mean saying “no” to nights out with friends who hit the town often or saying “no” to your partner when they want to order in instead of having a home-cooked meal.
You have to know where you’re willing to draw the line because you know what’s best for yourself. When you draw these lines it’s easier to stick to your goals.
But it doesn’t mean you have to completely stop going out and enjoying yourself, it just means you have to learn when you say “I’ve had enough,” in the way the person you’re trying to become would.
4. You have to be flexible
Because we live in an obesogenic environment, it’s next to impossible to stick to a new healthy diet 100% of the time. And that’s why I think allowing yourself to be flexible is vital when it comes to sticking to a diet or a new way of eating. As mentioned above, you will go out and have a pizza every now and again. And that’s okay. Unless you’re very disciplined, you’re going to indulge on the odd occasion.
And I think that’s important.
After all, we’re all human. If you take things to the extreme, you’ll also be depriving yourself of events with friends and family. The truth is, if you go on vacation, for example, you won’t be able to eat the way you do at home. You might be able to find healthy options but it won’t be the same as preparing your own healthy meals. And that’s okay.
I think this is why people fall off traditional diets, over and over again.
They think they need to be rigid, almost punishing themselves for eating burgers and fries every day on vacation and there because they “gave in”. But one week in 52 isn’t going against everything you’re trying to embody.
Flexibility is key.
In my experience, you can go from eating 90% junk and 10% real foods to eating 90% real foods and 10% junk. There is still room to be flexible on a healthy diet and enjoy the occasions we all love from time to time.
When you eat junk food once in a while, it has little to no effect on your weight loss efforts overall because 90% of the time you are eating real foods.
Don’t let chasing perfection ruin your healthy lifestyle efforts.
5. Eat real foods most of the time
I’ve mentioned in this post about eating “real foods”. This is the way of eating that has helped me to shed the excess pounds over the past two years. Essentially, it’s a whole-food diet. For me, it’s the best way of eating. It’s the most convenient and covers all of my nutritional basis whilst keeping me full.
And full is key. Some people think diet = salads. I can’t stand salads. They don’t fill me up and are a great way to cause me to overeat later. Whole foods are incredibly filling, to the point where you don’t even feel like you’re on a “diet”. You’re just eating the foods your body has evolved to recognise as food.
I’m not vegan. But if you are, I still think it’s a good idea to eat mostly whole foods and limit the processed ones. For me, this looks like lean meats, nuts, vegetables and fruits.
Whilst many foods claim to be healthy, eating minimally processed foods allows you to avoid added ingredients like seed oils and chemicals with bizarre names. I also like eating a whole-food diet because it makes overeating these kinds of foods next to impossible.
I stay fuller for longer and therefore don’t crave junk food anymore.
Preparing whole foods for cooking gets easier the more you do it and you only need to make sure you have a few ingredients in your fridge which make up the spine of most meals like carrots, garlic, ginger and onions. These foods all last a long time but can be added to many dishes. Add a tonne of herbs and spices to your dishes to keep them exciting and full of flavour.
Whatever your healthy diet looks like, stick to “real foods” and I don’t think you can go wrong.
In summary
There are many things that are working against you when it comes to sticking to a diet for the long term. The above points have all helped me to stay on track. The biggest advice I would give is that it takes time and patience to change anything worthwhile. When I was first trying to sort out my diet, it was painful at times. I went bad to bad habits a lot but over time it gets easier.
You begin to pick up better habits as you test and learn. “Dieting” or as I prefer to think of it, “long-term healthy eating habits” is a process but one of the most worthwhile things you can invest your time into changing for the better.
So don’t worry if you don’t get things right straight away, be patient and a little flexible.
Get excited about cooking, trying new recipes, and learning how to prepare food! Make it a mindful experience, something almost sacred whenever you’re cooking something for yourself and your family. Follow the tips above and I’m sure you can find success.
