Like the changing of the leaves or other harbingers of a seasonal change, one thing that happens every year is people start new diets in large numbers come January. Most do it because of their New Year's resolutions, but others simply figure that a new year is time for "a new me."
Personally, my body is on a different cycle. For most of my adult life, I'll gain weight in the winter and lose weight in the summer. My goals, every year, are to gain less weight in the winter than I lost the previous summer, and to lose more weight in the summer than I gained the previous winter. Like most middle-aged men, I've not been as successful as I like.
The reason you've not realized the results you wanted in the past, and the reason they're within your reach, all has to do with how you view the word "diet." Instead of thinking of Diet (with a capital D) that you adopt in order to lose a specified amount of weight or engage in for a fixed period of time, think of diet (with a lower case d) that you can follow for the rest of your life.
To reach and maintain a healthy weight, you simply have to eat the way your body was meant to eat. Our bodies did not evolve to consume trans fat and high-fructose corn syrup. We're perfectly suited to eat reasonable quantities of vegetables, meat, fruit, grains, and legumes. In other words, eat only real food.
When you do your grocery shopping, think before reaching for a bag, bottle, box, or other item. Ask yourself "did this food even exist two hundred years ago?" If it didn't, or couldn't have (as it's the product of a laboratory instead of a farm), then pull your hand back, leaving that item on the shelf. When you get to the checkout stand, your cart should have nothing but real food.
One great motivator is imagining everyone getting to see what you bought. Pretend that your shopping cart will be exposed to everyone in the store to evaluate. Are you proud of your purchases? If you filled up with real food, you ought to be. If your cart has chips, soda, frozen meals, and other pretend foods of modern technology, then you might be ashamed to let people see it - and you shouldn't be buying it.
So, that's the first step. Buy real food. What's next? Preparing it in reasonable portions, and snacking only on healthy things. The hardest part of changing your diet comes the first few weeks. Your body will still crave the bad foods you're used to eating. I find a couple of ways to help in this transition period.
The best motivator is to imagine your slimmer, fitter body, and how great you'll feel once you get it. Knowing that you have a goal in mind will help you change your diet from one filled with fake food and large quantities to one made up of reasonable quantities of real food. Every time you go into the kitchen, whether it's to prepare a meal or grab a snack, think about your goal. This will help you make good decisions.
If you eat because you're bored, then you need to do something else. Hobbies and activities will fill that time. They also help you feel like a more complete person. If you eat when you watch television, stop it! That's one of the worst habits people can have. Do all your eating while seated at your dining table.
Drink tea. If you like it, green tea is good for you, and suppresses hunger. Black tea has many of the same benefits. Herbals teas, drank as a hot beverage, also help to suppress hunger. Herbal teas come in many varieties, and it's almost unimaginable that you can't find several you like.
Limit your snacks to fruit. If possible, eat seasonal fruit. Berries and melons in the summer, apples in the winter. The more colorful your fruit, the better for you it is. I find that I like my fruit in the form of smoothies. I'll put some berries, melon, banana, a couple of ice cubes and splash of juice into the blender, and voila! If I'm not in the mood to eat fruit, I'm certain to be in the mood to drink a smoothie.
And finally, get more exercise! The benefits of exercise are too numerous to mention, but I'll cover a few here. In addition to burning calories, getting your muscles working and your blood flowing will help you sleep better, improve digestion, lift your mood, make you better able to do things, keep your brain fed with oxygen, etc. Technology and the demands of modern life have diminished our physical activity, so we must find ways to fit exercise into our daily routine. At the very least, go for a walk each day. If you can do a brisk walk, hike, ride a bicycle, lift weights, row a boat or paddle a canoe, play a sport, or do more, you'll be much happier for it (for so many reasons).
So, with the onset of this year's Diet season, don't fall into the same trap that captures so many people every year. This is the year you can change your life. Adopt a lifelong diet and daily exercise regimen that will work for you!
