Now what if one could design their own diet, would that make them happy? If you could choose for yourself what to have for your three meals in a day, would the stress be somehow minimized?
It could be the irony of ironies that somehow the words %26quot;stress%26quot; and %26quot;diet%26quot; are often mentioned in the same sentence. After all, dieting is supposed to make a person feel better about themselves by improving their health and overall physical well-being.
Because diets are set by others and imposed upon you, it might be a matter of human nature taking over because people usually do not want to be dictated upon. It boils down to having your freedom of choice being taken away.
Nowadays there are many weight loss plans in the market and it has reached the point of becoming confusing for the consumer. Some are easy to follow, while others are just way too complicated. Others require you to keep a daily journal, or count points, or keep track of this and that. It only adds to the stress.
What many people fail to realize from the very start is that dieting is not some authority figure barking a %26quot;do this or else%26quot; order. Instead of seeing it that way, people should accept the fact that dieting is in fact a change in lifestyle. A change in lifestyle can carry some very broad definitions with it, but basically it is a matter of dropping some old habits and developing some new ones. Needless to say, the old habits that have to be dropped are the bad ones.
There are a few basic tenets in dieting that people need to realize and accept. Once they do that, the transition becomes a lot smoother.
These are:
Eating less is not the answer to losing weight. In fact, starving oneself will only upset the balance of the body and cause it to fight back. Rather it is a matter of eating sensibly.
Eliminate fatty foods from your everyday meals.
Calories and carbohydrates are not bad words. They only become bad when abused. Therefore take in only the appropriate amounts.
There is no such thing as a magical diet formula, you still need to exercise regularly.
Even if a person is ready to embrace a lifestyle change, the most important question is whether the person has the discipline to stick with the plan. This very question could easily spell success or failure for the dieter. Remember that old habits need to be dropped and new ones adopted. It is also human nature to easily go back to the old ways. After all, old habits die hard.
So before embarking on a diet, ask yourself are you doing it for your own well-being or are you just joining the bandwagon. The journey you are about to embark on should not be a stressful one especially if you have taken the time to understand what the benefits are. In fact dieting is a lot like traveling. You research which mode of travel you will get you to your destination with the least amount of stress. And once you reach your destination, enjoy.
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