The Do’s And Don’ts For Successful Dieting

As you’ll soon see, this guide will cover more topics than you could imagine about dieting.

However, before we get into the meat of these topics, we’re firstly going to look at some basic do’s and don’ts in relation to your nutrition plan.

In truth, you could put together an endless list of such advice. We have compressed as much of the information into six points – three which concentrate on the things that you shouldn’t do, before three rules that you should stick to as you progress with your journey.

Let’s now take a look at them all.

Rule #1 – Don’t have cheat days

If you have studied a lot of diets, you may have come across the term “cheat day”. In short, this refers to a day of the week where you can binge on whatever food you would like – as a reward for being so good through the week.

This might seem like a good approach, but we’re going to dispel it immediately. It’s an approach which suggests that you are doing something wrong and in short, just gives a completely negative feel to your progress.

Instead of rewarding once a week, just eat mindfully. We will address this topic with rule #5, but the premise of the rule is to occasionally eat something unhealthy. Don’t make a schedule out of it, just accept that you might deviate from the plan from time to time – it’s completely fine as long as it’s once in a while.

Rule #2 – Don’t turn to sugar

It’s probably one of the tastiest creations known to man, but it’s also one of the most harmful. As delicious as sugar is, whether it’s sprinkled on top of your cereal or hidden inside a seemingly savory meal, it’s time to cut it out as much as possible.

One of the reasons that so many of us struggle with sugar is because it sends our pleasure sensors into overdrive. Ultimately, it means that we want more and more of it and considering the fact that it can send your fat levels through the roof, this obviously isn’t good news.

Unfortunately, eradicating sugar from your diet is tricky to say the least. During the initial stages your mouth will feel almost numb; it will feel a state between hungry and thirsty.

This period might last for several weeks or longer, but by the end of it you will be able to live with minimum sugar and you may even get to the point where your cravings for the completely sweet confectionary are gone entirely.

Rule #3 – Don’t buy into liquid calories

Just because it’s coming from a bottle, doesn’t mean to say that it’s not going to plough size onto your waistline. Liquid calories are arguably one of the most dangerous types out there. Everyone knows that cookies make you fat, but when it comes to liquid calories there’s a lot more ignorance and this means that you can pile on the pounds without ever realizing it.

So, what do we mean by liquid calories? We’re referring to the likes of alcohol, Frappuccino’s and even fruit juice.

The problem with these is that they contain huge amounts of carbohydrates, calories and sugar – the three substances that can really impact your waistline.

As such, the next time you pop to Starbucks and decide to “be good” by not tucking into one of their cakes, remember that you’re causing just as much harm by turning to most of their beverages anyway.

Rule #4 – Do think about changes for the long-term

Let’s now move onto the first “do” of our article.

If you’ve performed any sort of research about dieting over recent times you will have most definitely come across fad diets. In short, these are the diets that promise the earth but deliver very little (and in some cases, actually hurt you).

Some people have even gone as far as saying that you should never coin the term “diet”, as for many it relates to something short-term. Instead, think about every change that you make as one for the long-term.

With that being said, you should cut yourself at least some slack from time to time. In other words, while all of your pledges need to be for the long-term, this doesn’t mean to say that you need to completely eradicate hiccups from your life.

What we’re trying to say is that it’s fine to give up soda or your guilty pleasure of choice, but this doesn’t mean to say that you never are to taste the stuff in your life (see rule #1).

Rule #5 – Do “think about” what you’re eating

In the hectic world that most of us reside in, this is something that many of us are completely guilty of. Many of us will eat whilst doing something else and while this may seem completely innocent, in actual fact it’s something that can harm your progress enormously.

Research has shown that those people who don’t think about what they eat, are more likely to overconsume. A study by Cornell University concluded that those people who become distracted whilst eating are much more likely to eat more – simply because they aren’t aware of what’s happening.

Perhaps the most ironic thing of all is that most of you will be reading this whilst eating a snack.

Rule #6 – Do eat real food

The final “do” comes in relation to real food. In truth, this is probably the most obvious piece of advice we’re going to hand out – but it does work.

Over the last few decades processed food has become all-but commonplace in most of our lives. The stores are full of bags and boxes of food that have been refined to the maximum – and none of these are what we call real foods.

While there’s no hard and fast rule in relation to real foods, the best way is to think about how many steps there have been between the animal or plant being alive, and it reaching your mouth. If it has gone through umpteen processes in between this, it’s time to look elsewhere.

Perhaps the best example we can hone in on is ready meals. If you were to purchase steak, potatoes and vegetables in its raw form – it would contain three ingredients. Then, if you were to purchase the same as either a pre-packaged frozen or fresh ready meal, the list could be as long as your arm. Everything from preservatives to unnecessarily salt is going to be within this – and this is just asking for problems from a health perspective.

As such, keep things simple – and buy food in their rawest form.