20 Best Strategies To Stick To A Diet To Lose Weight
Charushila is an ISSA certified Fitness Nutritionist and a Physical Exercise Therapist. Over a span of 6 years, she has authored more than 400 articles on diet, lifestyle, exercises, healthy food, and fitness equipment. She strives to inform, educate, and motivate her readers via authentic, straightforward, and fact-checked information.
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“My weight keeps fluctuating.” We have all said that, haven’t we? Time magazine reported that 13 out of 14 contestants of The Biggest Loser gained more weight back after a few months. In fact, Dr. Kevin Hall, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health said, “There’s this notion of why bother trying since most dieters want to lose weight quickly but also end up gaining the weight right back.“ If you are someone who wants to lose weight but is constantly slipping back into the old weight bracket, give this post a read to know how you can stick to a diet. Because there’s nothing called impossible, only I’M POSSIBLE! Let’s begin.
20 Ways To Stick To Your Diet
1. Know Your Motive
If you want to stick to a diet plan, you must remember what motivated you to follow a strict diet in the first place. It is important to think about the driving force – you want to look better, be able to sport a bikini, run a marathon, slim down for an upcoming event, or just be healthy. Without a motive, you will not be able to reach your target weight.
2. Set Realistic Goals
Next, you must set realistic goals and also write your goals down. Set smaller goals so that you can achieve them one at a time. And before you know it, you will reach your target weight. An ideal realistic goal will be “I want to lose 4-5 pounds in 2 weeks.” Give yourself a deadline and do not write a number in pounds that you will not be able to achieve. Trying to lose 10 pounds in a week is unrealistic, and even if you starve, you will not be able to lose so much weight in such a short time. As a result, you will be demotivated and can get derailed from your weight loss journey.
3. Check Your Body Composition And Weight
Check your weight and get a body composition analysis (BCA) done. Your weight will tell you about your BMI (Body Mass Index), which will show you if you are healthy or overweight. And your BCA will give a measure of how much fat and muscle your body is composed of. These will help your dietitian or trainer understand what kind of diet and workout routine will be best for you.
4. Have A Visual Cue
A visual cue can be the best motivation. You can ask your friend to help you or do it on your own. Stand in front of a mirror and click pictures of your front, both sides, and back. Compare these photos with the photos that you will click after two weeks. This will help and show you how to stay motivated on a diet.
5. Plan Your Diet
I know, planning your diet feels like an extra responsibility, but believe me, it’s not. You don’t have to plan for an entire week. Plan for a day. Get all the healthy ingredients for tomorrow’s meals and prep your meals in advance to save time. Planning your diet will prevent you from binging on unhealthy foods.
[ Read: 16 Positive Effects Of Healthy Eating On Your Life ]
6. Don’t Choose Drastic Diets
The fancy diets are only fancy, not practical, especially, if it’s a diet that you will not be able to sustain for a long period. Choose a diet that you can easily integrate into your daily life without having to take drastic measures. Weight loss is a lifestyle change, and the slower you lose weight, the better your chances are to maintain the weight loss. How to choose a healthier lifestyle? Find out in the points mentioned below.
7. Toss Out Unhealthy Food
This is one of the most important steps you must take if you want to lose weight. If you have junk food lying around in the house, you will end up eating it at some point in time, making it tough for you to stick to your strict diet plan. So, toss out the unhealthy foods from your kitchen so that you don’t even get the slightest opportunity to binge on weight gainers.
8. Stock Your Kitchen With Healthy Food
Now that your kitchen cabinets and refrigerator are empty, stock them with healthy foods such as veggies, fruits, nuts, whole grains, lean protein, etc. This way, when you are hungry, you will have healthy foods handy. This, in turn, will slowly become a part of your lifestyle.
[ Read: 27 Superfoods For Weight Loss ]
9. Workout With A Partner Or A Group
Working out with a group or a workout partner always helps. It keeps you motivated and focused and doesn’t feel like extra work. In fact, exercising with a partner makes the exercise more enjoyable and effective. If you don’t have a workout partner, you can ask your trainer help you get a workout buddy.
10. Eat At Home
Home-cooked food is the best. You will be able to keep a check on the calories you are consuming, control the portions, and eat healthy all the time. Fun fact: healthy food doesn’t take long to cook. You can cook a delicious meal in just 30 minutes! Find out ways to make your food healthy by using the right ingredients and heart-healthy oils, consuming less salt, etc.
11. If Your Weight Loss Stalls, Don’t Starve!
When you start following a diet, you will lose a lot of water weight in the first few days. Burning the fat takes longer and is a slow process. If you think that to accelerate the weight loss, you must starve, you are wrong. Starving will only put your body in the “famine mode,” and it will store every calorie as fat instead of using it to run normal body functions. So, you will gain weight instead of losing it. Stick to your strict diet plan. If you think your weight loss has plateaued, talk to a dietitian and trainer to find out what nutritional and exercise regimen changes you require.
12. Don’t Overeat
Portion control is a must if you want to stick to a diet plan. If you want to indulge in a dessert, make sure you eat less or expend the energy by working out. Also, a lot of times, we don’t realize that we are overeating. Without even being aware, you will consume extra calories and gain the weight right back.
13. Make Your Diet Travel-Proof
Have plans to travel and are wondering how to stay on a diet you were continuing? Well, this can be taken care of if you really want to. Do some research and identify restaurants that serve healthy food. Request your hotel’s chef to prepare food that goes with your diet plan, or you can also cook for yourself. While there is no harm in tasting the local cuisine, if you know that you have consumed more, exercise to burn the extra calories.
14. Take Your Healthy Food To The Party
Party hard, but don’t pay any attention to the high-calorie unhealthy food out there – including alcohol. Take your own healthy food along, share it with others, take a sip of homemade fruit juice, talk, and dance. You can have a good time minus the alcohol. But if you must drink, stick to sipping a glass of wine.
15. Drink Water If You Feel Hungry Too Soon
Staying hydrated is what you need to follow like religion if you want to lose weight. Water helps to maintain homeostasis and internal pH and flushes out toxins. This, in turn, boosts metabolism and other body functions. If you feel hungry within an hour of having a meal, drink water. This is because a lot of times, we think we are hungry when we are actually feeling thirsty.
16. Have A Balanced Meal
There are several diets that ask you to focus on a particular food group to lose weight. These diets work, but the results are short-term. You gain the weight back, and then it becomes too much of a task to get back on the same diet. Well, here’s what you should do. Have a balanced meal. Your plate should contain lean protein, healthy fats, and a few carbs from whole grains, veggies, etc. This will not feel like a drastic change in your meal habits and aid slow weight loss that you will be able to maintain.
17. Don’t Binge On Fruits
Fruits are good but in a limited quantity. Fruits have fructose sugar, which if you consume too much, will get stored as fat. So, drink water or green tea to curb your hunger pangs. Avoid fruits that have a high glycemic index. Also, do not consume too many fruits at one go.
18. Combine Cardio And Strength Training
Cardio, HIIT, and strength training will help you stick to a diet plan. How? When you work out, you are burning fat and building muscle. You know the pain of doing 3 sets of 30 squats with bicep curls or doing 50 burpees. This will prevent you from consuming junk, which prevents you from being fit and active. When you eat clean, you will automatically notice an increased stamina, and you will love the new, agile, and fit body.
[ Read: HIIT Exercises To Burn Fat ]
19. Check Your Progress
Unless you check your progress every week, you will not know if your diet is working or not. Check your weight every week, and click pictures of your body every two weeks. Also, get your BCA done every month. If the diet is working for you and you have adhered to the plan, you will see positive results, which will motivate you to continue following the plan. However, if the diet plan is not working, you can consult your dietitian and trainer.
20. Keep Calm And Sleep Well
So what if you have not been able to stay put on the weight loss wagon? Sometimes, all you need to do is stay calm, brush off the dirt, get up and get running. Moreover, you need to sleep and get rest to be in the right frame of mind and continue following a healthy diet and lifestyle. In fact, sleep deprivation can make you gain weight. So, stay calm and get a good night’s sleep.
These are the 20 ways you can stick to a diet. It is all a matter of training your brain (and your tummy) and being disciplined. Follow these points, and you can bring about a gradual change in your lifestyle. Stay put and don’t give up yet. Cheers!
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Read full bio of Charushila Biswas
