3 Ways To Guarantee Weight Loss Success

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Whew! What a Week!…Time for some self care, don't you agree? Time to put focus back on your health goals to sustain you through it all. When it comes to diets, have you found the one that works for you? Or is it all a myth?

There is no shortage of diet plans. Diets are really popular and filled with promises of weight loss. However, the fact about diets is often they are too good to be true. How do you know when a diet is potentially dangerous?

I don’t like diets. I don’t like trendy ones. Diets are great for a jump start but not for long term success.  If it works for you, keep up the great work, but realistically speaking, the majority of diets can’t be sustained for long periods at a time. 

Myth vs. Facts

Trendy Diets or Fad Diets do not come with healthy eating habits. Whenever a “lose weight fast” gimmick comes along, weight loss enthusiasts usually tend to lose focus on the negative effects associated with the trend.

The biggest misunderstanding really comes from not doing extensive research before jumping on any particular diet bandwagon. I can’t tell you enough, how many times someone tells me they are on a Keto diet. Yet I watch them eat items that are not on the Keto diet list and worst of all they don’t even know it. Other times someone will say they are doing intermittent fasting, but were taking supplements during intermittent fasting. Even if it was just fish oil, THAT IS NOT extended intermittent fasting. These types of diets only work because there is a strict regimen that needs to be followed. Once you break the systematics of the regiment, then all effort is in vain.

Tell-Tale Signs Your Diet Is Not For You

There are warning signs a trending diet isn’t for you. 

  • When you realistically are unable to keep it up for 3 months, that particular diet is not for you.

  • If it’s restrictive, then it’s not for you.

  • If its beyond your activity level. Determine your realistic abilities to plan and stick to the diet.

Weight loss veterans and experts always recommend that the key to successful dieting is losing it and keeping it off. This requires a long term commitment.

Path To Improved Health

The one thing you must do is assess your current life and schedule. Determine realistically how much time you’re willing to dedicate to the diet for a period of time. Here's the reality…Take the good parts and apply them to your life. I preach and truly believe in LIFESTYLE. If you work a 9-5 in an office, some diets don’t work for you without proper prepping and planning. Find the great parts of the diets and implement them into your life. The key to attaining a healthy and successful lifestyle is being able to maintain the success long term.

According to health advisors  advice from the American Academy of Family physicians, it's necessary to avoid diets or diet products that do any of the following:

  • Claim to help you lose weight very quickly (more than 1 to 2 pounds per week). It takes time to lose weight and allow your body to adjust.

  • Promise that you will lose weight and keep it off without exercise. If a diet plan or product sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

  • Limit your food choice or don’t offer balanced nutrition.  

  • Focus on food combinations. Research doesn’t prove that eating certain foods together speeds weight loss. 

  • Base claims on before-after photos. 

  • Offer endorsements from clients or experts in weight loss, science or nutrition. These people probably get paid to advertise. 

  • Require you to spend a lot of money, especially in advance. This includes pills, prepackaged meals, or seminars required for the plan to work.

  • Draw simple conclusions from complex medical research.                                                                                 
     (familydoctor.org)

Are You In For The Long Haul?

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Maintenance in my personal opinion is more difficult than losing the weight itself. Once you start seeing the results, your clothes will start to fit differently. Your confidence shoots up the roof! It is the most incredible feeling.

Once you reach your goal that's when you have to look in the mirror and say now what?…This is not the time to sit back, fold back your hands and relax..just yet.  This is only because, if you don't have a course of action to sustain your success then the maintenance part gets hard. If you don't have an accountability partner or if you aren't someone that’s self motivated it may be difficult. Don't get complacent. Continue with the same process, the same focus and keep realistic goals that urge to stay motivated through the rest of your life. Don't say, “ hey I made and walk away”. You have not arrived until this life is over. It takes a change to your  LIFESTYLE.