It’s the start of a new year and a new decade, dieting is all the rage and making healthier changes and life choices is high on people’s priorities. You’ve decided to make a healthy change – and know that sticking to a diet is the best approach.
There are so many different diets out there all claiming different results. It’s hard to filter through them and make a decision on which route to choose. The truth is that everybody is different. Everybody’s body is unique and people react differently to different diets and lifestyle choices.
There is no one size fits all with dieting however there are a few key things to remember and a few approaches you should take in order to achieve your goals and sticking to a diet that WORKS.
Food Diary
The best way to get started would be to log what you eat for a week before you start anything. It’s hard to visualise what it is you actually eat each week and a good way to do this is to keep a food diary. At the end of the week you can see what you’ve eaten and when you’ve eaten it. This is a way to start implementing your healthy change. You can then see what your current diet actually looks like. It gives you a base to move forward from, the times in which you eat is a big one too. Here are five great apps which you can download and start using immediately.
Movement Tracker
Everybody’s lifestyle is different and you have to tailor your new diet to your lifestyle in order for it to be effective and increase the chances of longevity of the diet. Start tracking your fitness and movement – what you do each day. If you only walked 20 mins during the day then up that by 10 mins the next day and you’ve made a great start. Consistent small improvements will lead to big changes and you won’t feel overwhelmed. We love the Fitbit which makes it really easy to access your activity levels and monitor it simply. Trying to make big dramatic changes often ends in failure, you need to ease yourself into it and make it part of your lifestyle.
Research
A rule of thumb for anybody looking to make a healthy change, and actually stick to a new diet, you need to research into a selection of diets. They won’t all work for you. If you are going to be unable to consistently do the diet then maybe take some aspects out of it that you can 100 percent do. You have to be realistic and realistic in what you can actually do. Life gets in the way and you need to be able to tailor your diet and eating habits so that they fit in with your lifestyle so that it will be obtainable. Sticking to your diet is key to making a change – so don’t over-reach and change everything – baby steps!
Give it time
With any option and diet you decide to try you have to remember that it will be a big change for your body and you have to give your body time to settle in. Your will power is key, as once you get past the initial first couple of weeks it will start to become the norm and things will settle down. The cravings will go and you’ll be able to push forward with your diet and reap the benefits.
The main problem and the issue with all of us is sugar and our sugar intake. Pretty much everything you buy ready-made in a shop will have sugar in it – even bread has sugar in it! Regardless if it’s sweet or savoury it will include sugar. Start to look at labels on foods as it will help you make better conscious decisions, you will start to notice all the additives and high sugar content in most of the foods you buy. Being aware of this is brilliant for you, means you will start to make good decisions over bad ones.
A few things to think about when wanting to be healthier:
- Eat whole foods
- 3/4 small meals a day
- No carbs after 6 o’clock
- Drink plenty of water
- Be conscious of your sugar intake
Remember that your body will take time to adjust and decreasing your food intake will make you hungry at first but after a week you will realise your not actually hungry its just that your body is used to a certain routine. It’s about creating new habits and making them stick. Your body sometimes confuses hunger for thirst, when you get hungry have some water. Have a goal, build yourself up to it slowly and don’t freak out if you slip up. We are only human and things don’t always go to plan but being more aware will mean 9 times out 10 you will make a good choice and maintain your goal.
Polo & Tweed
Hopefully these tips and pieces of advice will help you. If you need additional help you can always get in touch with Polo & Tweed, with a wide range of high calibre and experienced chefs trained in all sorts of different healthy cuisines. They can arrange to cook for you, or even create custom meal plans for you to follow.