If your goal is to lose weight permanently, then you need to stop dieting and change your lifestyle. Life is all about balance and we focus on three areas.
After reading this guide, you will learn
So, what is more important? Diet vs lifestyle?
Let us dive right in.
Have you ever been excited to start a diet on Monday, only to realize you gave up by Thursday? At PFMS we have worked with thousands of clients and the trend we see is the excitement / motivation loses steam at the 2 weeks to 3-week mark. Because that is when the same excuses of life, social, holiday or work kicks in. Which we have to admit will not go away anytime soon so we need to learn how to balance this the same way we have to have a balanced budget, so we do not continue to build debt.
Diets in general, are specifically designed to be temporary. That is really important for you to understand. Read that sentence again and again if you have to.
Dieting forces you to create a mindset that you are going to eat a certain way, for a finite amount of time. With a short-term goal in sight and then back to the poor choices that got you to start a DIET in the first place. Studies show and prove that 80% of dieting weight loss is regained in just a few months after stopping.
To where a lifestyle is creating a manageable plan long term, just like a savings plan to retire with financial security. The goals are to improve your health daily, weekly, monthly and yearly so you have a better chance of avoiding any major health risks.
Another difference between Dieting and Lifestyle is the all or nothing mentality with Dieting. Foods are classified as either all good or all bad. If the food is “bad’ you must avoid it at all costs, and if the food is “good” you can eat lots of it. It is either black or white with no gray in between.
And so on and so on!
Lifestyle changes are for the long term. By definition, they are meant to be permanent changes to your daily routine.
You are not bound by specific rules of what you can and cannot eat.
You are not screwed if you go out to a restaurant, and they do not have “low fat” foods. You do not have to feel guilty when you go away on a vacation.
A lifestyle change is a conscientious choice to eat a certain way most of the time.
Notice how I said, “most of the time.”
Perfection is not necessary. When you make a lifestyle change, it is the sum of all your work that matters, not how many days were you perfect.
That is why lifestyle changes are long term solutions.
So how do we get to this point in are life so we can drop the body fat, waistline and be happy with what we see in the mirror?
First it does take time to identify the foods, macros and micronutrient deficiencies, improve gut health and hormone balance. You will need to follow a restrictive plan to get these answers. Just like paying of debt you must run a tighter financial budget, which means you cannot go buy what you want when you want. So, you will be limited on food choices and what is commonly called cheat meals. But again, like paying off debt gives you more flexibility in fun money and ability to save for your future. Once you have identified the foods that best work with your body also known as food sensitivity, these become your staples in your day-to-day routine. Keeping inflammation low, keeping your waistline trim, hormones balanced and energy high to get through each day.
Wouldn’t it be nice to finally have a plan that you can follow long term that keeps you in a healthy body fat range and still enjoy time with family and have a social life? If we can budget our finances, then we can budget our food choices! To stop building the fear of failure each time you start and stop a diet only making it harder each time as you lose confidence in yourself each time you do not follow through.