How to Keep to Your 2015 Food Resolutions

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There are many guides out there with tips and ideas for New Year’s resolutions, but if you are a disheartened dieter, these tips will help you make 2015 the year in which you are able to keep to your dieting resolutions.

Making Realistic Goals and Viewing Setbacks Positively

You should view failures as “temporary setbacks that make your goal meaningful,” according to life coach, Margie Warrell. She says you should gain understanding from them, rather than giving up. If you failed in previous years, think about why? Was the goal you set too much? And once you start with this year’s goals, are you taking it one day at a time or seeing a whole year of healthy eating stretching ahead of you and being daunted by the task? Why not try the advice of Corazonas Foods. They say “Set small goals. For example, if you are trying to lose 20 pounds, break up the weight into 3-5 pound goals every month or two… It increases your chances for keeping it off!”

Avoid Temptation in The Supermarket and Don’t Buy “See Food”

Dr. Joshua C. Klapow, suggests you should write a list ahead of time. Writing a list should help keep your mind from going blank, and from seeing the nearest thing ahead of you as what you want and need to buy. Many people can be caught out this way, including those who are ‘healthy.’ We are all human after all and shops exploit our desires to their profit. Decide not to get carried away and stick to a list. Avoid going down the aisles with unhealthy food on the shelves. And the Dr. says it’s a good idea to take a friend. Apart from conversation being a distraction, you both become responsible for the shopping.

Create a New Reward Cycle

Tiffany, an ex plus size model, says in her blog ‘The Gracious Pantry,’ if eating is a way to make yourself happy temporarily, then try to reward yourself with something else. There are many things you can do, including going for a walk, taking in the sites, getting a manicure, or buying a pair of shoes. Think of the things you like apart from food and slowly try to shift your focus onto the alternatives one day at a time.

Eat Carbs and Don’t Try to Starve Yourself

What makes a healthy meal? Despite the carb free diet fads, carbs are not innately bad for you. According to ‘goodcarbs,’ if you stay on a diet of good carbs, such as whole grains, vegetables and fibrous food, then you will stay feeling fuller for longer and there will be less room for unhealthy snacks and foods.

Make it a Joint Effort

Having a friend or group of friends to give you moral support is always a good step, as ‘Forbes says. Sometimes it’s necessary to get a professional involved, but having someone else to hold us accountable is a great way of beating the resolution blues. Many people go it alone and when it doesn’t work out, it just fizzles away, but with positive people around you, who know about your goals, you can’t hide or get as discouraged when it seems slow.

What to remember?

So, set yourself realistic goals. Start small and take baby steps. Confide in your most trustworthy friends what you are attempting to do this year and make them the people you are accountable to. Reward yourself with something other than food and don’t starve or deprive yourself completely or it’ll be harder in the long run. Take a list to the supermarket. And if nothing else shakes food from your mind, remember one eye-opening quote from the “Gracious Pantry,” “Do Not Reward Yourself With Food… You Are Not A Dog.” Treat yourself and your body with respect and it will look after you for many years to come.

 

This post was written by Aviva Hill, Yale-trained physician specializing in integrative medicine for women and children from Life of Health and Wealth

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