One common characteristic of extreme diets is that they’re spawned by
fads.
One moment they’re veritably unknown, and the next, they’re all over
the papers and TV. Hyped ads, these diet plans usually die
down as fast as they shoot up to fame.
Here are three simple reasons why most extreme diets will only
work temporarily:
- Many individuals taken by the hype jump
into the bandwagon without first assessing how committed they will be.
They’ll go hungry for a couple of days and
decide that it’s too much as hunger pangs start gnawing at them.
The following are a few things you need to
first ask yourself before embarking on an extreme diet:
- Are
you prepared to take the flak?
Expect the usual cynical questions and
comments from family and friends, and decide how to deal with them.
“Oh, you’re on another fad diet again,
huh?” or “I’ll bet you a hundred you’re going to stop this
foolishness after a week.”
- Do
you honestly think you can manage the changes?
If your new diet calls for replacing meat
with tofu or doing away
with your usual comfort food such as pastries and potatoes, make sure
you’re ready to make that change.
Don’t falter and start to indulge in
self-pity when you’re already there.
- Would
you be able to maintain a different lifestyle?
If your group is into after-office
cocktails, parties, or dining out often, do you think you can stay on
track?
- Are
you equipped in the kitchen?
Most fad diets call for cooking your own
special meals. Study the
equipment needed and decide if you’re determined enough to invest in
the tools.
- Those who aren’t well-prepared at dealing with
crash diets find the extreme hunger intolerable.
Some people succeed during the first few days
– actually losing a few pounds – but binge on food when they feel
like rewarding themselves. It’s
sort of making the most of not having to cut down on food when they go
on a diet day-off, such as during the holidays – resulting in yo-yo
dieting.
- Most fad diets are low-carb diets.
Since carbs remind us of good times such as
picnics with mashed
potatoes and pies and holidays with turkey stuffing and scrumptious
cookies.
If you restrict carb intake or attempt to
eliminate them from your
diet, you’ll end up binging on them eventually.Rather than doing away
with them, just change the types of carbs you eat.
Moreover, once a person has reached the
targeted weight, her mindset is that the diet is finished
and she’ll end up going back to her old ways.
It makes good sense to have a change of lifestyle
instead of obsessing over extreme diets.
As long as your diet is sensible, you need not skip meals. Stick
with normal food but take less of it. To keep from starving, adopt a
snacking habit instead of three full meals a day.
If you combine this desirable eating habit with regular
exercise, you’ll shed pounds much slower, sure, but
because you have developed a routine, it’s more likely to have a
lasting effect.
