Tips On How To Make Your Diet Plan Work

Tips On How To Make Your Diet Plan Work

“Diet plans need not equate to deprivation and should instead focus on balance, moderation and common sense”

Trendy diet plans that promise quick results and hyped programs, often backed by dodgy science come and go. So, are you swept away by their claims? Do they work? And how long is it before you jump onto the next bandwagon of a ‘new’ diet plan? There is no dearth of diet plans. But which one do you opt for? The Paleo diet? Cabbage soup? Or the low fat, or zero carb diets?

Focus On Balance, Moderation And Common Sense

Ironically, when the word ‘diet,’ is heard, you visualize an unpleasant restrictive eating regime and being ‘on a diet plan’ usually translates to either cutting out or stepping up, the intake of a key food group so that you can achieve your desired weight loss goals.

However, this concept is some what misleading and often backfires. Diet plans need not equate to deprivation and should instead focus on balance, moderation and good common sense. Thus, perhaps it is time to revisit the meaning of the word ‘diet’ and think beyond ‘weight loss.’

Opt For Healthy Lifestyle Changes

The trick is to choose the rules that make sense and then make a concerted effort to fit them into your lite. Instead of chasing the dream of losing weight quickly, try to incorporate healthy lifestyle changes that can be made a part of your daily lite, to keep the extra kilos and diseases away permanently. A diet plan, if planned sensibly and customized to an individual’s lifestyle, eating and activity pattern and also medical conditions, can indeed be effective to achieve a healthy weight and maintain it too. Hence, here are a few smart dieting strategies that live up to their promise and deliver good health.

Key Tips For An Effective Diet Plan

Set Achievable And Manageable Targets

The first step to succeed in any diet plan would be to set specific, short term goals and then chalk out a game plan to achieve them. It the goal is to avoid unhealthy late afternoon binges, then keep healthy snacks handy and if you wish to increase fruit consumption, keep a target of one fruit a day, initially and then gradually step up to two-three fruits a day.

Strike A Balance

In order to reap nutritional benefits, it is important to maintain the right balance of all nutrients, without going too high or too low on one. Crash diets and lopsided diets may show drastic results, but get difficult to continue in the long run and is more likely to cause cravings, mood swings, nutritional deficiencies and rebound weight gain.

Ditch Refined And Processed Foods

Replace nutrient depleted junk and processed foods with natural, whole and fresh foods. There is no need to ban a food group completely, but rather look for healthier options within the same group. Swap simple sugars with high fibre complex carbohydrates such as whole grain, millets and brown rice; trans and saturated fat with healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, fish).

Weight loss seekers must go for plans that encourage high volume and low calorie recipes, such as broths, soups and salads and lean protein sources like egg whites, beans and tofu, as they help to feel full faster and rev up the metabolism too.

Team Diet With Activity

Ensure that the diet plans are complemented with a regular exercise routine. Brisk walking, dancing, swimming or hiking – choose an activity that interests you and that can be easily incorporated into your daily regime.

Don’t Mix Emotions With Foods

Once in a while, all of us succumb to emotional eating. But being able to recognize the common triggers that tempt you to go off your diets and adopting stress busting techniques like listening to music, talking to friends or distraction may prove helpful.

Make Healthy Eating A Habit

Healthy eating habits should not be a temporary fix and dieting can be fun and effective, if you start enjoying the simple diet tweaks, done for better health. However, be mindful about the choice of foods you put on your plate and soon healthier habits will pave their way out of the diet plans and into your lifestyle.

Be Flexible

Allow yourself an occasional treat in the diet plan. Don’t forget to pat yourself on your back for small accomplishments and avoid being too harsh or critical, If you stumble.

Track Your Progress

Tracking progress is crucial to keep dieters motivated and this can be easily accomplished by maintaining a food diary, or through mobile apps, pedometers and online tools.

Leave a Comment