Why is it difficult to diet?

It's very difficult for someone who has never eaten healthily to adopt a healthy eating plan, so here are some tips to help you prepare to start, and always rely on your trainer for support.

How to Improve Your Eating Habits:

Many of us have developed eating habits. Some habits are good (“I always eat fruit for dessert”), and others not so good (“I always have a sugary drink after work as a reward”). Even if you’ve had the same eating habits for years, it’s not too late to improve them.
Sudden and radical changes in eating habits, such as eating nothing but cabbage soup, can lead to short-term weight loss. But these extreme changes are neither healthy nor beneficial and won't help in the long run. To improve eating habits permanently, you need an approach that involves Reflecting, Substituting, and Reinforcing.

–REFLECT on all your eating habits, both good and bad, as well as the things that trigger you to eat unhealthily.
–REPLACE your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
–REINFORCE your new eating habits.

–REFLECT:
A woman sitting in a chair writing in a notebook
Make a list of your eating habits. Keeping a food diary for a few days, where you write down everything you eat and when, will help you discover your habits. For example, you might find that you always crave something sweet when you feel your energy dip in the mid-afternoon.
Underline the habits on the list that are causing you to eat more than you need. Eating habits that can often lead to weight gain include:

• Eat very fast
• -Eat everything served on your plate
• Eating when you're not hungry
• Eating while standing up (can cause you to eat without thinking about what you are eating or very quickly)
• Always eat dessert
• Skipping meals (or just breakfast)

–REVIEW unhealthy eating habits that you have underlined. Be sure to identify all the factors that trigger those habits. Identify some of the ones you will try to change first. Don't forget to congratulate yourself on the things you do well. Maybe you almost always eat fruit for dessert or drink low-fat or fat-free milk. These are good habits! Recognizing your achievements will motivate you to make more changes.

–Prepare a list of “triggering” factors”Reviewing your food diary will make you more aware of where and when "triggers" for eating even when you're not hungry arise. Note how you usually feel on those occasions. Often, an environmental "trigger" or a particular mood is what prompts us to eat even when we're not hungry. Common triggers that lead to eating when you're not hungry: A young person looking for something to eat in a refrigerator
Open a drawer and find your favorite snack.
Sitting at home watching television.
Before or after a meeting or a stressful situation at work.
Arriving home from work and having no idea what you're going to eat.
Imagine someone offering you a dish they made "just for you"!
Walking past a sweet dish on a counter.
Sitting in the work cafeteria near the vending machine for sweets or snacks.
Seeing a plate of donuts in the morning during a work meeting.
Stop by the window of your favorite fast food restaurant every morning.
Feeling bored or tired and thinking that eating something will lift your spirits.

–Circle the “triggering factors” From the list you face daily or weekly, getting together with your family for Thanksgiving can be a trigger for overeating. It would be good to have a plan ready to counteract these triggers. But for now, focus on the ones you experience most often.

–Ask yourself the following for each “triggering” factor that you have circled:
Is there anything I can do to avoid this trigger or situation? This option works best with triggers that are independent of others. For example, could I take a different route to work to avoid stopping at my favorite fast-food restaurant? Is there another place in the work cafeteria where I could sit that isn't near the vending machine?

–Of the things I can't avoid, Is there anything I can do differently that's healthier? Obviously, you can't avoid all situations that trigger unhealthy eating habits, such as work meetings. In these circumstances, evaluate your options. Could you suggest or bring healthy snacks and drinks? Could you volunteer to take notes to distract your attention from those snacks? Could you sit farther away from the food so it's not easy to grab something? Could you eat a healthy snack before the meeting?

–Replace Replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. For example, when reflecting on your eating habits, you might realize that you eat too quickly when you're alone. To counteract this, arrange to have lunch with a coworker every week or invite a neighbor over for dinner one night a week. Other strategies include putting your utensils down between bites or minimizing other distractions (like watching the news at dinnertime) that prevent you from paying attention to how long you're eating or how much you're consuming.
Here are more ideas for replacing unhealthy habits:

Eat more slowly. If you eat very quickly, you may finish all the food on your plate without realizing you were already full.

Eat only when you are truly hungry, Instead of eating because you're tired, anxious, or in any other negative mood, try doing something else. If you find that you're not eating because you're hungry but because you're bored or anxious, try doing something else that doesn't involve eating. You might feel better after a brisk walk or by making a phone call to a friend.

–Plan your meals with time to ensure they will be healthy and well-balanced.

Reinforce your new healthy habits And be patient with yourself. Habits are formed over time; they aren't adopted overnight. When you find yourself engaging in an unhealthy habit, stop quickly and ask yourself: Why am I doing this? When did I start doing it? What do I need to change? Don't be too hard on yourself or think that one mistake will ruin an entire day of healthy habits. You can do it! You can do it one day at a time!
Joseomega Coach