Ladies, let’s be honest: diets are a drag. There’s nothing fun about starving yourself and slogging it out on a treadmill for hours at a time.
Diets make you tired, cranky and obsessive (believe us, we know). They send your stress levels soaring (‘why did I only lose a pound this week?!’) and they just generally take over your life.
So let’s see – stressful? Yep. Miserable? Definitely. Upsetting? Very. Why on earth would you want to put yourself through all this?
You see us women are a strange bunch. We think that in order to lose weight, we must completely punish ourselves. We associate diets with hard work. We associate exercise with pain. If we don’t feel miserable when trying to lose weight, then clearly we’re doing something wrong.
It sounds completely mad when you put it into perspective and it is. But we want to challenge your perspectives here. Let’s play the ‘what if?’ game.
What if losing weight was relatively easy? What if you could ditch the pounds but still enjoy the occasional treat? What if exercise not only gave your body a boost but it also boosted your mood and was something you looked forward to rather than endured?
What if dieting, dare we say it, was more about looking after yourself and less berating yourself?
What if.
Well here’s a newsflash – losing weight doesn’t have to be an ordeal. By making a few simple changes to your lifestyle and by choosing to focus on self-care rather than self-punishment, you’ll be amazed at how easy it can be.
So how can you do it?
Eat FOR your body, not against it: Your body is an incredible thing. Just think about all the things it does for you on a daily basis. Amazing, right? As such, a good practice to adopt is one where you eat FOR your body, not against it.
While junk food offers a quick alternative to feeling good, it clogs up your digestive system, makes your skin and hair dull and can cause you to pile on the pounds. How about instead of reaching for a digestive, you reach for a pomegranate? It tastes just as sweet as a biccie and it has the added benefit of giving your skin a boost, flushing out toxins and having less calories. Score!
The main thrust of eating for your body is all about making small substitutes throughout your life. If you usually have a bar of chocolate, swap it for something else. Want great glossy hair? Chow down on some apples covered in almond butter (amazing, seriously). Want to stop premature wrinkles? Have an avocado.
Even if you’re not the biggest fan when it comes to fruit and vegetables, keep an open mind and challenge yourself to try new things. You may find something that you absolutely adore.
Keep your portion sizes average and make these healthy swaps. This coupled with some fun exercise will see your waistline shrinking and the best thing? You won’t feel like you’re depriving yourself at all.
Choose fun over exercise: The gym is not the only option when it comes to getting fit. If the cross-trainer is your idea of hell, then make a point to choose fun over exercise. Try something that you think you can get into: how about yoga? Pilates? Tightrope walking classes? As long as it gets you moving and gives you a laugh, it’s a major yes.
Whoever says exercise isn’t fun clearly hasn’t explored other avenues to getting fit. Make it fun and you’re more likely to stick with it, make new friends and actually look forward to pulling yourself off the sofa in the evenings.
Celebrate your achievements: Too often when we’re stuck in the throes of trying to lose weight, we’re ridiculously hard on ourselves. We freak out if our grazing has been angelic all week and our scales refuse to budge. Healthy living should not be an ordeal. Not at all. If you lose a pound, great! Celebrate it! Buy yourself a new dress, go out for a cheeky cocktail with the girls. If you lose half a pound, still celebrate.
You’ve just committed yourself to changing your life for the better and you’re doing the best you can – become your own cheerleader and feel good about the positive steps you’re taking. This will help you to keep going on the odd week when all you really want is a bar of Dairy Milk and a takeaway.
