If you are reading this, you probably know how difficult enough it is to lose weight. However, keeping that weight off is a tedious challenge in its own right.
When the time comes to lose weight, the first strategies that come to mind for most are:
1. Cutting out all food that he/she enjoys eating, usually replacing them with something they don't like. No matter what you think at the time, you won't be able to go on for very long without ever eating your favorite foods again.
2. Picking up a plan that requires hours of preparation and effort to get results. Diets like these allow absolutely no room for mistakes and are easily sabotaged by unexpected events (work, children, family etc.)
3. Taking on unrealistically restrictive diets that shrink your menu to the point that it is all but impossible to survive on long-term.
Nobody in their right mind would think that a diet so restrictive would be a lifelong commitment. Many take on these punishing diets as short cuts to get down to their ideal weight quickly for an event like a wedding or vacation.
However, even if you lose all the weight you intended to, chances are you will go running back to your old diet as soon as you drop that last pound. Of course, once you pick up your old eating habits you will inevitably pick up your old weight in the process. This is why it is called yoyo dieting.
If you want to avoid the yoyo effect, you need to change the way you view weight loss. Instead of making your diet a short, torturous stint, try to think of it as a new lifestyle. Making baby steps towards changing your eating habits will support getting down to and keeping a healthy weight long-term.
There is no need to make these changes quickly or drastically. You can start out by making a single small change once a week or so. For example, the first week you can begin drinking more water, the next you start eating fruit and yogurt for breakfast and so on.
The final and most important key to losing weight is your approach. You wouldn't jump into a new career with a short-term mindset, would you? With the right amount of patience and the right kind of attitude succeeding in your new, healthy, slim lifestyle will be just as easy as it is rewarding.
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