|
Drop a dress size by Christmas...gain a dress size by Easter. If you keep it off that long. The Daily Mirror (UK) has selected four young mums to follow yet another diet plan with the aim of squeezing into their dream dress by Christmas. Sounds reasonable?I'll wager that all those ladies lose weight and it would be really interesting to follow their paths into the first few months of the new year. Losing weight is childsplay compared to the real challenge of keeping it off. It requires a complete lifestyle shake-up so why oh why do we persist with endless variations of diets such as these? We know in our hearts that they NEVER achieve permanent results. It's simply soul destroying to struggle through weeks of gnawing hunger and deprivation only to encounter the inevitable bodily rebellion (=binge) which negates every single one of our efforts. Every single time. One of my clients describes the utterly impossible task of fending off the overwheming desire to eat after a period of dieting as like having her whole body taken over by a ravenous alien being whom she is powerless to control.So what's wrong with this latest approach by the national daily? 1. The daily calorie consumption is too low. 1250 caloriesequals absolutely starving regardless of how many well meaning people wax on about filling up with vegetables and glasses of water. 2. One word: habits. There are glaring clues in the women's stories. As one lady readily admits – she regularly eats four bags of crisps during the day and often tops up with more in the evening. Is it only me that thinks this has to be addressed FIRST? 3. The suggested meals are few and are dull. Five jelly babies or six marshmallows is far removed from many peoples idea of a rewarding 'snack'. Dull means danger when it comes to attempts to control eating. 4. Where's the exercise plan? One lady admits to losing focus and another to having dieted before "but the pounds crept back on". No surprise there then. Time to do something a little different maybe...? We never ever learn. It really is time to face up to those destructive habits, eat a little less and move a whole lot more. Throw in a measure of accountability (who's checking up on you?), commitment and focus and the plan looks a whole lot rosier. Add a little food and exercise knowledge and a detailed plan – more so than motivation. As Jim Rohn once famously said " Motivation alone is not enough. If you take an idiot and you motivate him, now you have a motivated idiot". |
Post a Comment