Make Positive Changes - Avoid Dieting

Why is it that merely saying the word "diet" immediately fills your head with thoughts of failure? Maybe it's because we've all learned through trial and error that diets simply don't work for most people? You're probably thinking "isn't this an article about dieting?" Yes and no. For many people dieting seems like the kiss of death, but for others a lifestyle adjustment like changing your diet could be just the thing that will mean success for you and your fitness and health goals.

Let's admit it, the majority of us love to eat. For some people, eating is an addiction. We don't like to feel deprived and a diet that never allows us to have a cookie of piece of cake can be pure torture. Eating stuff that tastes like cardboard can make you not want to eat at all. Unfortunately, you can't exactly give up eating all together. You have to eat to survive. This means that if food is a problem in your life, you should probably find a healthier way of viewing food.

Isn't this where diets generally come in handy? The short answer is no. This is where diets often fail. Diets do very little to change how we view food. In fact, most diets only serve to tell us which foods are good, which foods are bad, and which foods (typically most of the foods we enjoy most) are strictly taboo. Diets begin by forcing people to feel deprived or punished. And no one likes to feel either of these things.

Even worse however, is that we punish ourselves further when we slip up and stray off the straight and very narrow pathways upon which our diets place us. Then we wallow in guilt over every little misstep we take until we give up and decide to over indulge once again, completely ignoring the guilt.

In order to have real success you must make a lifestyle change. This is the only way that you will be able to shed those unwanted pounds without experiencing the horrible guilt that so many dieters go through each and every step of the way. Set goals for yourself. Keep them aggressive but realistic for fitness, dropping pounds, and eating new healthy foods. Even if your goal is as simple as eating 5 vegetable servings a day it is a great place to start. Taking baby steps is easier than running a marathon from day one.

Change your way of eating. Then change your way of seeing food and you will experience amazing changes in your attitudes toward your health, your body, and even your fitness level. As the first pounds begin to drop, you'll start to feel more energetic. You'll probably even feel pain when you're exercising. This should help keep you motivated to do even more as time goes by.

Long term weight is not easy. Meeting your weight loss goals will take commitment and discipline. The first five or ten pounds might come off quickly and easily. After that, the weight comes off more slowly and this is where most people get discouraged. Consistency is vitally important when making lifestyle changes. Take each day as it comes and begin again the very next day. This means that even if you fall completely "off the wagon" today, you can start over tomorrow. The trick is in staying the course and learning moderation and balance when it comes to trying not to stray from the straight and narrow.

There are numerous ways to mess up when it comes to dieting. Most of us will slip up from time to time and we have to remember that it's ok and we can get back on course pretty easily. Keep in mind that there no such thing as failure when you're making positive changes in your life that are getting positive results. It may take weeks, months, or even years to reach your goal. As long as you are making steady and continuous efforts and progress, you are doing many great things for your health and well being. Stick with it!

Denise Villani is an author and the webmaster of several websites and article directories. Find more articles and information on dieting and weight loss by visiting WeightLossStuff.info.

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Why Diets Don't Work - The Non-Dieter Mindset

So you're probably asking, "so what is the alternative?" I can't manage my weight on my own. At least diets give me something I can follow and much needed discipline. If not a diet, then what?

Well before we go further into this subject let us discuss what you can expect from this article series. What it is not is a magic formula. A formula is great to predict chemical reactions with precise accuracy in a controlled environment. But you are not a predictable chemical reaction. Every person reading this book right now is in a different environment, under different circumstances. There is no one thing that will work for everyone. This is the premise of diets, and this is what we are trying to get away from.

What the Non-Dieter Mindset seeks to do however, is to promote the attitude of the nondieter; to attempt to deprogram you so that you will never put yourself through the agony of another diet again. Perhaps this is the question of the century, and there's hardly one answer to it. But if you've ever been on one or two or 50 diets, you've probably answered this question by way of a trail of stories from here to infinity. But really, there are 5 fundamental reasons why diets don't work in my opinion.

#1 Reason Diets Don't Work: They regulate and dictate to you what you should and should not eat, taking all of the pleasure out of eating, and making it feel like a chore.

Now probably you are that unique type of person who loves chores, but for most of us chores really suck. Having an enjoyable meal is one of the greatest pleasures of life, and to put it frankly, diets spoil all the fun. Most diets get the boot before they pay off in pounds lost what they cost in dollars. Let's face it; we humans are not very good at doing non-fun things for too long.

#2 Reason Diets Don't Work: Someone who has most likely never met you or knows the lifestyle that you lead is dictating to you a 'cookie cutter' magic weight-loss formula. If you're the regular dieter, then you've probably purchased oodles of books and guides and programs developed by this or that fitness guru. You believed what they say, because after all, they're the expert, right? Try as you may, if the diet plan they're offering does not fit into your lifestyle or requires a dramatic overhaul of your everyday life that you are either unable or not ready to take on, then you are not likely to stick with it.

#3 Reason Diets Don't Work: Putting all our eggs in one diet. Many see a diet as the end-all, magic solution which it was never meant to be. Diets are never meant to be longterm, but in most cases achieving and maintaining your desired weight is. There is the possibility that a diet, for the duration of time that it lasts, could initiate an improvement in your eating that you are able to carry through long-term. However, diets can't replace good and healthful everyday eating practices.

#4 Reason Diets Don't Work: There are just too many diets out there, making it easier for people to simply drop off one hot diet craze, to get on another. If you want to loose weight, like yesterday, then you want to see results quick, and most diets play on this urgency that most dieters have to loose that weight. In fact, they often use this as part of their pitch line. "Loose 50 pounds in two weeks". You're desperate and you would do anything, so why not try it? Two weeks later you've barely lost 5 pounds, and you're beyond despondent. So you try another diet, because something must work. Slowly you're becoming a chronic dieter, and the vicious diet cycle begins.

#5 Reason Diets Don't Work: One word-Deprivation. We are surrounded by a bountiful supply of exciting and varied foods, but many diets force you to deprive yourself of entire groups or types of food at a time. The High-Protein Diet (Anti-starch), the Juice Diet, even the Bread Diet. But what about all of the other foods out there? Self deprivation of this magnitude might pass for a day or two, but hardly survives for a long time.

Of course, there are methods that do work. The one I recommend the most (thought about this for hours...) is currently offering free trials. This is a method that does not require dieting to be effective! Check below:

Read the free reports here to see what I mean. Here's where you'll learn how to naturally lose weight fast.

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