Eating healthy can lead to positive life changes such as losing weight and having more energy. It has also been known to help people lose weight and have more energy. Besides just eating healthy, finding the right diet can be the ideal way to stay on track and make a lifestyle change. The keto diet may help improve a mood and risk of heart disease. If you’re not familiar with the keto diet, it is a low carb and high-fat diet that has helped many people not only lose weight but improve their health in many other ways as well. There’s a book called the Body Reboot book that explains everything there is about the keto diet and why it works for many people just not as a diet, but as a new way of living.
Although receiving benefits from a new diet such as a keto diet is the goal, maintaining that lifestyle can be challenging. Here are some diet downfalls that you need to outsmart so you can stick to your diet and achieve all of your goals and then some!
Remember What Motivates You
When you feel like giving up on a diet, what motivates you to keep pushing on? Healthline mentions you will likely face temptations to eat unhealthy things and give up your diet, but if you do that you will end up where you started and why do that when you’re already doing such a great job?!
Remembering why you're making healthy choices can help you stay on course.
It can be helpful to make a list of the specific reasons why you want to get healthier.
Keep this list handy, and refer to it when you feel you need a reminder.
Keep it Simple
Writer Lindsey Benoit on Woman’s Day says to keep it simple. There’s no need to overcomplicate a diet. Don’t worry if you can’t perfect every keto meal out there. Luckily with the keto diet, you can prepare simple meals without going over the top by cooking extravagant meals. Take one day at a time and realize that your goals may not happen all at once. However, stick with it and every day take a moment to recognize the signs that tell you that you’re on your way to becoming healthier.
Originally, I pressured myself to work out every day and then I beat myself up about it when I didn't stick to the plan. But registered dietitian Jackie London explained to me why this strategy doesn’t work: “While you might be motivated to just sprint right out of the gate, we always lose steam once the motivation wanes and real life gets in the way,” says Jackie. “Adopting an all-or-nothing approach sets us up for failure because we haven’t made habits out of smaller changes that work for us—the ones that ultimately lay the ground work for a healthier lifestyle overall.” Instead, start with the smallest, easiest thing you can think of doing right out of the gate, and commit to doing that for just one month.
“The key is to have an overarching goal with a set list of specific, attainable objectives that you can establish for yourself in smaller, realistic, actionable chunks,” adds Jackie. “It’s so much less intimidating (and so much more exciting!) to get started on something new when you don’t have to think about the whole year ahead of you and you can just focus on one small task, one month, week, day, and even hour at a time.”
Get Rid of the Junk Food
Sticking to a keto diet means getting rid of the junk food and other non-keto type food items in the house. With tempting food items at every corner, it will be all the more challenging to stick to your diet. Clear out the kitchen and fill your refrigerator and cupboards with food that’ll help you stick to your goals. Healthline expands on this below:
It's really tough to eat healthy if you're always surrounded by junk foods.
If other family members want to keep these foods around, at least keep them hidden, rather than on counter tops.
The saying “out of sight, out of mind” definitely applies here.
Having food on display in various areas of the house has been linked to obesity and increased consumption of unhealthy foods.
Weight Loss Won’t Happen Overnight
You didn’t gain weight overnight so don’t expect to lose it overnight either. Women’s Health Mag says the common misconception is that many people expect to lose weight quickly, but that mentality causes many to gain the weight back after they’ve quickly lost it. Create positive and healthy habits that encourage you to lose the weight and keep it off for good.
We have a need for speed Getting results fast is the American way, but losing more than one or two pounds a week is self-sabotage. Researchers have discovered that leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells, helps control appetite by binding to receptors in the brain to tell you you're full. But leptin and fat are a package deal: Lose fat and you lose leptin, too. “When leptin levels are low, the body reacts by conserving energy expenditure so much that you stop burning calories at a normal rate,” says Andrea Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D., national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “And that triggers weight regain.”
Don’t Snack at Night
You’re not alone when it comes to having a snack attack at night. It’s easy to feel like you need something tasty before going to bed. However, not only will snacking derail your weight loss goals, it’ll also cause you to make bad decisions! Fitness Magazine reveals that women tend to snack after dinner, which is why it’s so important to fuel your body with the good stuff earlier instead of getting hungry right before bed. Besides, that pint of Ben & Jerry’s shouldn’t be in the freezer anyway. It’s far from being keto friendly!
You're good all day, and then — wham! — that pint of Ben & Jerry's is history. Thirty-one percent of women surveyed by FITNESS said they munch more after dinner than at any other time.
To stop raiding the pantry and start dropping:
Take a crack at eggs. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day; skipping it can create a vicious cycle. “If you don't fuel your body properly, you'll be nibbling on everything in sight by the time 9:00 p.m. rolls around,” Bannan says. A balanced a.m. meal of eggs, whole-grain toast ,and fruit will curb your hunger all day — and night.
Delay dinner. “If you normally have your evening meal at 6:00 p.m., push it back to 8:00 or 9:00,” Bauer suggests. Eat a piece of fruit when you get home, exercise, and then start supper. You shouldn't feel hungry again until the next morning.
Enjoy Yourself
A diet doesn’t have to be boring! If it is then you’re doing it all wrong. Don’t let a borning diet be your downfall. The keto diet makes it possible to make meals that work for you and that taste good, and implement exercise that’ll keep you on the right track too. Short and high-intensity workouts are the best on keto, but do what makes you feel good. You deserve to have and enjoy it while losing weight and making better decisions!
Ask yourself what your favorite type of exercise is, and do it. If you force yourself to do a workout that is boring, then you'll never enjoy working out. The more you have fun, the more likely you'll return to that activity.
Note: Make sure to mix things up. You don't want to do the same routine or activity over and over. Your body will get used to the same movement and eventually plateau. Test the waters and try new activities that challenge your muscles.
Eat Before You Go
Zen Habits brings up an excellent point, which is that it’s important to chow down on a healthy keto-friendly snack before you go somewhere as opposed to waiting until you get back when you’re super hungry. If you go somewhere that has tempting non-keto food and you’re really hungry you may give in to temptation and that will just thwart your weight loss goals. Have a plan ahead of time by eating something before you leave or at least have a healthy snack for the road so you’ll stick to the diet.
If you’re going out to a restaurant or party, eat a small healthy meal first. That way you won’t be starving and won’t need to eat a huge amount of unhealthy food. You can get by on a salad or some fish and steamed veggies or an appetizer or something like that, and still enjoy the company of your friends and loved ones.
At the time of writing this post, we're currently giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book because it's our mission to increase awareness and to help people lose weight and get healthy! If you help us cover the cost of shipping, we’ll send a copy to your door FREE. Go over to this page to see if there are any copies left.
Sources: Healthline, Woman’s Day, Active, Fitness Magazine, Women’s Health, Zen Habits
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