Have you ever tried to start a diet and had the most difficult time ever sticking to it? Most often that happens when you try to push yourself to go on a diet when you really don't want to. There is some inner resistance happening that will make failure certain (at least temporarily).
Below are 7 clues that you may not be ready to start a diet, along with tips for overcoming the resistance:
1 - You feel resentful or angry.
Does the thought of having to follow a specific eating plan bother you? Do you feel like it's a big pain in the you-know-what and you feel angry or resentful about it?
Overcoming this resistance can usually be accomplished by focusing on the parts of dieting that you DO like. Focus on having more energy, how good it feels to notice your clothes getting looser, or the high you get from seeing that you've lost a few pounds. If you can balance the negative with positive aspects, it helps reduce the resistance somewhat.
2 - You feel depressed about not being able to eat your favorite foods.
Usually this kind of resistance comes up when you are considering following a very strict diet that forbids most of the foods you love. But you don't have to follow such a strict plan to lose weight! Remind yourself that you can still enjoy foods you love, but you'll eat less of them. Maybe allow yourself one day per week where you can have a small treat. Or, make it your mission to seek out healthy alternatives to substitute the foods you love.
3 - You feel angry that everyone else can eat what they want but you can't.
Remind yourself that those people probably don't overeat the foods they love, and you are going to form better habits so you can enjoy your favorites without overdoing it.
4 - You start thinking about ways you can cheat.
Again, this is usually the byproduct of feeling like you must give up every food you love, and it's just not necessary to do that. Make a rule that you can have any food you like, but you are going to limit treats to once a week, or once every two weeks, and only a small serving. Then you won't feel the need to cheat because nothing will be forbidden.
5 - You hope to lose a LOT of weight FAST.
Unfortunately, it's not healthy or easy to drop a lot of weight quickly, and your desire to do so probably stems from the thought that you will only have to stay on the diet for a short time if you can lose weight very quickly.
Instead, focus most of your attention on improving your eating and exercise habits, and the more successfully you can do that, the quicker the weight will come off. And since you won't be attempting to lose weight through fad dieting or unhealthy activities, it will be more likely to stay off once you lose it.
6 - You see the diet as a temporary measure to drop weight so you can hurry up and go back to your old lifestyle.
Needless to say, this won't work long-term! See your new eating and exercise habits as a new lifestyle that you will maintain for the rest of your life, and you will find it much easier to stick with it.
7 - You blame everyone and everything else for the fact that you are overweight.
Diet success starts with taking full responsibility for where you are today. Even if you have "fat genes" in your family; even if you never realized how damaging excessive sugar consumption can be; even if no one ever showed you how to eat healthy - none of that matters once you take responsibility for your own health and well-being.
Once you can identify and resolve these inner conflicts, you'll find it much easier to start your diet and stick with it.
