Let’s get one thing straight. MOST diets don’t work. I think any intelligent life form is aware of this.
January for many people is usually filled with good intentions post appalling Christmas binges, many of which have just become the norm in the ‘festive’ season. ‘Oh well, ’tis the season to stuff your face with Gargantuan amounts of food that your body really doesn’t want but hey, if you try hard enough you can make Billy Bunter look like he’s been fasting. Jolly bloody stupid if you ask me. Once habits are formed they are very hard to break, but propelling yourself head long into a quagmire of unsustainable diets and renewed gym memberships isn’t the answer.
For what it’s worth and as a teacher of healthy eating, here are ten things NOT to do.
1) Don’t give yourself an unrealistic target to lose weight. PATIENCE. Individuals who lose weight over a longer period of time are more likely to keep it off.
2) Don’t take any notice of the latest ‘amazing’ celebrity diet. Don’t insult your eyes or use up your precious time by giving it the time of day. Step away from the lunacy.
3) Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. You are an individual with your own lumps, bumps and irregularities. My yoga students are all different shapes and sizes and all lose weight and tone differently from one another.
4) Don’t lose weight so quickly that you look gaunt, lined and just done in. What’s so bloody attractive about that?
5) Don’t insult your intelligence by believing you are a certain size because that’s what the shops tell you. The number of high powered women in my life suddenly become ‘blond’ because they’ve squeezed into an M+S 16 which over the years has evolved into being the size of a small tent.
6) Don’t ignore the surgery that’s on offer. If you’ve had a life time of yoyoing and end up bigger each year with a resulting dangerous BMI then a simple band could be the answer for you. There are different types of surgery on offer. It’s not failure, it’s taking control.
7) Don’t EVER try to look like someone to whom a man would be attracted. Do everything for yourself. And please don’t forget that nobody likes a string bean, apart from starving models who eat tissues.
8) Don’t obsess about your weight. OBSESSION often leads to failure and makes you a very dull person indeed. I firmly believe in the 80/20 rule. Try and look after yourself 80 percent of the time and relax for 20. That doesn’t mean binge, by the way.
9) Don’t be afraid to join a support group. If you’re with others, encouraging each other, it can only be a good thing. Weight Watchers allows you to indulge your love of food – we are not built to resist.
10) Don’t forget to LOVE YOURSELF. Once you do, emotional eating will become a lesser part of your life. That’s not an easy thing to achieve. All I can say is if you don’t, life will offer little pleasure and a lot of pain.
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