Ever wonder why most diets fail? Is it because they're too strict or expensive? Or perhaps you simply lack willpower? When it comes to dieting, the convenience factor can make or break your success.
Most weight loss plans are not sustainable in the long run. Often they're too restrictive eliminating entire categories of food. Sometimes they require purchasing special shakes or powders, occasionally everything has to be purchased through one particular company. All of these can be lumped under what we call diet "friction." This friction can drain our motivation to stick with it or even drain our energy to make other healthy choices.
Why "Traditional" Dieting Doesn't Work
Over 95 percent of diets don't work on long-term. According to researchers, it's easy to lose five to 10 percent of your weight on most diets, but the weight comes back within one to five years. What's even worse is that once you stop dieting, you gain more pounds than you've lost before getting started.
This can happen for a number of reasons. If you go on a crash diet, your food choices are limited. Do you really think it's possible to eat cabbage soup only and maintain your weight afterward? As soon as you return to normal eating, the pounds will add up. Your body is starving, so it will store calories to recover from stress and sustain itself.
What if you try a seemingly healthy diet like Atkins or Dukan? Just because these slimming plans are more balanced, they're still too restrictive and complicated.
The Dukan diet, for instance, requires a lot of cooking and has lots of rules. In the first week, you can only eat protein.
During the next phases, you'll have to mix protein-only days with "regular" days, stick to one or two tablespoons of oat bran, and restrict even the most acceptable foods. It's necessary to weigh every ingredient, keep track of everything you eat, and limit most carb sources.
Don’t get us wrong – meal prep isn’t a bad thing. On the contrary – it can save you money and make it easier to stick to your diet. Unfortunately, it’s time-consuming and does take some planning.
We gain weight by eating "comfort" foods that are readily available and taste good. Then we cut off everything we love and reach for quick fixes to lose the extra weight.
We choose inconvenient diets hoping that our metabolism will skyrocket and the pounds will melt off in a short time - if not overnight. As soon as we see results, we return to our old eating habits and gain the weight back. It's a vicious circle that never ends.
Why Convenience Matters
Despite your best efforts, you can’t give up carbs or fats forever. Also, you might not be able to spend hours cooking every day. Someday, you might not afford those fancy shakes and smoothies that promise weight loss. Or they could simply go off the market.
The more flexible a diet is and the better it fits into your lifestyle, the higher your chances of success. Ideally, you should forget the D word in the first place. If you make smart food choices, you won’t have to "diet" ever again.
Weight loss comes down to the things you do every day. If crash dieting worked, obesity wouldn't be an issue anymore. Commit yourself to healthy eating and turn it into a lifestyle. Choose foods that are both convenient and good for you, such as:
· Fruits
· Raw, frozen, or canned vegetables
· Basic meals that take minutes to prepare (tuna salad, vegetable frittata, roasted or grilled chicken, grilled fish, etc.)
· Simple ready-made meals (consisting of basic combos like chicken and vegetables, hummus, turkey wraps, and so on)
· Packaged salad greens
· Complete salad kits
For instance, most grocery stores sell ready-made chicken breast or thighs. Most times, it's quite healthy and contains no preservatives other than salt. Another good choice for busy days is canned tuna. You can always choose a low-sodium brand. Simply mix it with some greens and enjoy it at home, at work, or on the go.
Plus, you can use meal delivery services as an alternative to eating out. If you think meal delivery services are expensive just add up your monthly bills for take-out. Although nowadays, most restaurants have at least a few healthy dishes on their menu.
Clean eating doesn’t have to be difficult. It all comes down to your food choices. Forget about crazy diets and focus on improving your eating habits.