Habits – Not Diets

Most diet programs work; most dieters fail. How could two seemingly contradictory statements both be true? Let’s first be clear what I’m talking about. For the sake of this article we’re going to use the term “diet program” to mean a way of eating meant for weight loss, and the word “dieter” to mean someone who is following a diet program.

All effective diet programs regardless of their claims operate on the principle of creating a caloric deficit. One way or another you are taking in less energy (calories) than you are expending, which in turn causes weight loss. These programs each have their own risks and/or benefits for your health and body composition, but that is far beyond the scope of this article. If losing weight is as simple as eating fewer calories than you’re using, then how come every single one of us knows someone (or is someone) who is currently or has struggled with diet programs in the past? The answer is sustainability.

With almost all popular diet programs you are told to jump into the deep end and change the way you eat completely within the first couple of weeks. Furthermore you are told you must adhere to these rules no matter what.

Imagine for a moment that you wanted to run a marathon in 3 months. Would you go out and run the distance of the marathon your very first day of training? You might be able to get away with it once or twice, but with no time for you to adapt, you would feel exhausted and probably give up within the same week you started. We intuitively know this to be true with activity, so why do we stress our bodies and minds with large sudden changes to the way we eat? There is a better way.

The sustainable solution is habit based change. By focusing on changing one easy eating habit every 1 to 3 weeks your chances of making lasting sustainable changes are greatly improved. I must emphasize again to stick with one change and it must seem almost too easy. Remember, this is your marathon.

For example: how many servings of vegetables do you eat a day? If you eat no vegetables, try eating a single serving a day and if you already eat 2 servings, slowly work your way up to 3 to 5. Within just a few weeks you will completely own this habit and it’s time to move on to the next one. Over time the small deviations from traditional diet programs that would seem like disasters will appear to be small flukes since your default way of eating is the way you would like to eat. This is your sure sign that the changes you have made are here to stay.

In an ideal world everyone would have some sort of professional support on this journey. Knowing what to focus on and for how long can be tricky, but with a little bit of education and some determination you can change your habits and change the way you eat.