Thoughts and Actions that Sabotage a Diet

It's true that we often blame life, stress and other out of our hands problems on our weight loss failure. The truth is that we often sabotage our own diets. Sometimes we don't even realize that's what we're doing, but it happens. There are thoughts and actions that can ruin your weight loss streak. Before you make your next attempt to lose weight, or get off track again, consider the following and how you may be sabotaging your own weight loss.

A Small Drop in the Bucket Scenario

A friend approaches and comments on how great you look. Instead of accepting the compliment and feeling good about your accomplishments, you ruin the moment with one simple thought. You think to yourself, "I've lost 20 pounds, but I have so much further to go." This will ultimately sabotage your diet. When you focus on how much further you have to go to meet your goal, the achievements you've made so far can seem very small. To keep your diet on track, celebrate the smaller accomplishments. Losing any weight at all is a big deal and a step in the right direction. Reward yourself and keep moving forward.

Bad Rewards

One action that can sabotage your diet is to reward yourself with food. First of all, you should never eliminate all your favorite foods from your diet. Doing so can sabotage your diet. You must learn moderation. This means that it's okay to have a candy bar once in a while. When you learn moderation, you focus on healthy eating. Rewarding yourself with bad food doesn't teach you anything. In fact, it reenforces the idea that once you've lost the weight you can go back to eating bad foods, which isn't true. Losing weight should be about changes that you can live with long after the weight is gone.

Blowing It

Another thought that can sabotage your diet is to think that it's okay to go hog wild cause you've already blown it. This couldn't be further from the truth. Just because you ate a bit too much at that party doesn't mean you need to blow the rest of the day. When you believe this assumption, chances are you'll continue to blow your diet the next day, the next week and eventually give up your diet altogether. The key is to get back on track as soon as possible. Remember, one meal or one candy bar isn't going to blow your diet. Take a deep breath and get back on track.

Winging It

One of the most careless actions you can make when dieting is to go through your day with no plans. Losing weight requires planning. You need to know what meals you're going to prepare, if foods meet your dietary needs and even what you're going to order at a restaurant. You cannot wing it and expect to lose weight. You need to do research, plan and keep track.