Want to Lose Weight? Don't Just Diet, Do it Different

Been down the diet road before? Most people like to wipe the slate clean at the beginning of the new year and set their goal to lose weight, but sadly many fail or fall back into their old bad habits.

By taking the time to brainstorm about why your past attempts to lose weight have failed and what you will do differently this time to achieve your goal gives you the opportunity to identify bad habits and what causes you to loose control of your weight.

Identify WHY!

Step 1: List reasons you might have a hard time controlling your weight or reasons you might be overweight

Example

1. Skip breakfast

2. Eat-out too much

3. Emotional eater

4. Lack of exercise

Step 2: Now is your chance to come up with ideas that will help BLAST those old habits!

1. Plan ahead and focus on having a healthy breakfast that is easy to prepare. If you tend to forget breakfast, keep a healthy breakfast bar in your purse or a few in your desk. You can also tape a large note to your bathroom mirror with a reminder" Eat Breakfast" You will quickly notice how much better you feel!

2. Eating out at restaurants can kill your diet plan! A salad and a soup have more calories in it than you think! Before eating at a restaurant, search the internet for their nutritional menu-choose your meal ahead of time so you know what is "really" healthy. Print the menu and keep a folder, it will come in handy again!

3. Identify what makes you "feel" like eating. Is it really hunger or have you had a bad day? Make sure you have fruit and veggies handy when you need to have that sweet treat. Chunks of cantaloupe or watermelon are a great natural way to curb these cravings. You'll feel great when you realize that you are not running to chocolate or cookies, instead you are having something healthy that can help your body. Also, realize that food can't cure your bad day or your bad feelings. It is a temporary fix that can make you feel worse. Each time you find yourself binging or eating out of control, take time to observe yourself, write down your feelings, how were you feeling, what was the root cause, and how could you have made different choices? Changing habits is easier than breaking them, but if your emotional eating is wrecking your diet plan, seek professional assistance.

4. Incorporating exercise is a key ingredient to your diet plan. You don't have to sign up at a gym to work a little physical fitness into your day. Simply take a walk, increasing your speed or physical exertion each time. Other simple ideas include purchasing a used treadmill on craigslist.com, ordering exercise videos on Netflix, or viewing exercise videos on YouTube.com for free!

Once you have identified reasons why your past diets have failed, you will have a new understanding about yourself and be able to identify and correct yourself when things get off track.

Good luck on your new weight loss plan!