Don’t think thin!

When you are dieting and watching your weight, your main focus should never be to become thin. That will only lead to a really negative body image and you will see yourself as a failure. It is also dangerous as it can lead to eating disorders and depression.

 You need to keep in mind a good mental picture of you at a healthy weight, looking and feeling great. Don’t get too hung up on ‘being thin’. Stick thin is not attractive anyway.

Instead, try to eat in such a way that you’ll lose weight naturally. You can do this by planning your meals to include health and nutritious foods. The first thing to do is to make sure that you get enough fruit and vegetables in your diet, preferably at least 5 portions of one or the other each day. Second, reduce the number of fatty and high calorie foods you eat  – they won’t fill you up and you will be taking in more energy that you use. Third, drink lots nad lots and lots of water but not too much alcohol! Alcohol is packed with calories and it is also very dehydrating.

As silly as it sounds, talking to other people, sharing in their experiences and learning from their mistakes can help motivate you. Its a technique that is used to stay on target  in many areas of life, so why not do the same with dieting? Groups such as Weightwatchers offer great forums for people to come together and help one another whilst benefiting themselves as well by picking up on information from their fellow dieters. These organized groups can also offer fantastic sets of diets and controlled calorie foods to help you understand your body. They will help you to see eating healthily and doing more exercise as a normal part of your life after the initial changes have been made. That is why these groups often market themselves as weight management groups rather than purely dieting groups. The idea is to bring about a change in the way you think about food – so that you can make changes that will help you throughout life.

Each of these goals can be more easily achieved if you work with groups who can support you and offer you advice to achieve your goals! Why not look for a local group today? People do tend to lose weight more quickly when they have support.

 And come back to Diet Next to keep on track – we have plenty of diet tips and advice and its a fun site to explore,

Best

Jen x