4 Lies We Tell Ourselves

Lies We Tell Ourselves When we decide to better ourselves health-wise by going on a diet to shed unwanted pounds and inches, we typically tell ourselves we’ll eat better and exercise, etc, etc More often than not we only live this way for a very short period of time.

We don’t have to lie to ourself.

Start by setting small goals and by being honest with yourself. If you can’t be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with?

Only you can control what you put into your mouth, how much and how often.

Only you can control what kinds of exercise you’ll do, how often, and how long.

You know yourself better than anyone else ever could, so start there. If you absolutely hate to run don’t tell yourself you’re going to run a mile every day. If you love cheesecake don’t tell yourself you’ll never have another slice! It’s not very likely to happen.

Start small and work your way to a better you day by day. Choose an activitly that you enjoy and that you are likely to stick with. Resolve to only eat half of a slice of cheesecake instead of the whole thing. Stop taking seconds, or eat it less often.

Little by little you can overcome your personal weaknesses and become the person you know you are inside. Strong, fit, and HEALTHY. You should NEVER do anything unhealthy to lose weight. Resorting to starvation or diet pills or anything like that will only leave your body starving for whatever nutrition it can get, even if it is bad.

The 4 Lies We tell Ourselves are:

Diet Foods and Diet Drinks are better for us
Lowfat foods are good for us
If we starve our self we’ll loose weight faster
We can not stray/cheat on our diet or else we’ve blown it

1. Diet Foods and Diet Drinks are better for us

Switching to diet soda is not going to change anything – It’s loaded with sugar substitutes and other unhealthy chemicals. A recent study found that those who drink diet sodas are even more likely to be fat. Instead of changing to diet soda, limit your carbonated drinks. Cut back and eventually you will find yourself able to go all day without one, or even just one a day (remember, think in baby steps-obtain one small goal at a time). It’s all right to have a soda every now and then – But for the most part you should drink water, milk and juices.

Diet Foods are not created equal. You need to read labels. Many diet foods are LOADED with sodium. Some have more calories than it’s natural counterpart.

2. Lowfat foods are good for us

There is a common misconception that lowfat foods are better for us – therefore we tend to eat more of them than we would of “regular” foods. First of all, they may have removed a lot of the fat from those foods but usually they packed it full of sugars or other ingredients that are just as harmful to us, only different. Secondly, if you eat MORE just because it is “lowfat” you are doing yourself an injustice because the lowfat versions typically have the same if not more calories as the “regular” version.

3. If we starve our self we’ll loose weight faster

Regardless of how many times and ways it’s said, many people resort to starving themselves to lose weight. They figure “I only need to lose a few pounds, so I just won’t eat very much for a week.” By eating a very minimal amount of food, you are starving your body of the nutrients and vitamins it needs just to sustain itself.

The less you eat, the slower your metabolism will become making it easier to gain and harder to lose. Your body will go into survival mode where it will begin to turn your muscle into fat to keep working. These things will happen even in a very short period of time.

Instead of starving yourself choose to work out a little more (or start walking). Cut back on your fat and sugar intake. Eat more fruits and vegetables which feeds your body with vitamins and nutrients you need. You’ll stay fuller longer and you’ll be speeding up your metabolism.

4. We can not stray/cheat on our diet or else we’ve blown it

No matter how many times we’re told “never say never,” we do. Over and over again.

You’re human. Accept that it is okay to make a mistake, learn from it and move on. Don’t give up on your plan entirely just because you blew it during a meal, or even an entire day. If you go on vacation or there’s a holiday and you over-indulge, it is NOT the end of the world.

This is not a free pass to cheat on your diet or disregard it alltogether. You still need to be mindful of what you are putting in your body. Allow yourself some leeway if eat a little too much or have a piece of cake. It’s going to happen occasionally, because you are human but it doesn’t mean you’ve totally blown it and you’ll never get to your goals.

Do not let yourself fall into the “never” trap-”I’m NEVER going to lose this weight so I might as well get used to being fat and enjoy eating as much/whatever I want to.” That is a “never” attitude. You need to believe in yourself or you don’t really have much to believe in at all. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

By Staff Writer Amy Cravin

Technorati Tags: Diet, Goals, Diet Soda, LowFat, Healthy Eating