3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Trying a New Diet
Thinking about picking up another diet? You need to read this first!
Have you ever thought about how many diets you jumped into over the years? Maybe it’s a new trend at the start of a new year, an “all in” 30 day jumpstart before a vacation or big event, or you might keep coming back to the same ones over and over. Diets are tough — you give it your all, try to follow the rules, cut out the foods you need to, and for some reason… You can’t seem to make it stick.
Did you ever think that maybe it’s not YOU failing… but actually the diet that’s failing you?
Diets with short term promises simply don’t work! If they did, you wouldn’t constantly be searching for the next one, right? Diets tend to be restrictive, have a short sprint of HUGE lifestyle changes that are tough to stick to without easing in. It’s not your fault that the diets you’ve tried only stick for a bit of time, only tot fade off just in time for you to search for the next new thing. It’s hard to make drastic change overnight, or to follow a set of rules that are almost impossible to incorporate into your life in a way you can sustain them
But you still want better eating habits right?
Whether you’re looking to have a more balanced approach to food, find a healthy weight, or get more conisstency going with your eating habits — you should ask yourself these three questions before diving into that new diet.
3 Questions to Ask Before you Start Another Diet
Can I see myself eating this way forever?
Eating habits change over time, just like your goals and your health, but the basics of your habits remain about the same! I talk to my clients frequently about building a “baseline” within their eating habits — habits that carry them through 90% of their days, but can be adjusted or focused a little differently as those times arise. If a diet is calling for you to either cut out certain foods or food groups that you don’t want to part with for the long haul, then it likely won’t work for you, despite any short term results you might see.
Will eating this way disrupt my life?
It’s perfectly fine to make choices when eating out, cooking at home, or choosing to hit up happy hour based on your health goals — but it shouldn’t eliminate your entire social calendar! The extremes practiced in most diets usually mean dining out, eating with others, or cooking at home will look differently. If a diet calls for an 8 hour meal prep session when you just don’t have the time for that (or want to do that…) or asks you to skip every single night out with the girls to keep you from “slipping up” on the new rules — then it probbaly won’t last long term! Finding a balance (going back to that baseline idea) between being intentional with your food choices and allowing yourself to enjoy foods you might not eat every day, that’s where the real results happen.
Has this diet failed me in the past?
If you’re looking back to the diets of your past and hoping for different results, first reflect on why that way of eating didnt work the first (or second or third) time. Was it too restrictive? Did it make you feel low energy? Did it cause you to feel bloated or constantly hungry? There are a million reasons that a diet might not work, but looking back over why it hasn;t worked before, might juts convince you to skip out on picking it up again.
I will wrap this up with saying that not all diets are bad. (*gasp*) There are times in life or goals that you might want to achieve that do require a little more focus towards what you are eating in order to fulfill those dreams. Even in those moments, seeking the lowest calorie, most restrictive, most “opposite of what I’m doing now” way of eating, isn’t going to give you the long term balanced habits I know you are looking for. Focus on building those good baseline habits that can be flexible with your life and your goals.
Have no idea what that looks like for you? Click HERE for a free Discovery Call to chat about your goals, your current habits, and if coaching with a Registered Dietitian is for you!
xx,
mallory