In today's dynamic and fast-paced world, sticking to a balanced diet can be challenging. Hundreds of fad diets, weight-loss programs, and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to make lasting lifestyle changes, focusing on sustainable habits rather than quick fixes. This article provides comprehensive strategies to help you stick to a diet, achieve your health goals, and maintain a balanced lifestyle.
Understanding the Fundamentals of a Balanced Diet
There are many ways to follow a balanced diet, and no two nutritious diets look exactly the same. Still, most successful, long-term balanced diets have at least one thing in common: They’re rich in whole foods. Whole foods are those that have been minimally processed, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds, eggs and dairy, and fresh animal proteins.
Balanced diets come in all shapes and sizes, but most of them are centered on nutrient-dense, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein. Shakes, supplements, and fad diets might seem useful on the surface, but time and time again, whole-foods diets have been linked to better health outcomes around the world.
Setting Realistic and Attainable Goals
Long-term weight loss takes time and effort. So be sure that you're ready to eat healthy foods and become more active. Talk with your healthcare professional if you need help taking charge of stress. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week over the long term. Losing 5% of your current weight may be a good goal to start with. If you weigh 180 pounds (82 kilograms), that's 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Even this amount of weight loss can lower your risk of some long-term health conditions.
It can help to set two types of goals. The first type is called an action goal. You can list a healthy action that you'll use to lose weight. For instance, "Walk every day for 30 minutes" is an action goal. The second type is called an outcome goal. You can list a healthy outcome that you aim to have. "Lose 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)" is an example of an outcome goal. An outcome goal is what you want to achieve. But it doesn't tell you how to get there. An action goal does.
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The Importance of SMART Goals
Many people set a lofty goal with no clear path for meeting that goal. For example, you might set the goal of losing weight. But how will you accomplish this? Lofty goals are focused on the result (the destination), not the behaviors that will lead you there (the journey). Set SMART goals to create an incremental, impactful, and sustainable journey toward the long-term goal. SMART goals are:
- Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.
- Measurable: Define the amount of change. Think about how much, how many, and how you will know when you have achieved the goal.
- Attainable: Identify what’s important to you and slightly challenging, yet doable.
- Relevant: Ensure the goal aligns with your overall objectives.
- Time-bound: Set a deadline for achieving the goal.
The Role of Motivation and Support
No one else can make you lose weight. You need to make diet and physical activity changes to help yourself. Make a list of reasons why weight loss is important to you. The list can help you stay inspired and focused. Maybe you want to boost your health or get in shape for a vacation. Think of your goals on days when you don't feel like eating healthy foods or moving more.
It's up to you to make the changes that lead to long-term weight loss. But it helps to have support from others. Pick people who will inspire you. If you prefer to keep your weight-loss efforts private, take some steps to stay on course. Track your diet and exercise in a journal or an app. Also track your weight. Having trouble losing or maintaining your weight? Find out how to reach your weight loss goals this year through a support network.
Working with a trained professional provides a support system to lean on. It likewise ensures you’re getting accurate and up-to-date information about well-balanced eating, as well as how to best stick with it.
Staying on Track
Find other ways to stay on track too. It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for just a few weeks or months. To keep off extra weight, you should make these healthy changes a way of life. Think about negative habits or other challenges that have kept you from losing weight in the past.
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You'll likely have some setbacks on your weight-loss journey. But don't give up after a setback. Simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle. Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.
Dietary Strategies for Success
To lose weight, you need to lower the total calories you take in from food and drinks. One way that you can take in fewer calories is to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are known as plant-based foods. They're low in calories and high in fiber. Fiber helps you feel full. Eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits a day. Have whole grains, such as brown rice, barley, and whole-wheat bread and pasta. Use healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and nut oils. Limit foods and drinks that have added sugar. These include desserts, jellies and sodas. Focus on eating fresh foods. They have more nutrition than processed foods. Processed foods often come in a box or a can.
Mindful Eating
It's a good idea to be mindful while you eat. Focus on each bite of food. This helps you enjoy the taste. It also makes you more aware of when you feel full. Try not to watch TV or stare at your phone during meals. Have you ever opened a bag of chips to snack on while watching your favorite show and ended up finishing the bag without noticing? This can happen when you're too distracted to notice your body's "full" signals.
The Importance of Whole Foods
Ultra-processed foods are those made through industrial processing. They tend to contain additives like sweeteners, thickeners, stabilizers, and other ingredients that make the foods last longer and taste better. Not only are ultra-processed foods tempting due to their flavors, but some research has found that even being in the presence of these types of foods can affect brain chemistry and behavior.
Keeping your fridge and pantry stocked with nutrient-dense, whole foods - instead of restricting them - is a great way to keep your diet in mind and encourage yourself to eat those nutritious foods more often. Surrounding yourself with the foods you want to eat and learn to love increases your chance of success.
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Strategic Snacking
Often, it’s the moments when we feel extra hungry and are tempted by a tasty treat that we forget about the nutritious eating plans we had in mind for the day. Though craving foods from time to time is completely natural, researchers have found that in moments of extreme hunger, our cravings tend to get even stronger.
Keeping nutritious and filling snacks on hand is a great way to keep cravings at bay until your next full meal. Research from 2020 found that a hummus snack that is high in protein, and other high fiber snacks, can help keep you feeling full and reduce your snacking. Some examples are fresh fruits and veggies, yogurt, popcorn, hard-boiled eggs, mixed nuts and nut butters, hummus or roasted chickpeas, and whole grain crackers. Staying prepared by keeping nutritious and filling snacks on hand reduces the chance of straying from your healthy diet when hunger strikes.
Moderation and Portion Control
Depriving yourself of the foods you love and crave can actually end up backfiring. In the short term, it tends to make your cravings for those foods even stronger, especially for people who are more susceptible to food cravings, according to some 2020 research. Other research has even found that using a non-dieting app to relearn satiety (feelings of fullness) cues led to weight loss and reduced food cravings in people with obesity.
Rather than completely giving up the less nutritious foods that you love, try having them only occasionally while practicing portion control. It’s true that with moderation and portion control, there is room for all foods in a nutritious diet - even those that might seem like they couldn’t have a place.
Avoiding All-or-Nothing Thinking
A common barrier people encounter while working toward improving their diets is falling into an all-or-nothing mindset. An all-or-nothing thought might sound something like this: “Well, I’ve already ruined my diet for the day by having that piece of cake at the office party earlier, so I might as well forget my plans to cook at home tonight and grab takeout instead.”
These thoughts usually view situations in black and white or as “good” and “bad.” Instead, try to look at each individual food choice you make during the day as its own. One less-than-ideal choice doesn’t have to snowball into a full day’s worth of similar choices. In fact, having high self-esteem and confidence in your ability to make healthy choices tends to be associated with better health outcomes, according to one study from 2019, so don’t let one small stumble bring you down. Instead of letting all-or-nothing thoughts convince you that anything less than perfection is a failure, view each new choice you make about your diet as a clean new slate.
Navigating Social Situations
For many people, potlucks, happy hours, and dining out are something to look forward to. But for someone struggling to stick to a new or nutritious diet, these events can feel like another hurdle to overcome. Plus, research suggests that our food choices in social settings - and what we see on social media - may be heavily influenced by the choices of the people around us. Simply put, it’s easy to overdo it when eating out, and maintaining a healthy diet while eating out can be very challenging. Still, there are ways to make it easier. Having a strategy in mind before you get to a restaurant or gathering can go a long way toward easing your mind and helping you feel prepared to navigate eating out. Here are a few tips for eating out:
- Research the menu before you go
- Eat a piece of fruit or a small snack ahead of time
- Stay hydrated during the meal
- Order your meal first instead of appetizers
- Take your time and savor your meal
Planning ahead for eating out is a great way to ease any stress or uncertainty you might feel about how you’ll stick to your balanced diet at a restaurant or event.
The Importance of Physical Activity
You can lose weight without exercise, but it's harder to do. Exercise has many other benefits. It can lift your mood, lower blood pressure and help you sleep better. Exercise helps you keep off the weight that you lose too. How many calories you burn depends on how often, how long and how hard you exercise. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking. Work up to at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week. Also aim to do strength training exercises at least twice a week. Any extra movement helps you burn calories. So think about ways to move more during the day.
Eating healthfully and cutting calories is only half the formula for successful weight loss. Getting regular physical activity is the other portion. Exercise is a powerful tool, helping you burn calories and increase strength, balance, and coordination while reducing stress and improving your overall health. My advice is to fit in fitness first thing in the morning, to make sure it doesn't get squeezed out of your busy day. (Before starting any fitness program, check with your doctor, and while you're at it, bring your doctor a copy of your eating plan to discuss.)
Tracking Progress and Measuring Success
Research from 2019 found that self-monitoring with phone apps is an easy and effective way to track your progress. It can be as simple as keeping a journal of the foods you eat each day, or as detailed as using a smartphone or web-based app that tracks your daily calorie intake, weight, activity levels, and more. Use the WLC journal function, or if you prefer, keep your own diary to track your daily food intake. Start a food diary. Write down what you eat as well as the times of day and portions in a food diary or tracker (PDF). This will not only help you keep track of your meals and calorie intake but also may point out some bad habits you weren’t aware of. Do you fill your afternoons with high carb and sugary snacks? Are your portion sizes pushing you over your calorie goal? Are you skipping meals?
When self-monitoring your progress, remember that weight loss and gain are not the only ways to measure how far you’ve come. In some cases, they might not be the best way to measure progress either. People choose to follow balanced diets for many different reasons. For example, you might choose to focus on how your dietary changes have affected your physical or mental health rather than how much weight you’ve lost.
Some other questions to ask yourself to help measure whether your more nutritious diet is working are:
- Am I full and satisfied?
- Do I enjoy what I eat?
- Could I keep eating this way forever?
- How many healthy choices did I make today?
- How confident do I feel about my diet?
- Have I noticed any changes to my physical health?
- Have I noticed any changes to my mental health?
Measure your progress to assess whether your efforts are having their intended consequences. But tracking doesn’t have to mean logging every calorie in an app. Checking in with your body can be enough to help you stick to a nutritious diet.
Overcoming Challenges and Maintaining Consistency
Changing your dietary habits can be hard, but with meal planning, lifestyle adjustments, and mindful eating practices, you can succeed. Consider consulting a nutritionist or doctor for the best approach.
Addressing Setbacks
On the other hand, don't be too hard on yourself when you fall off the wagon -- everyone does, sooner or later. Anticipate that slipups will happen, and when they do, just brush yourself off and get right back on track. Use your slipup to learn where you are vulnerable, and decide how you will handle the situation the next time without abandoning your diet. My suggestion is try to do your best 80% of the time, and relax the rules somewhat the other 20% of the time.
The Importance of Consistency
Sticking to a more nutritious diet is a marathon, not a sprint. Learning the best diet for yourself takes trial and error, and some days will be easier than others, so try not to feel discouraged if it takes longer than you’d like for your new habits to set in. As long as you set realistic expectations for yourself, remain committed, and continue to reevaluate your progress, your diet is likely to keep moving in a positive direction. Forming new habits of any type takes time, and balanced diets are no different. When you’re feeling frustrated, try practicing self-kindness and refocusing on your long-term goals.
Healthy Dieting vs. Fad Diets
Breaking old habits and forming new ones is not easy, especially when it comes to foods you’ve been eating your whole life. Our diets are complex systems influenced by biological, cognitive, and social factors, just to name a few. As the holiday season ends and the new year begins, many people start looking for ways to shed their extra holiday pounds. More often than not, this leads to dieting. You may even have experience with dieting yourself-there have been dozens of fad diets over the years, from Keto and Atkins to Paleo and "raw food." For many, these diets are nothing more than a brief struggle with food that eventually fails.
The most important part of dieting is understanding the difference between healthy and unhealthy dieting. Going into a diet with the sole purpose of losing weight as fast as possible often creates unsustainable eating habits. While they may produce results in the short term, participants often gain the weight back once the diet is over. Some diets, particularly "fad" diets that don't take nutritional needs into account, can even be harmful. For example, the low-carb, high-fat Keto diet can cause low blood pressure and increase risks of heart disease in the long run.