A common habit I see in my clients is a weekly switch from being “on” the diet or “off” the diet. This makes losing weight or being healthy so much harder than it has to be. First of all, the word diet has GOT to go. I nixed in from my vocabulary and I suggest you do the same. The use of the word diet automatically implies that the method of weight loss you are using is a temporary change in your eating habits used only to get you to a desired weight. Diets are pointless on so many levels, including the fact that years of off and on dieting will wreck your metabolism, will deprive your body of nutrients it needs to be healthy and to keep working correctly, and will drive you insane as you put your will power up against the biological NEED of hunger.

There is a lot of talk of lifestyle change. In my opinion it gets thrown around too much without people really focusing on what it implies. With a lifestyle change, you are not starving yourself, obsessing over every calorie or staring at the seconds slowly pass on the treadmill.  You are not eating only cabbage, drinking only liquids or staying home every night afraid to face the calories that going out to dinner with your friends will bring. So that’s what it isn’t. What it IS, is small changes. Focus on including more fruits and vegetables. Make a goal; I will eat 3 fruits instead of 2 fruits today. Is that hard? I will take a 15 minute walk around the block after work. EASY.  Now these small changes will not immediately make weight fly off your hips, but they will begin chipping away at it, and more importantly they will bring important changes to your life, such as more energy, glowing skin, and a better night’s rest. Don’t underestimate how good these will make you feel.