Can You Continue This “Diet” Until You Die?

You need to lose it and live it! 

Diet is a four letter word that carries the significance of a lifetime. Taking the decision to lose weight might seem a momentary thing, but the journey that follows may not be that easy. It is a sudden spree that may cross your head, and you may go like, “I will follow a diet plan from tomorrow.” You think of nothing more and start researching different diet plans you could follow for weight loss. It is no less than a surprise when you see that there are more than one diet plans that can help in weight loss. What next? You choose a diet plan that looks practical and realistic and start implementing it from the very next day. 

Some people maintain the diet plan for a week or two as they give up to their cravings. While there may be some who continue on the diet plan until they reach their weight loss goals. But, is it sufficient? Will going back to the old ways help you? Can you sustain the diet plan until you die? Can you give up on that mouth-watering fries, burgers, and pizzas for life? Here you will discover the practicality of your diet plans and how you can sustain it. 

Is It Possible To Sustain A Diet Plan For Life?

There are two perspectives that need to be addressed when answering this one. If you think that eliminating carbs and calories from your diet can take you far; then the answer is “NO,” you can’t sustain a diet plan for a lifetime this way. On the other hand, if you have a practical and a balanced diet plan that includes small portions of every necessary element, the answer goes, “YES,” you can naturally sustain a diet plan without putting much effort. 

However, you need to adjust to a diet plan that suits every stage of life. If you think that the diet plan would be similar from childhood to old age, you are wrong! You need to consult a trainer before you can figure out a diet plan that goes well with your age and health condition.

Different stages of life that demand different dietary requirements:

• Infant 
• Growing Child
• Adolescence 
• Pregnant or Lactating Women
• Adult Males and Females
• Elderly People

It is important to know what stage you are in so that a perfect diet plan can be chalked out for you. 

Three Phases of A Successful Diet Plan

The mantra, ‘Fit for Life,” should be your all-time favourite. Who doesn’t like to be praised for how they look fit and beautiful. When you feel better and people look up to you for inspiration, you realize that all your life-long fitness efforts were worth it. To blend with an effective diet plan, you need to keep a track of the underlying phases:

The Preparation Mode (0-4 Weeks)

From the time you take the decision to lose weight, you need to buckle up and start putting efforts into it. Start small, so that your body and lifestyle can slowly adapt to the new changes. Start being more active, hike up your metabolism, and promise yourself that you will eat healthy by giving up on problematic foods such as yogurt, full-fat milk, alcohol, soda, fried food, and white bread.

The Adaptation Mode (4-8 Weeks)

Now that you have jumped into the bandwagon of fitness, and have gelled up well with the new routine; you need to rev up your activity level. Try to challenge your limits and surprise yourself. There will come a time when you will be surprised to know your capabilities. Here you would need to stick to a diet plan, and give up on unhealthy food altogether. 

The Sustainable Mode

There will come a time when you will get used to the diet plan and the activity schedule. No matter what, you will always find yourself sticking to healthy habits as it would become a way of living your life. The idea is to remain active and eat healthily and keep up with it all your life. The only catch here is; the diet plan should be realistic and practical. 

Tips to Sustain a Diet Plan for Life

1. Choose Your Diet Plan Wisely

You can choose any diet plan you like, but there is no guarantee that you can maintain it for life. The problem with most diets is that they are restricting. There may have been a time when your parents would have restricted you from doing something. What did you do then?

Went against their wishes and went on the rebel mode, didn't they? That is the case with your body too! When you restrict food, it fights the change and bounces back with more weight. That is why; it is advised to follow realistic diet plans that are welcoming and sustainable. 

2. Know Your Day’s Diet

If you wish to sustain a meal plan for life, you need to know what you will have for the day. Planning your daily meals is the first step to reaching a lifetime goal. If you think that it will become boring to keep up with a similar diet, you won’t. Once you follow a diet plan regularly, you’ll realize that it becomes an unchangeable habit. 

Before you implement a meal plan, it is essential to know what you like and what you don’t. Know your healthy options, and choose your favourites. The key is to adapt to your liking instead of enforcing compulsions. When you like what you have, it becomes easier to sustain it for a lifetime. 

3. Customize the Diet Plan

If a particular diet plan has a set of guidelines to follow, there is no hard and fast rule to abide by it. It is wonderful that you have a diet plan in implementation that works well for you, but if you want to stay on it for life; “Customize it according to your needs.” You can plus and minus items to fit your likes and dislikes. 

If you are a vegan, add more green-leafed vegetables, and if you are a non-vegan, you could add rich lean-protein dishes to the list. You should be eating well while having your share of enjoyment. Also, do not forget to log and track what you eat. When you have a record, you can be certain of your path to success. 

4. Blend Your Diet Plan with Exercising

          Maintaining a diet plan is not enough! You need to make a move too. Plan a diet plan along with an exercising schedule that helps keep obesity at bay once and for all. The exercise plan should be solid and consistent, and it should also be tailored according to your needs. Remember, not to push your limits too much.

 The plan should be to adapt to an exercising schedule that you can enjoy too. When you have a set diet and exciting exercising plan, you would be disciplined, fit, healthy and happy for life. Isn’t it all worth it?  

5. Keep Your Hopes Alive

          You can never achieve anything in life when you do not have the willpower to do it. If you have dreamt of a fit life, your enthusiasm and zeal would definitely take you there. 

Now that you have a meal plan in mind, know your likes and dislikes, have customized your meal plan, and have an exercise session for life; prepare your mind too. If you need to believe in yourself and stay motivated! These two self-worth tips can help you sustain a diet for life. 

Factors to Consider For Lifetime Fitness        

1. Keep Your Dairy Intake in Limits

There are some studies that suggest eating full-fat dairy products such as butter, cream, and milk in order to lose waistline fat. On the other hand, some studies have a completely different opinion. With no certainty as to how dairy products will affect your weight loss efforts, it is suggested to limit the balance of dairy products in your diet.

2. Do Not Skip On Daily Proteins

Include at least 20-30 grams of protein in your diet on an everyday basis. The more protein in the body, the more the production of lean muscles. And, when more is the muscle mass, you can expect it to make you strong while burning calories even when at rest. Be it your snack time, or a whole-meal time; proteins should be your all-time favourite.

3. Eat Your Healthy Until You Are Full

You can eat anything and everything included in your diet plan, but never tend to indulge in “binge eating” or aptly overeating. Eat slowly and then only can you savour the rich taste of the small bites. When you overeat just for the sake of its taste, you make your body vulnerable to consequences that may ruin your weight maintenance efforts.

4. Chew and Chew Till You Can

The best way to help with easy digestion is chewing your food well. When you crush down the food in your mouth, gherkin and cholecystokinin are released. These two hormones transmit the signals to your brain the moment the hunger starts residing. Therefore, chewing well not only helps eating in limits but also helps with better digestion. 

5. Stop Cursing the Carbs

You may find a couple of diets that lower down the carbohydrates content, but not all of them are found to be effective. You would find it surprising, but carbs are essential for the body. When you savour fibre and starch-rich carbs, the serotonin levels hike up. Not only this hormone helps with fulfilling your appetite but also triggers the happy-go-lucky mood. Eat more whole grain food, fruits, and leafy vegetables, and you can expect to stay fit for life. 

6. Ditch the Crash Diets

Many dieters give up on calories in the hurry to get fit. This might seem like doing the needful, but has repercussions that could put you into trouble later. Crash diets that limit calories to unreasonable levels make the metabolism suffer. With less energy and dizziness, there is no option left other than forgetting your weight loss dream. 

7. Match to the Liquid Needs

The body is composed of as much as 70 percent of water. And, to meet up those expectations, one needs to drink a lot of water. But, that again is not enough! You need to eat the juicy fruits and fresh green leafy vegetables that further help in hiking up the liquid intake of the body. 

8. Do Not Skip On Breakfast

         Even studies suggest that the people, who never skip breakfast, sustain their lost weight for life. The first meal of the day should be the heaviest and wholesome. Include more cereals and fruits in your breakfast as it boosts metabolism and keeps your hunger urges at rest for the other part of the day. 

9. A Cheat Day Is Not a Crime

If we say that you need to leave your favourite food right now, would it be possible? No, it certainly won’t! Some things are better to listen to than implement. Even if you try it, you’ll give in eventually. That is the reason that your body requires you to treat it with those mouth-watering delicacies once in a while. When you know that you can have the food that you have loved all your life, it becomes easy to sustain a healthy diet plan for a long term. 

10. Measuring the Scale

       It is reported that the people who have achieved their weight loss goal, try and measure the scale on a regular basis. This not only ensures them that they are on the right track but also keeps them informed. In case they had a weekend party, the scale would reflect the gain if any. An individual can then adjust the diet and the exercising schedule to reverse the gain to a balanced number.

Good Diets vs. Bad Diets

The “good diets'' are the flexible diets that embrace shares of every element necessary for sustainable weight loss. In simple words, a good diet plan does not give up on calories and carbs; the much-needed element for staying fit throughout a lifespan. Whereas, a “bad diets,” are those fad diets that restrict nutrients required by the body to keep in shape for a long long time. These diets may give you short-time relief but aren’t effective for long. 

Ditch quick-fix fad diets if you wish to continue a diet plan for life. The key is to naturally synchronize your diet with your body needs. 

Types of Good Diets and Bad Diets 

Good Diets (Flexible)	Bad Diets (Restrictive)
Mediterranean Diet	Keto
DASH Diet	Atkins
Weight Watchers Diet	Gluten-free
Mind Diet	Hypothyroidism Diet
The Flexitarian Diet	Paleo Diet

Having known the facts revolving around continuing a diet for a lifetime, it would be clear that it is not the diet or the exercising schedule that you sustain, instead, it is the healthy lifestyle that needs to be synchronized for life. Adapt to the good, eliminate the bad and nothing can stop you from being fit and feeling happy about it. 

Lastly, let your diet become your way of life!