A Better Way to Succeed with Dieting

More than anything you just want to finally succeed. You're tired of failing and regaining even more weight than you had on you before.

Every New Year, you make the resolution, ready to fight back against obesity. You start off highly motivated and probably thrive, watching the pounds fall off for days, weeks - maybe even months, if you're one of the lucky few.

But it doesn't last. There comes a day when you're done. It starts with a few slip ups along the way. That turns into you beating yourself up for being a failure, and then one day you start to believe it - you accept defeat and quit (until right before summer vacation, when you have to adopt your "bikini" mindset).

Forget About a Time Span

Are you looking to lose weight for a month - right before your 20th high school reunion? Or is this something you'd like to keep off for a lifetime? We both know the answer to this question, so why are you considering diets that aren't doable forever?

Lifelong habits are what you're after. So, I want you to forget about how long you'll be dieting or how long it will take you to lose the weight you want to shed. I want you to just start today being a healthier person, period.

When you take the time pressure off of yourself, it opens you up to a whole new world of success. It won't feel comfortable, though. After all, every diet has promises of "2 pounds per week" or "She lost 15 pounds" with the small print of *results not typical that you like to ignore.

And what about those goals you have on your calendar? The ones like:

• Lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight by May 15th

• Lose 30 pounds before swimsuit season

• Lose 50 pounds before my high school reunion

• Lose 100 pounds before I walk down the aisle

What about those? You've put a ton of pressure on yourself with those goals. It's okay to have them - without an end date in mind. And it's great if you do reach those goals by the date you desired.

But what if you don't? If you don't, there's a tsunami of disappointment and failure labeling coming your way. There's an extreme diet fad in your near future as the deadline looms and you're not reaching your goal fast enough.

You end up doing more harm than good - and what really matters is that you become healthier, right? Once you analyze your body physically for its health needs (and yes, that may include weight loss), then you have to adopt a total mind and body wellness approach.

Use a Total Mind and Body Approach

Dieting isn't just about your body's size. It's about fueling your body for all of its needs and it's about working on your mindset so that you are all about self-care and not about wondering what others will think about you.

You need to approach dieting this New Year from head to toe, inside and out - on a physical and emotional level. This is going to be difficult for you to initially get used to, but once you do, you'll feel more powerful - and freer - than ever before.

You need to look at dietary changes that don't just help you get trim, but that help clear up your skin, help your heart function better, help you have more energy, help you get pregnant (if that's a goal), etc.

And you also need a diet that's not a diet in the traditional sense of the word. You want a way of eating. A way of feeding your body that makes it perform better for you. Something mindless that you can do without trying so hard.

Change the Word "Diet" to "Lifestyle"

The word diet can be a dirty word to some. It reminds them of being chained to a way of life that's limiting - something they dread. How about lifestyle from now on?

Instead of saying, "I can't eat that marbled steak - I'm on a diet and it has too many calories and too much fat," simply say, "Oh I like eating healthier, so I think I'll have lean chicken instead, but thanks!"

Instead of, "I have to burn 500 calories so I can have a Ho Ho today," say, "I'm going to take care of my body by giving it time to move today and increase its performance."