“I want to be fit, but I don’t know where to start.”
How often have you had that thought? Or heard it from someone else?
Pretty often, we bet. But there’s some good news: sticking to some key behaviors might be all you need.
There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there on how to start a diet, but the best habits begin with three magic words: “Keep it simple.”
Now let us show you how the magic happens.
Build the right mentality
As with most things in life, dieting is all about mentality.
Don’t think of a diet as a short-term piece of hard work to get you where you’re going, but an ongoing change to your habits.
Fitness is a journey and a state of being, not a destination or a quick-fix. There’s no real benefit to being fit for only a short period, so commit yourself to becoming a better version of you.
To start, think about what you, personally, want from your diet. That’s the core of how to start a diet. Only once you know your direction can you begin to travel.
Learn how to start a diet in the kitchen
When it comes to dieting, your pantry is the root of all evil. Your diet can only ever be as good as what you have in your cupboards, so start with a clearout and a restock.
Go through the cupboards and the refrigerator. Find those menacing little items, the high-fat snacks and cakes, and either chuck them or hide them out of sight.
Don’t worry, they don’t have to be gone for good. Moderation is the key, but it has to start somewhere.
With the kitchen stripped back to basics, you’ll be ready to restock once you’ve covered the next step.
Make a plan
Directionless dieting becomes an endless self-punishment until your mind ultimately rebels and decides to indulge. Planning makes a diet realistic and achievable.
Create a realistic meal plan and realistic exercise plan to go with it. Note the emphasis! There’s no point pretending you’ll eat only lettuce and run 30 miles a day for the next year – all you’ll prove is you don’t know how to start a diet!
Your meal plan should condense down into a single shopping list to get you started. Once you’ve restocked, you can follow the plan day by day.
That’s the trick: take each day at a time. With a meal plan, you’re only ever focusing on what’s right in front of you.
Start small
That’s right: be realistic! Start to make small changes.
Commitment comes in two forms: motivation and habit. Motivation might carry you through the early stages of the diet, but habit will keep it going.
Small changes become new habits over time. Once a change has become a habit, you’re free to make a new change. Before you know it, you’ll have changed almost everything without even thinking about it.
Small changes also prevent the culture shock that comes with sweeping dietary changes. Our bodies grow accustomed to what we put in them, so if you cut out vast quantities of fat all at once, your body will panic!
The body’s own instincts have far more power over our mind then we give them credit for. That panic will soon become a sneaky trip to the biscuit stash if you try to do it all at once.
Cook ahead
“But I don’t know how to start a diet when healthy meals are such hard work!”
Lucky for you, that particular complaint is nonsense!
You’ve drawn up a meal plan, so you know what you’re eating and when. That means you can cook ahead.
Each time you cook, store extra batches in the fridge or freezer. Bust them out when you’re feeling lazy, or simply when you deserve a night off from cooking, and you’ll never need to look skeptically at a healthy recipe.
Reward yourself
If you come to view your diet as denial, you’re on the road to failure.
A diet is about change, not punishment. Reward yourself when you do well.
Build the rewards into your plan, and you can feel like you’ve earned a prize. For many people, working toward a tangible reward is much more motivating than frantically looking for differences in your waistline.
Buddy it up
Two heads are better than one, as they say, and it’s just as true when it comes to how to start a diet.
Motivation, as we’ve mentioned, is a fickle creature, so rely on someone else to keep you going.
Think about it this way: how much work would you really get done if your boss wasn’t looking over your shoulder, or if you weren’t trying to pay the bills?
Let’s face it, most of us are slackers! Buddying up with a friend lets you compare notes and keep each other honest, even if that means commiseration and support to get you back to your feet should you stumble.
Choosing the right partner is important here. Your buddy shouldn’t be needlessly judgmental or out to prove they’re dieting ‘better’. This should be a mutual arrangement to drive each other forward.
Listen to your body
We know how easy it can be to become obsessed with the scale. But a diet is about finding a better you.
Put it this way: if you’re dropping the pounds but you’re tired and miserable, what have you achieved?
Listen to your body. If dieting is leaving you with low energy, make some changes. Don’t fall back into your old habits, but find new and healthy ones.
Shop smart
Commercialism is your enemy. Supermarkets are smart, and you need to be smarter.
Stores know to stock temptations at the counter, or near other go-to aisles. Think of them as scammers and catch them in the act. If you buy the candy at the counter, they’ve tricked you.
Zone the supermarket. Know how your local supermarket is laid out. Most of the time, fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats, are on the outer edges of the store.
Stay in these areas.
And never, ever go shopping on an empty stomach!
Now that you’re all geared up to start, there’s no better time to check out our ChiroThin program and begin transforming your life today.