For How Long Should You Be Dieting?
Diets are usually synonymous with hunger, willpower and tiredness. That’s why, as soon as we start dieting, we focus on the day when we reach our goal, so we can resume our usual eating habits. In this article, we will tell you how long you should be dieting for, when to stop, and how to maintain healthy eating habits after you have reached your ideal weight.
According to the weight you want to lose
The first thing you need to do when you decide to start a diet, is to calculate how much weight you should lose. To do this, you can use the BMI. By knowing your weight and height, you can calculate your ideal weight and have a benchmark that you can aim for.
It’s also important that you check this with a specialist or with your family doctor. These experts will guide you and help you to find your ideal weight. Your BMI should be used as a reference and you shouldn’t become obsessed with it. Use it to create a healthy lifestyle and find your own well-being.
Once you start a diet, you should know that isn’t advisable to lose more than one pound per week. Forget about the miracle diets, and instead, lose weight slowly but constantly. That’s the only way to avoid the rebound effect and achieve your goals.
Instead of dieting, learn to eat healthily
A diet is way more than just weight loss. It’s learning to enjoy healthy foods, sports and to appreciate the benefits that this brings to your body.
You’ll probably think it’s hard to reach your goal, but in reality, you can still enjoy food. Learn new recipes, find new products and add an exercise routine to your daily life.
To clarify, we don’t mean that you should be dieting for the rest of your life. Once you reach your ideal weight you can relax a little, you don’t always need to have such a strict routine.
That doesn’t mean returning to your old eating habits, because this can cause a rebound effect, making your diet pointless. Try to find ‘middle ground’, where you can maintain your weight, but you can also allow yourself some treats from time to time.
If you begin a new sport while you’re dieting, find a workout that fits your preferences. This means you can stay in shape, and have a fun form of release from daily stress. There are as many sports, as there are preferences. So, start practicing one of them, particularly if it’s an activity that you can do with your partner, your friends or even with your family.
Banish strict diets
As we have already mentioned, diets don’t need to have a definitive end. But they do have a stop point, and that’s usually when you reach your ideal weight. We are all different, and that’s why you may lose more weight during one week, than during others. The pace of your week, hormonal changes and other factors can all contribute to less weight loss.
That’s why you shouldn’t follow a strict diet, when you’re supposed to lose a specific amount of weight each week. The important point to remember is to never stop losing weight, because once you’re dieting, it doesn’t matter if you take a few more weeks to reach your goal.
Equally, you shouldn’t be on a strict diet that won’t allow you to eat different foods or enjoy dinner with your friends or a family celebration. It’s okay if you stop dieting occasionally, as long as you do actually start again!
A strict diet will only discourage you and not provide you with the strength to keep going. It may be effective during the first weeks, but it isn’t advisable because it’s too hard to follow in the long term.
