How to create a realistic diet – one that works for you
Choosing a weight-loss plan is very individual, says Elizabeth DeRobertis, MS, RD, CDN, CDE, Director of the Nutrition Center at Scarsdale Medical Group. “If it’s not realistic, it won’t work.”
Dr. Nitya Sharma, Director of the Weight Center at Westmed in White Plains, agrees: “It’s important to follow a weight loss plan that keeps you full and not deprived or hungry; otherwise you will set yourself up for failure.”
So how can you select a diet that will work for you?
Short-term diets can be a challenge. They can be so restricting. “If we set ourselves up to think we need to eat perfectly 100% of the time - even just for 30 days - we are setting ourselves up for failure. As soon as you go off track, you feel like you blew it,” explains DeRobertis. “I think a key weight-loss strategy is to space out healthy snacks during the day, so you don’t go too long without eating. Because then you end up overeating.” In other words, if you’re careful in your eating habits—and enjoy healthy, calorie-conscious meals spaced out at strategic intervals—you should do fine on your own.
Every single diet focuses on limiting sugar, preservatives and processed foods and replacing them with more whole food nutrient-dense options. That is a recipe for success for just about everyone!
One of the most important things to know about any diet program is that it works best if and when it becomes a healthy lifestyle habit. Diets only work for a short period of time, while healthy lifestyle changes are the true way to achieve and maintain long-term results.
At the end of the day, there is no short-term solution to losing weight. It has to be a lifestyle change and you have to be willing to commit to it.