07 May Self-Care on Your Plate: Dieting Vs. Lifestyle Changes

When thinking about long-term success in terms of your health, adopting healthy lifestyle habits around food will much be more successful than dieting, which is usually seen as a short-term change to your diet. Diet plans are typically unsuccessful long-term because they do not foster healthy lifestyle habits that can sustain you after the diet plan has ended (and for your sanity, going on a diet almost always has an end point). Diets also do not give you the mental tools for long-term success like gradual lifestyle changes do.

Think of it this way — lifestyle changes allow you to live and eat and enjoy food without feeling the need to eat a specific way or with specific foods all of the time. With that in mind, you can’t make a “mistake” or “mess up” with an overall healthy lifestyle diet like you can on a prescribed diet plan.

Doesn’t that sound like an ultimate form of self-care? Being kind to yourself with what you put in your body? It does to me!

Lifestyle changes surrounding food allow you to learn and adopt the principles of mindful eating, hunger and fullness cues. Lifestyle changes ensure that no foods are “off limits”, but they do prod you to treat your body with care and proper nutrition.

People who implement gradual lifestyle changes may find that foods they used to crave heavily (like candy, cake, pizza or French fries) may be less enticing. The main reason for this: because lifestyle changes don’t promote food restriction. If you give yourself permission to eat ALL foods, you will find that you start gravitating towards the foods that make you FEEL better. Over time, sweets and treats are more likely enjoyed in moderation because you will naturally crave nutritious foods as well (knowing that those other foods aren’t cut out entirely).

Lifestyle change can also be a good way to separate you from the dreaded scale and realize that weight is nothing but a number. Progress should be measured beyond the scale in the way you feel (mentally and physically) in your clothes, in your mirror, and in your spirit.

On the other hand, diet plans can be largely restrictive, leading to more food noise, more food anxiety, more fear of foods, and further separating you from a healthy relationship with food.  Next time, whenever you get the urge to go on another diet, remind yourself that gradual lifestyle change is a much healthier and more successful approach long-term. It’s truly the ultimate form of self-care!