Two good reasons you cannot lose weight are instant gratification and deprivation. Often is the case that people who are prone to need instant gratification with food fail their diets simply because they deprive themselves.
Food deprivation is not the best course of action to take when trying to lose weight. In fact, it is one of the worst methods of dieting. When you feel deprived of something, you will never be content. This problem is compounded even further when you have been the type to fall for instant gratification.
The problem when you are an instant gratification type is that when depriving yourself, you might feel like a five your old child at the county fair being told they cannot have cotton candy, or any other sweet treats. We all know that when the barriers finally come down, you are going to be all over every treat you can shove into your mouth.
How can I say these things with such blunt certainty?
I have been there too!
Friends, here is the truth about why your diets fail you when you deprive yourself of foods. We often find that we develop a weight problem when we are searching out instant gratification through food – this can be because of any variety of various reasons. The fact is, highly palatable foods bring us a moment of joy when we are eating them. It is too easy in today’s world to find these delicious foods, therefore it has become too easy to overeat.
When we overeat and become obese, at some point we might decide that we need to go on a diet. Ninety five percent of dieters fail and put all of their lost weight back on – and often times more than they had originally lost. If you are trying a deprivation diet, I am willing to wager that you too will fail at some point.
The odds are in my favor with this bet.
Here is why – restricted eating can lead to malnourishment, and excessive weight loss which leads to changes in our brain chemistry, resulting in increased symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Did I say malnourishment?
Yes, malnourishment is a huge problem for dieters, especially those who are picky eaters. Malnutrition is a serious condition that happens when your diet does not contain the right amount of nutrients. You might believe you are eating just enough, and have an adequate caloric intake. However, you may not be. When your intake of nutrients is too low – which is often the case with low calorie and or fad diets- you can experience the social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral symptoms of starvation. We cannot under rate the the importance of “feeding” the brain and the direct correlation between the food we consume and our mental health. For individuals living with an eating disorder, the effects of an undernourished brain bring with it fear and anxiety about body shape, weight, appearance and eating.
If you are one who seeks out instant gratification from junk foods, they are the first thing you are going to reach for when you begin to feel the first symptoms of depression and anxiety which comes from dieting. If you wrongly believe or rationalize that you can add these foods back into your diet by manipulating your calories or point values, you are going to fail yourself. To succeed at permanent weight loss, you have to understand that your best course of action is to create a permanent change of lifestyle that only involves foods that bring nutritional value to your life.
When you decide that you need to lose weight, you should realize there is more to gain by getting to a healthy body fat percentage than you have to lose. At David’s Way to Health and Fitness, the only things we teach to give up is foods with added sugars and processed foods. In fact, under our website menu Loraine’s Kitchen you will find recipes for many healthy and delicious entree’s along with a plethora of sugar free treat recipes that are just as good as anything loaded with sugar. You do not have to deprive yourself when following us.
We know that food deprivation will never get to you to your goal weight and then allow you to remain there. A balanced diet should provide enough nutrients such as calories, protein and vitamins, to keep you healthy. Without this, you may not be getting all the nutrients you need. In order to stay healthy, we need to consume foods from a number of different food groups including: complex carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, and fiber.
By following us here at David’s Way to Health and Fitness, you are not going to find instant gratification. But you will find delayed gratification – or, gratification where you put off a reward for a greater benefit in the future. We do not recommend anyone attempt to lose more than one or two pounds maximum per week.
With slow weight loss, you might wonder
“Will my efforts pay off or will this all be for nothing?”
You will need to trust the process my friends. We give you plenty of educational articles to support all that we teach, and we never charge a single cent to you. You will learn that even if it is quicker, easier, and cheaper to buy fast food for dinner – which provides immediate rewards that are all very desirable – with what we teach, you can learn to visualize larger future rewards when deciding what to eat, such as avoiding ailments like obesity metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes.
By following our methodology at David’s Way to Health and Fitness, you will never again feel deprived, and the desires for instant gratification derived from simple carbs and sugar will quickly fade away to the dust bin of history.