Why is it so Hard to Stick to a Diet?

No matter how desperate you are to lose weight, it is always so difficult to stick to a diet. You know that that the outcome of sticking to a diet will be a positive – that you will lose weight and feel happier with the way you look – yet, you can struggle to find the motivation to stick with it. Obviously, it depends on the diet you choose. If you stick yourself on a super-restrictive diet, then of course you're bound to struggle, because it just isn't practical to avoid certain foods. Even if you're following a more flexible diet plan, it can be difficult, though, because you may have an inclination to comfort eat or you may simply enjoy food so much that you continue to eat too much.

The trouble is when you consider putting yourself on a diet, the main thought in your head is whether you will lose enough weight in time to fit into your bikini for your holiday or to look good for your friend's wedding. You probably don't give much consideration to a long-term weight management plan. All you can focus on is losing weight quickly so that you can accomplish a particular objective, because as long as you have that objective in your mind, it becomes easier to motivate yourself to stick to a diet. Unfortunately, as soon as you have lost the weight, you go back to overindulging and you regain the weight.

As a consequence, the next time you go on a diet it becomes more difficult to lose weight, because you are conscious of the fact that you've managed to lose weight in the past and that you can do so any time you want. It's the keeping it off part which proves to be more of a challenge, and so you may well end up sabotaging your own efforts before even reaching your goal, because your assumption is that you will soon get fat again. You believe you will fail in the long run and so, usually, this is precisely what happens. Clearly, then, a positive attitude and self-motivation are required to be able to stick to a diet.

In theory, it is easier to stick a diet when you are allowed to eat a little bit of everything, because you don't feel as though you're being deprived of anything. Often, it is when you tell yourself you can't have something that you want it all the more. However, even though you may be able to eat all types of food, that doesn't necessarily make weight loss any easier, since you still have to take into consideration portion sizes and calorie control. If you eat when you're feeling down or bored or simply because you love the taste of food and cannot resist it when your partner stocks up on chocolate, then it is always going to be a struggle.

Ultimately, to be able to stick to a diet you have to be in the right frame of mind. You have to really want to lose weight and to have the determination that is needed to resist the temptation to eat too much of the wrong kinds of food. Although you may be unhappy with your current size, actually controlling the amount of food you eat and making sensible food choices can be a challenge when you're not used to monitoring what you eat. To lose weight you obviously have to pay more attention to calories and it can take the joy out of eating, so that it's easier to simply give up on the diet and go back to normal.