I Can't, I'm on a Diet

By Kara Bailey
Spectrum Opinion Writer

     It’s February and seems like everyone has already broken their New Year’s resolution to eat better. If your anything like me, you can blame the cookies, cakes and chocolates. I guess we could say the same with my New Year’s resolution to exercise more, lose weight or be more productive.

Believe it or not, the problem is not with the end goal, but with the journey to achieve it. Especially when trying to begin a weight-loss or lifestyle change people expect it to be easy or instant. According to Sheron Gresham, a fellow dieter, this is the reason why diets are such a desirable practice. The lack of permanency allows the dieter to become more emersed in the practice because they know that it is only temporary.

Goals have to be realistic and flexible. This means that you have to choose a routine that you know you will be able to stick to choose a goal that you know you will have access to the necessary resources and choose and expect to fail a few times.

Many people who try to eat better get so stuck on “diet culture” that they don’t take the opportunity to make the lifestyle change. A diet is temporary but healthy eating is mean to be long-term. If a person diets in an attempt to lose weight, if they stop eating healthy, then the weight that was lost is going to return. A lifestyle change is permanent. It is a way to slowly transform bad habits into good ones. This way, the person making the change has the opportunity to discover what works from them while still taking the time to slowly ebb their cravings and behaviors.

Currently, I am attempting a lifestyle change with my eating habits, so I am trying to practice what I preach. Things like switching whole or 2% milk with almond milk seem to be an easy change because the taste is very similar. Switching out things like Reese’s Take Five candies and Wockenfuss’s Almond Milk Chocolate Bars are proving to be a bit more difficult. A common mistake that is made is thinking that once you eat one unhealthy thing or missing one workout means that you have to start from step one. In fact, it is okay to indulge every once in a while, as long as you do it in moderation and limit the total intake.

Turning your lifestyle into one that is healthier and more positive is not something that can be done overnight. It takes time, mistakes, failures and hardships to finally achieve this goal. Remember, it is a marathon, not a sprint.