We’ve all been there.
You’re on a diet and it’s been a week since you touched a snack or dessert. By now, you are just jonesing for the sweet heaven of a chocolate chip cookie.
Remember, you’re on a diet to lose weight. Not to punish yourself. You shouldn’t have to go without your favorite treats just to see results.
Lots of people eventually give up on their diets because of these restrictions. What’s the point of being healthy if you’re just going to be miserable the entire time?
Believe it or not, you can enjoy your food and dessert and still eat clean and healthy. You don’t have to be miserable, and shouldn’t be if you are making this a long-term life choice.
Here’s how.
The Focus of Losing Weight
When you are losing weight, your focus shouldn’t be on what you can’t have. Instead, you need to focus on what you should eat. It’s not about denial but picking the foods and ingredients that will support your body properly.
While you should mostly focus on whole, natural foods, snacks and desserts aren’t entirely off the table. No, full-fat Oreos might not be the best choice anymore. Luckily there are other cookies that satisfy the sweet need without all the additives that create imbalances and inflammation in the body. Eating dessert isn’t forbidden anymore!
Firstly, read the ingredient list. Find the brands that have products made with recognizable ingredients. Find foods with less added sugar and ingredients that won’t cause inflammation.
For example, chips cooked in coconut or avocado oil are still crispy, crunchy heaven, without the inflammation that soy oil causes. Learn how to identify and pick real food with ingredients that don’t harm the body.
Diet: On Losing Weight Without Starving or Skipping Eating Dessert
Your body is designed to keep you alive. It’s one of nature’s two directives: firstly, to survive and secondly, to further the species. Every living creature has these built into its instincts.
For humans, their bodies have an emergency switch inside them for survival. When this switch gets tripped, your body responds by storing as much fat as possible. That’s because having that extra energy stored up is essential for survival when you are running for your life or starving.
Here’s the problem: Your body can’t tell the difference between running for your life and starving from strenuous exercise and dieting. On top of that, if you are eating foods that cause imbalance and inflammation in your body, it will trigger even more fat storage.
Many of the habits we are encouraged to create in order to lose weight won’t work long-term. They shock our systems into dropping a few pounds, but those pounds come back not long after, and often come in greater numbers than before.
Reframe How You Think About Eating Dessert
Instead of focusing on losing weight, depriving yourself of foods, and killing yourself in the gym, focus on getting healthy. Eat foods that support your systems instead of foods that damage them.
When your body starts to heal and feel safe enough to leave survival mode, it lets go of the fat on its own. Don’t force it to stay in that emergency setting with stress-inducing workouts and harmful ingredients.
Eat whole, natural foods that are anti-inflammatory, low glycemic, and nutrient-dense. These types of food support your body without causing a deprivation/binge cycle that makes it extremely difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
Remember, damaging your mental health like that isn’t a step toward health, but toward bigger issues.
Learn About Losing Weight without Dieting with Metabolism Reboot
If you have tried diet after diet and still feel like you aren’t making progress, contact us today to learn how Metabolism Reboot can help you make a real change.
Learn about sustainable weight loss without extreme dieting or exercise with Metabolism Reboot. We teach you how to reboot your metabolism to promote permanent weight loss. Schedule a call to learn how to rebalance your hormones and reduce inflammation.