The fact of the matter is that diets, per se, do not work. I think that this topic has been given some thought and air time but it is a truth the warrants repetition. The reason for this is that there are still many groups and individuals trying to entice others into participating in this or that diet. The latest of these involve some kind of modification in your eating habit, where you are told that you can eat as much as you want as long as you don’t eat meat, or carbohydrates, or whatever.

One of the big reasons why these diets and others are still very popular is that they offer a simple solution. A panel of supposed experts has already crunched huge amounts of data and lab time, they have come to the conclusion that this particular diet works and will cure everything from high blood pressure to cancer. The thing is that many times these authority figures are questionable. And even when they are not, they tend not to have as much honest to goodness data as they claim. You must always ask yourself how long this diet research has been going on for. Diets tend to be a very fashionable thing, so one that has been kicking around long enough to have long term data is difficult to find. The big question always becomes then; what are the long term consequences of being on this diet?

Another reason I personally think that diets are so popular is that people have a personal desire to suffer. We have all been told all our lives that, “no pain, no gain”. A person with a weight problem, looking for the miracle diet, tends to usually have self esteem issues. A vulnerable person like this tends to believe that they have to suffer to get better. Either they have to suffer for their past sins (supposedly eating too much) or must pay to become the ideal. The diet then becomes the perfect answer; here you are told that you must abstain from this or that and suffer so that you too can enter the kingdom of the fashionably thin.

The unfortunate truth though is that diets do not work. Any attempt to lose weight by controlling food intake will only create more hunger. This hunger of course is not just physiological, it is also psychological. The more that you deny yourself of something, the more that you will crave it. It’s sort of like telling you not to think of a giant pink polar bear. The more you try, that harder it gets. On top of that you have to add the body’s natural physiological need to satisfy itself and you have a killer combination that will destroy any effort to stay on said diet.

The answer then is to change a routine instead of trying to force yourself to follow a regimen. To change a routine you must start out with a positive mind set. You must first do everything that you can to stop feeling bad about your body and start being nicer to yourself. The best way to do this is to try and focus on the ideal body that you want instead of the gross body that you think you have. Tell yourself that you are beautiful and sexy, that you can do anything, and that you do not need to force yourself to do anything to get better. I suggest that you do this until you can let go of most of those feelings of low self worth. If you try, and at least begin to logically understand that you are a worthy and capable person, then I think you will have taken a great step forward.

Secondly take stock of all those foods that you like. Make a list of the things that you like to eat and the things that you eat just because you are bored; what do you really love? Also pay attention to yourself throughout the day. When do you eat? Why? Do you eat because you are hungry, bored, scared, upset? Keep track of your routine. Also make a list of all of the things that you absolutely love to do. This is your list so write down whatever you want, nothing is off limits as long as you are not hurting someone else.

When you know when you eat and why, try to find alternatives to desperate eating. Desperate eating is when you are eating not out of hunger but to satisfy some other craving. Instead of eating things that you don’t particularly like because you are bored or craving an emotional something, do something that you absolutely love to do instead. Eat more of the things that you like and that your body enjoys eating and less of the things that just satisfy your day. Your body, if you let it and pay attention to it, will naturally tell you what you need by making you crave it.

Break your old harmful eating routines by giving yourself creative alternatives to old ruts. Don’t deny yourself anything, just replace it with something even better. Truly pursue your pleasures by first overcoming your self esteem problems and then allow yourself to have the best. Focus on the ideal you and forget what you think you see in the mirror. Eat more of the things that you find awesome and do more of the things the you love to do. Diets suck, they are for people that don’t like themselves. Learn to love yourself and start by giving yourself only the best. Never eat a bag of cheap chips because you’re feeling lonely; get yourself the best sun dried potatoes that you can get and challenge yourself to smile at the next nice person that you meet. Use the list that I had you create above and replace any desperate eating with something on that list that you truly love to do. Instead of controlling your self and trying to eat less, try instead to do more of what you love and eat more of what you love also. Refine your tastes and your palate, turn your eating into art. You are awesome and only deserve the best of everything.