You are probably thinking “How in God’s name could there be ways to make dieting fun?”.
What comes to your head when you think of the word diet?
Eating only salads and chicken?
Skipping out on all the fun social events?
Basically realizing you will have to be hungry 24/7 if you want to drop weight?
Basically, summed up, you think dieting sucks.
Truthfully, dieting can suck. That being said with this article I intend to give you 5 things you can take with you to help aid in your weight loss journey.
These simple tips will make things just a tad bit easer on you, and yes even fun dare I say.
The only thing I need from you is to keep your eyes peeled here.
Don’t blink.
Okay you can blink but seriously read the whole article because each of the 5 ways to make dieting fun hold their own value.
Ready? Get your swimsuit on that you want to fit into this summer and let’s dive in.
5 Ways To Make Dieting Fun
Dieting can be tough for a slew of different reasons.
Below I am going to cover the 5 main issues I have seen coaching thousands of people through their weight loss journey.
- Cutting Out Your Favorite Foods
- Getting Hungry Enough To Hurt Small Children For Food
- Having No Energy
- Having No Motivation
- Not Having A Clear and Concise Plan
Anyone who has embarked on their weight loss journey has surely come across at least one these five.
You may even be reading this thinking “ Soo what if I am all 5?”.
Don’t worry as I am going to lay out exactly how to tackle each one of these issues that dieting brings.
#1 Do Not Cut Out Your Favorite Foods
To lose weight you do not have to cut out all of your carbs.
You do not have to cut out ice cream, or pizza, or burgers.
You can and still should include your favorite foods while dieting.
This is the most important way to make dieting fun.
The best way I can explain this to you is to tell you a story about my online coaching client Nadia above.
For years Nadia tried multiple “fad diets” that cut out carbs, that only allowed her to drink smoothies, and that called for her favorite foods to be banished.
When she was finally sick and tired of losing weight then immediately gaining it back she came to me looking for a more sustainable approach.
Nadia travels often, works full time as a pharmacist, and is a mom of two which means she is busy running around at night after work.
She cannot and will not be able to prep all her foods and put them into a cute little container with chicken and asparagus.
The best part is she did not have to. She ate chick fil, cheesesteaks, amongst other foods. She was able to still enjoy the foods she loves while still losing weight.
Now was her whole diet cheesesteaks and Chick Fia A? No of course not.
80-90% of her foods came from nutrient dense whole foods. These foods looked like
- Lean Meats
- Fruits
- Veggies
- Oatmeal
- Rice
- Greek Yogurt
- Eggs
To name a few.
Yet the point still remains that she was able to work in and include her favorite foods into her diet in moderation, and as a result has lost over 35lbs and multiple pant sizes.
I introduced to her the principle of flexible dieting for weight loss and it has worked amazing for her thus far. ( if you want more information on this head HERE to read my in depth article on that ).
The more you try to cut out your favorite foods the more you will hate your diet.
The more you hate your diet the less likely you are to stick with it.
If you can’t stick with it you won’t be able to see and sustain results.
#2 How To Control Hunger On A Diet
Most of the time you take your diet to the extreme because you want to lose the weight as quickly as possible.
I promise you that strategy has not worked thus far, will not work right now, and never will work in the future.
The more you try to do that the more you will be in this spot you are right now.
My first piece of advice to you would be to stop doing such an aggressive diet.
To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit which just means you need to eat less calories than your body burns on a daily basis.
No matter what diet you do I can assure you the less you try to eat to the point where you are over restricting yourself is not going to work.
Take a more moderate approach.
Be okay with the process taking “longer”. When in reality it won’t take longer because the more moderate you go the longer you will stick with the diet.
Therefore instead of trying to lose weight as fast as possible and falling off track, you will take a more sustainable approach which will lead you to get there faster than if you keep yo yo dieting.
Never forget who won the tortoise and the hare.
10 Foods That Keep You Full On A Diet
So now that I just yelled at you to stop trying to lose weight as fast as possible for the last 3 minutes let’s talk about practical approaches to controlling your hunger on a diet.
I am going to give you 10 foods that can keep you full on a diet. There are more than just these, but these are great because they fill you up for low calories.
This in turns help you stick to your diet longer because you aren’t hurting small children for food.
- Greek yogurt. Greek Yogurt is high in protein. Protein is the most satiating nutrient out there to keep you full on a diet.
- Spinach. For 3 cups of spinach it is only 20 calories. 3 entire cups!
- Eggs. One egg is about 70 calories. The healthy fat, protein, and nutrients in there will keep you full so you eat less throughout the day.
- Oatmeal. This is a fiber rich carb source that is slowly digesting so it fills you up for a longer period of time.
- Strawberries. For a whole lb of strawberries it is only 160 calories.. A whole pound!
- Watermelon. For a whole lb of watermelon it is only 140 calories. A whole pound!
- Cottage Cheese. Once again cottage cheese is high in protein and slower digesting so it will leave you fuller for a longer duration of time.
- Popcorn. Yep popcorn, just don’t douse it in butter.
- Protein Shakes. Not only does the protein fill you up but also the water / milk you use for the shake will be content in your stomach filling you up.
- Potatoes. Sweet potatoes or regular potatoes are fine here. Potatoes are just super filling, quite simple.
Again there are more than these, but use these as a start.
#3 How To Keep Your Energy On A Diet
Automatically when you go on a diet you are cutting down your calories which means you are cutting down your energy.
That is what is calorie is, a unit of measurement of energy.
With this being said this is supporting my point even more of not going on such an aggressive diet or aka calorie deficit.
If you want to know how many calories you should be eating to lose weight head HERE .
Beyond that I am about to bring up a subject everyone loves to forget about.. on purpose.
Sleep.
Please don’t scroll past this and hear me out.
Statistics show time and time again that those who skimp on sleep, skimp on their weight loss results as well.
When you don’t get 7-9 hours of sleep you will not be as energized throughout the day.
How does this effect your diet and weight loss? Listen up.
When you sleep there are two hormones that come into play called Leptin and Ghrelin.
Leptin is a hormone that tells your brain when you are full and when you to burn calories.
When you sleep you increase the leptin in your body basically telling your brain you are full and have plenty of energy for the time being. This can be comprised to also meaning there is no need to get more energy from, you guessed it, food.
Ghrelin is a hormone that tells your brain that it needs to eat and that your body needs more energy.
When you lack sleep your Grehlin levels stay elevated essentially telling your body to eat more even when you may not need it.
What does this lead to? You over eating, not sticking to your diet, and gaining weight.
On top of all of that, the more sleep you have the better your willpower will be.
The more likely you are to choose the right foods rather than grabbing something quick and easy.
On a diet some level of willpower and discipline are going to be necessary. The more sleep you can get the better all of these things above can be.
Nutrient Dense Whole Foods
Beyond sleep what I can suggest to you is, like my online coaching client I showed you above Nadia, make sure 80% or more of your foods are coming from nutrient dense whole foods.
This is what I tell people. If the food
- Swam in the ocean
- Roamed the earth
- Flew in the sky
- Grew in the ground
That should be making up the majority of your diet as opposed to processed foods.
Why?
These foods offer much more nutritional value to you than processed foods which can help greatly aid in energy levels.
#4 Get Motivated
Everyone is looking for the motivation fairy.
Like someone is going to show up in your bed as you wake up, sprinkle you with magical pixy dust, and you are going to be motivated to kill the day!
Let me tell you something.
No one, including myself, wakes up motivated everyday to go kill their workout or stay on track with their diet.
That is simply not the reality. There will be days that sucks. There will be days that require more effort than others.
Yet everyone is looking for motivation. Let me tell you how motivation actually works.
You probably think it goes
- Motivation
- Action
- Results
You get motivated to lose weight, then you take action (ie following a diet or workout program), then you see the results!
Nope. Not how this works.
In actuality it goes
- Action
- Results
- Motivation
The only way to get motivated is to take action.
The action could simply be walking, starting to track your food, or looking at your portion control.
From that action you will see results.
From seeing the results you will be motivated to keep going.
So I urge you to use this article to take your action.
What action can you take?
Continuing reading below.
Get Motivated By Others
Okay so now you know you have to take action but what can that action be?
A great way to ensure you stay on track and motivated with your fitness is being accountable to someone.
We as humans hate letting people down.
It is also a lot easier to tell ourselves those 3 cookies at night wasn’t that bad as opposed to telling someone else.
So once again I got your back.
I have two options for you.
The first is going to be join my online group coaching program The Clubhouse.
Not only will you get me as your coach to take all of the guess work out of the equation for you, but you also get an entire community of arguably the most supportive, positive group of people around.
I started The Clubhouse not entirely knowing what it would be but I have to say the people in there are the game changer.
They hold each other accountable. They push one another to do more and be better. Hell they push me to be better.
If you want more information on The Clubhouse head HERE .
The second option is going to be apply for my one on one coaching.
This is me coaching you, one on one, staying on top of you.
People tell me all the time “ I wish you could just move in and knock the bad foods out of my hands!” Or “ I wish you could be there to wake me up in the morning to tell me to go workout!”.
Well, now I can with my one on one coaching program.
This is not for everyone. We will be checking in everyday, I will be building a plan tailored towards you, providing exact diet guidelines along with my best workout programs.
It is tough, but damn does it get results.
If you would like to know more about my one on one coaching head HERE .
I call accountability the glue that keeps fitness dreams together. Make this the time you take action. This probably should have been number one on ways to make dieting fun because it can make the world of a difference.
#5 Follow A Clear And Concise Plan
One of the biggest mistakes I see is you out there wanting to start a diet do not have a clear plan.
You know you want to lose 30 40 50lbs, but how do you intend on doing that?
What are going to be the actions you take to get you there?
Going on a “diet” is not good enough.
How many calories are you going to eat?
What will your day of eating look like?
What will you do when the office has a party, or your son has a birthday party you have to attend?
All of these go into having a plan.
When you know exactly what you are doing your willpower and discipline automatically increase.
You will have confidence in knowing that no matter what you have to stick to 1800 calories.
Or no matter what you will stick to one plate at the pool party.
As opposed to saying “ Well I will try to eat healthy!”.
That is very fickle and not clear.
Start making clear concise goals for yourself to stick to and watch your results sky rocket.
Again, the two options I laid out above will give you exactly that.
Feel free to check them out and email me any questions at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com .
Now You Have Ways To Make Dieting Fun!
Dieting sucks.
Yet remember, it does not have to.
I have given you 5 simple ways you can make this whole dieting thing a little bit easier.
Whether it is including your favorite into your diet or eating foods that fill you up better.
Once more, if you want someone to take out all of the guess work for you and guide you through your weight loss journey feel free to reach out to me at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com .
Happy Dieting.
-E.