You don't necessarily have to eliminate your favorite foods to lose weight

I hope you are doing well and had a great weekend! I was in Seattle over the weekend for my first time. I went up there to visit some of my friends and see the city. I really liked it, although it was cold and rainy, but, of course, I expected that. On Monday, I got some good news! The vet said that Charlotte's doing really well healing from her surgery and should be able to return to her pre-injury activity in 3 weeks! That means she'll be able to go to the beach again, which she will be so excited about.

Now that the weather is starting to get nicer, many people are trying to lose weight quickly before summer. One thing that I've noticed in common with many of my clients is that they feel like they will have to give all their favorite foods if they go on a "diet" or that if they "cheat" that's all over and they've ruined any chance they have at losing weight. Or, they won't even attempt to do something if they're not able to do the whole program (ex: I have a client with a broken ankle who wants to start a new weight loss plan, but since she can't exercise, she is waiting until she can exercise to start. Realistically, she could just do the eating plan until she's able to add in the exercise instead of procrastinating.).

First, it is best to not look at it as "going on a diet" or "cheating" if you eat something not in the guidelines of whatever food plan you are following. If you make it a lifestyle change and eat healthy most of the time, there's no reason why you can't have the foods that you don't really want to give up as long as it's in moderation and it's not having too much of an affect on your weight loss efforts. Of course, if you have digestive issues, a disease, or some other reason why you can't eat certain foods, this wouldn't apply. Then, it's best to find alternatives to the foods you like so you won't feel deprived.

Second, having that "all or nothing" mentality is part of the reason why some people struggle to lose weight and are never successful. If you are only trying to lose weight when you're able to stick to it or do it exactly as you're supposed to (like the example above) that makes it more of a temporary thing and not a lifestyle change, meaning you're planning to go back to your old ways of eating once you've lost the weight, and likely will gain all or some of the weight back. And, when you aren't successful or mess up by "cheating", and feel that you've "fallen off the wagon", then it makes it so much easier to just give up completely. Why not just acknowledge that you ate something that you didn't really want to and just keep moving forward? Stay on the wagon and make a mistake every once in a while.

These are just a couple suggestions so you can look at losing weight or living a healthy lifestyle from a different perspective so it doesn't seem like such a dreadful thing. If you are interested in learning how to eat healthy, but still be able to enjoy delicious foods, check out my programs or follow me on Instagram @kellysnutritionandwellness (I post a lot of food pics.)

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!