Avoid Impulse Decision Making When Shopping for Your Meals

Diets are not new. In fact, adult men and women have been obsessed with what should and should not be on their plates for hundreds of years. What makes fad diets so appealing are the rules and the simpler the better. Diets restrict certain foods (don't eat that) and encourage exercise (definitely do this). Nonetheless, restrictions too often lead to deprivation, which then leads to feeling guilty. Fact is most people's body are not wired to make weight loss easy, particularly with the availability of food in the world in which we live.

For the most part, a person's weight loss goal does not change. They either realize their goals or rationalize them away when achieving them gets too tough due to issues, such as:

• POOR SHOPPING HABITS - A study from Cornell University found that shoppers buy more unhealthy food, if they shop when they are hungry. Both meal planning and grocery shopping require lists to help you refrain from making impulse decisions.
• DIET BACKFIRING - The concept of food restrictions is problematic because there is emphasis placed on calorie reduction. This immediately increases the chance of diet backfiring due to the body's need to conserve energy and calories are burned at a slower rate.
• CULTURAL NORMS - Many Americans have abandoned hope that a diet is a temporary change of eating habits that will allow them to lose weight. This has caused a cultural shift in seeing strict dieting or fad dieting as an effective way of achieving permanent weight loss.
• EXCUSES FOR BAD EATING - Some people have too many excuses for relaxing their dietary vigilance for holidays, special occasion, etc. with a personal belief that they deserve a break from healthy eating. The problem is you can always find an excuse.
• MISGUIDED STRATEGIES - People who don't deny that they believe in healthy eating often adopt misguided weight loss strategies like, "I really want to lose weight fast, so I'll follow one of these crash diets and then come up with a more sensible plan for that whole healthy eating thing".
• NOT ADJUSTING IN REAL TIME - So, you did not stick with your diet plan this morning and figure it won't hurt to take the rest of the day off. After all, you can start fresh tomorrow... Not!

Dietary change is not the only component of a diet plan that leads to long-term weight management. Increased physical activity, mindful eating, following your hunger cues and managing stress without relying on comfort foods all make a difference in maintaining a weight-reduced state. In fact, the quality of your personalized diet plan may prove to be more important than whether you're following a low-fat or low-carb diet. Paying attention to your body, listening for appetite cues, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will produce the best outcomes. Call the Metabolic Research Center and let us show you how to increase your metabolism by eating healing foods.