Mindfulness is a Lifestyle: Dieting is a Misery

There has been much said lately about how "diets don't work."  This is true.  It has always been true. Most people do not have the ability to stop eating foods they love and start eating healthy foods all the time, no matter what, from now until forever.  Who would want to anyway?  It's an impossible task and an unrealistic expectation.  Furthermore, when people suffer through restrictive diets, they lose weight in an unhealthy way.  The metabolism then goes down.  As a result, the weight that was lost is "found" again, plus more, since the metabolism has been lowered, as in permanently.

We don't recommend diets.  We recommend learning new life skills and strategies, over time, that include nutritious meals and snacks that are portion controlled, increased fitness and activity plus fulfilling hobbies, interests and social interaction to create a lifestyle of health, wellness and happiness.

One of the best ways to create this healthier lifestyle comes through the practice of mindfulness.  That simply means that we slow down long enough to pay attention to what we are doing, how we are feeling, where our thoughts are going.  By doing so, we can tap into our true hunger signals and eat to satisfy them.  We can stop and take a break when life becomes overwhelming.  We can focus our awareness on the moment without getting ahead of ourselves.  This reduces stress, decreases the stress hormones like cortisol that makes us crave junky food and retain belly fat.  This makes life feel more manageable.

Slow and steady is truly the path to life-long healthy weight loss and weight maintenance.  Managing stress in pro-active ways (like exercise, meditation, hobbies) is part of the weight loss and weight maintenance puzzle.  Promoting healthy metabolism by eating at regular intervals and drinking water often is part of the puzzle.  Sleeping well and waking up feeling refreshed also contributes to healthy metabolism.

It is all very old fashioned.  Let our expectations of ourselves be just as simple.  Expect change to occur over time.  Expect shifts to happen regularly but often very quietly.  Slow down to notice these things.  Appreciate the process, the journey and the wisdom of learning new things over time.  This is the path to a life well lived.  It always was.