Is Dieting worth the effort?

The countdown to the end of my diet is on.

Was it worth it? 

I have two weeks remaining of my weight loss program. Have I enjoyed the process? Hell no. Do I appreciate the extra energy shedding weight affords? Defo.

Is it worth it? Hmmm.

It’s difficult to lose weight when surrounded by temptation. The very first biblical story was temptation; the temptation to eat from the tree of knowledge.

We have all the facts we need. Poor diet choices lead to weight gain. This has negative consequences in our every day lives.

We have public parks in which to exercise. Private gyms without contracts and more miles of canal path to stroll along than you know where.

Your body is made up of 360 joints, you were designed to move

And yet, as a city region, we struggle with weight. Physical attributes affect our mental health as well as our physical.

I wish I could tell you weight loss is easy. It isn’t. And maintaining weight loss is difficult too.

As human beings, its against our instincts to be hungry. Our bodies may not need constantly feeding but our cravings do.

Try these body hacks over a period of 100 days. They worked for me, they may work for you.

• Drink water. Sometimes, your body demands hydration not food. Its easy to misinterpret signals of thirst for hunger.
• When you feel hungry, sip water. Give yourself 20 minutes. If you’re still hungry, then you may need to eat.
• Distraction. To avoid fantasising about unhealthy food, do something productive. Take a walk, swim, read, watch a film, anything that takes your focus away from food.
• If you’re watching TV and they show a scene with food or alcohol, switch channels.
• Avoid social media when hungry. Food bloggers post great food images that sprinkle a trail of crumbs to the biscuit jar.
• Get rid of the biscuit jar. 
• Check the weather forecast, if the temperature is above 10 degrees, go for a walk. 10,000 steps will take about 1 hour 40 minutes and shed your breakfast calories.
• Treat yourself to an item of clothing as soon as you notice physical change. You’ve earned it.
• Drink Green tea.
• Get 8 hours sleep.
• Take the stairs instead of escalators or lift.
• Switch to wholemeal foods; bread, pasta, noodles etc.
• Snack on mixed nuts such as Almonds or fruit if you get hungry between meals.
• Don’t have cheat days. Keep your eyes on the prize.
• Be as active as possible. Your body is made up of 360 joints, you were designed to move.

This is the toughest one and much easier said than done; accept the harsh reality that you are only shedding weight when hungry. If you are full, you either maintain your existing weight or gain weight.

Language matters; the smoking lobby, after Government decided to campaign against smoking, pressured public health to adopt slogans like ‘Quit Smoking, Stop Smoking and End Smoking.’ Why? Because Quitting, Stopping and Ending are all negative notions.

Humans instinctively don’t want to fail, and stopping, quitting and ending are all associated with failure.

Don’t think of dieting as weight loss but rather gaining lightness, achieving better health, earning more stamina. Keep it positive.

Achieving healthy weight is ironically up hill. You will stumble, you will fall, you will experience failure. We’re all human. We’ve spent thousands of years stumbling, falling and failing.

Don’t let being human stop you achieving what you want to achieve.

Is it worth it? Its’s always worth doing something positive, productive and life changing. 

 

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Jas Sansi is a freelance photographer based in Birmingham, a trustee for LoveBrum and contributor to The Asian Today newspaper.

@jassansi 07930 837 505 sansi1@btinternet.com