Losing Weight Diet vs. Lifestyle Diet

A few days ago a friend that started a new diet said if I started this diet, I couldn’t eat bananas or pineapple. “That’s bullcrap,” I thought, “it’s fruit! How can I be on a diet that won’t allow me to eat something as simple and healthy as fruit?!” So I wrote the diet off all together.

My attitude has always been: If I can’t do the diet forever, why do it at all? Just eat better and be more active. THAT I can do long-term.

But I’ve come to realize something. There are 2 modes: Diet mode and maintaining mode. Sacrificial mode and the-rest-of-your-life mode. Losing weight mode and keeping your weight steady mode. Just because you can’t have some foods during diet mode doesn’t mean you can’t have them in the future.

Diet mode is temporary. Maybe diet mode means you shouldn’t eat good, healthy food like bananas and pineapple because they may have too much sugar to promote the quick weight loss you’re working for. But it’s only for a short time and it doesn’t mean bananas are bad. It’s a temporary sacrifice until you reach your goal weight.

This may seem like a no-brainer to you, but it’s an eye-opener for me. It’s come from years of frustration and confusion from so-called “studies” that have demonized what I have always known as healthy food. Some studies show many fruits and vegetables that aren’t suitable for weight loss. I’ve had a tendency to write those studies off because no one can tell me fruits and vegetables will make me fat! Well, believe it or not, this is a pride and arrogance issue.

The point is, just because you can’t have certain foods when you’re trying to lose weight doesn’t mean you have to write them off forever.

So if you’re dieting and struggling, hang in there. It’s only temporary. When you get to your goal weight you can get back to those maintaining types of foods. The stuff you know is good for you, but not good for dieting (like bananas and corn).

I’m down 10 lbs. since I started my diet. I hope my pride won’t hinder me from losing more.