by Eleni Vassas

Created on: April 07, 2009   Last Updated: April 08, 2009

It's not a diet!

It's not a diet folks! It's a new eating plan. Yes that's right. Unfortunately language matters and in the case of shedding all those unwanted pounds some of us need all the help we can get.

Think about it for a moment. Why do most diets fail? Most of us will say "oh I can't eat that, I'm on a diet" with a face that makes it look like we've been held captive and starved for the past year and a half rather than just eating healthily for 2 days. Attitude plays a huge part in the success or failure of a diet. It isn't a diet with the connotation that we will do it, lose all the weight and never have to do it again. It IS a new eating plan. We'll never be able to just eat whatever we want and not gain the weight back.

Picking a proper diet is difficult. It's hard to resist promises of no hunger and no exercise; or maybe even no diet at all! Maybe we can just take a pill that makes all the bad stuff disappear. No, I think we all know better than that. We didn't gain the weight overnight, and barring a miracle, we won't lose it overnight either. Even with the healthiest diet it's normal to feel at least a little hungry. There's a difference between a burger combo and turkey breast with brown rice and vegetables; and we won't drop the pounds with burger combos. So lets all ask ourselves: Is it the diet that failed or did we fail? The one thing lacking when it comes to shedding weight is common sense. Eating without thinking about it got us heavy and unhealthy; so let's take a moment and think about it! Yes we all have jobs and hectic lives, but can't we spare a moment just to think about what we're putting in our bodies?

Some of us are motivated. We move past the hunger and stick to the plan and the weight comes off. So no exercise needed and everything will be just fine, right? Exercise unfortunately is essential; for everyone! Even if there aren't excess pounds, we all know now it's necessary to keep us healthy. This ones a little harder though. In addition to being a little hungry we have to exert ourselves physically. There's no fancy terminology for it either! So, exercise, keep fit and work out!

Why do we get wrapped up in language anyway? The word 'diet' has become synonymous with hunger, fatigue and suffering in general. The only thing that diet really refers to is the way we eat. We all had a diet before we went on Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins etc; it just wasn't a very good one. So use "new eating plan" if it makes you feel better, because let's face it - you're changing the way you eat and hopefully your whole outlook on food and yourself as well!

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