Why diets always fail and how you can succeed

I’m going to be brutally honest. I know very well that diets always fail, however my mind has been on food this week. Being away on our honeymoon recently has wrecked havoc on my health and wellness routine. The temptation of being surrounded by American-style food and alcohol meant that on some days, no veggies passed my lips. Arghhh. While it was fun for a short period of time, I certainly was looking forward to ‘normal food’!

As we boarded the plane home I started becoming anxious about the ‘kilos’ I felt like I had packed on and that maybe I should go on a diet.

A diet? I never diet! So why now?

It is funny how these negative thoughts pop up and our automatic response is to punish ourselves with deprivation. The problem is, we all know that deprivation and dieting never lasts (or works). In fact, it can make things worse in the long run.

Why do diets always fail? The answer is simple – we are approaching our desire to be healthier from a place of fear and judgment. Subconsciously our body goes into protection mode and resists our every effort to become ‘thinner’.

So what can we do to make the concept of ‘dieting’ successful AND achieve long term health and happiness?  The answer lies in changing our mindset to one of positivity and love.

‘Crowding in’ – the new positive mindset to dieting

For the past few weeks I have been honoured to be part of The Life Transformation Project eCourse run by the wonderful Alice Nicholls from The Whole Daily. It was here that I learned about the idea of ‘crowding in’ positive behaviour so that there is no place for deprivation and fear. The timing could not have been perfect as I struggled with how to become healthier again.

Alice says that “To be free of the idea of restriction – which never works when you’re trying to accomplish something – a better way to manage anything you would like to decrease is to increase the exact opposite of it into you life. For example, if you want to cut down on pasta and processed grains it is a good idea to fit as many vegetables onto your plate as possible.”

Shifting our focus away from what we can’t eat because it is ‘bad’ (negative), to what we can eat to feel happier and healthier (positive) will set you up for success rather than failure.

It almost sounds too easy right? But when you think about the idea of simply increasing the whole, real foods in your diet, it really makes sense that all the processed stuff will fall away without you even noticing.

So that’s exactly what I am going to do – focus on ‘crowding in’ as many nutritious foods, brewing my Kombucha, making green juices and adding fermented veggies to meals at every chance. I’m letting go of the my fear and anxiety associated with food and weight. Instead, I am lovingly allowing my body to build itself back up to optimal health in its own time. I will succeed by being positive.

Alice also says that the concept of ‘crowding in’ can be applied to other parts of life, such as relationships: “If you want to decrease toxic people or situations from your life, you need to crowd in those that nourish you, lift you up and support you to feel amazing.”  I can certainly agree that this is the case. It has been said that you are the product of the people you spend the most time with. We have the power to chose whether those people are a positive or negative influence on our lives.

Will you join me to ‘crowd in’ the good stuff in your life? I would love to know if you have applied this idea to your relationships with food, family, friends and work and how it has helped you succeed!