It's Not A Diet, It's A Lifestyle

In many gyms, January is the busiest time of the year. People are acting on their new year's resolutions to get fit and healthy, and quite often start diets. Many give up on their resolutions shortly after the new year begins. They do of course make brand new resolutions next year and give up on those too, and so the cycle continues.

I've made a number of nutritional changes to my life to supplement the hard work I put in at the gym over the past year or so. As I've progressed at the gym I've learnt how to maximise the equipment I use and the time I put in, as well as creating a nutrition lifestyle that revolves around eating low fat and low calorie food and drink options while maximising my intake of essential nutrients. This has worked for me and it has evolved over time. When it comes to nutrition what I do is part of my life. It is not a diet. A diet I could give up on, but when it comes to a lifestyle it's a part of my everyday life. It is a lifestyle that evolves as I learn more about nutrition. As I'm living a healthy lifestyle, it allows me to treat myself moderately on occasion without depriving me of some less healthy foods (i.e. chocolate, ice cream, sugary snacks). I also find that by reducing these less healthy foods as part of my lifestyle, it is now unnatural for me to reach for them first, and I no longer crave them like I used to. It was hard at first to change my eating habits, but by slowly fading out chocolate for example with a banana, my body adjusted and feels all the healthier for it. I think it might be useful to think of a diet as something temporary and a lifestyle as something permanent. If you want to be fit and healthy as part of your daily life, I would recommend not focusing on something temporary like a diet, and focusing on something permanent- a better lifestyle.