A new year, a new diet.

A new year has begun again and with January's arrival comes the "diet" word in many households.  I hate the term "diet" because it is misused all the time.  Diet is what you eat; it does not mean a weight loss diet.  

The gym is also filled with all those who are turning over a new leaf in their life.  There will be people who make it and those who do not; the ones who will start over again next January.  But why do so many people fail?  Many fail because they move too far away from their comfort zone.  Success is often achieved with baby steps. 

If you have a diet filled with processed food, sugar and carbs; then switching over to a diet void of carbs, processed food and sugar will make it nearly impossible.  Making a big diet change can be tough when your body is use to one thing for such a long time and then try to remove it completely.  The mind is a crazy thing and it can sometimes be the obstacle in the way of success.

Getting your head to agree with the new diet can take some time and discussion.  First you have to stop thinking that you are being deprived.  Next, there is no secret pill.  You may need to lose weight or you might just want to eat a better and more nutritional diet.  Whatever your reason for diet change; you need to let your head know what is going on and why.  

You only have one body in this life of yours; why not fuel it to the best of your ability?  When we eat food; it goes through a huge process before leaving again.  If there is no real nutritional value in what we eat then it is not helping to fuel our body at all.  In fact it may be causing damage on it's way through.  

Eating healthy food and loving it takes a new way of thinking.  If your current diet is a junk food base then you will need to teach yourself about the joys of healthy food.  Eating should not be just to quench hunger; we should eat to fuel our body to best it can be.  That means going back to simple and unprocessed.  You can change your palate but it definitely takes time and mind games.  

Yes, I eat things that are not considered healthy; everyone has a weakness or two.  I allow myself to eat indulgent foods, but in moderation.  Often the idea of not being allowed to eat things makes us want them more.  We feel deprived and cannot continue on the new healthy way of eating because of deprivation. 

Eating healthy is a good thing.  Learning to love healthy food is a process.  If your diet has gone down the processed path then you need to step off the road you are on.  You need to sit down and have a talk with yourself.  When you eat a diet filled with nutritional food; you are giving your food that it needs, foods it can use.  You will feel amazing; but it will not happen overnight.  Change is a process, take the first baby step today and the next when you are ready.  Take care of that body, you only have one.