Wedding fittings or wanting to look great for a milestone birthday tend to increase the pressure to look perfect. As a result, we may feel the need to lose weight quickly in any way that we can. First and foremost, it’s important to be healthy and not have unrealistic expectations of fitting into a size 4 or 6, as it may not be right for you and adds undue pressure. Your family and friends love you as you are, so this should be something that you want because you feel that it’s best for you.
As a vegan, one is more likely ahead of the game as far as having a healthier diet, but it does not guarantee that one is eating in a balanced way. Just the word diet, makes most of us cringe as we seem to instantly feel hungry, restricted, and deprived. We add even more pressure on ourselves when we approach it as, “I need to lose weight by this date,” way of thinking rather than looking at the bigger picture.
The All or Nothing Diet Mentality, A Common Pitfall When Trying to Lose Weight
One is either on a diet or off a diet. If one is on a diet, we often feel deprived and are perhaps cutting calories so much that we feel hungry all the time. Then, we have that moment when we get off our diet, decide to eat everything we’ve been missing, and tell ourselves that we will start again tomorrow or on Monday. It’s like a domino effect, frustrating, to say the least. However, are we reaching our desired results, long-term? Probably not, so what can we do? By making lifestyle changes, rather than going on a diet, one is actually changing habits that contribute and prevent us from losing weight and keeping it off. Building good habits and letting go of others that are unhelpful is key. One way to achieve this is to plan ahead. It doesn’t take too much time but, it makes a huge difference in our success! Jot down what meals and healthy snacks you will be making for the week (or for several days) along with the needed ingredients, and make a run to the grocery store.
Finding yourself starving at the most vulnerable times, commonly between 3-4 pm, tends to contribute to overeating or not consuming foods that are as nutritious. Having something delicious and ready (already prepared or ready to quickly prepare) in your refrigerator or with you at work, helps to stay on track! Don’t be tempted to skip meals; your body needs the fuel and we often end up overeating later. Another aspect of the “all or nothing” mentality is that when we think of a diet, we assume that we cannot include certain foods. This can actually work against us. If you like chocolate, for example, allow for a small square of chocolate after a meal. Giving yourself the okay to enjoy certain things in moderation can also help prevent binging and feeling deprived. The keywords here are: allow and moderation. What this accomplishes is that it begins to draw us away from the “all or nothing” diet mentality and helps us stay on track.
Enjoy a Variety of Whole Foods
Consuming a variety of whole foods for meals and snacks will help ensure that we are getting the proper nutrients and not get bored. Experiment with new recipes. Try adding a variety of vegetables to dishes; oven-roasted vegetables tossed with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper with whole garlic cloves are delicious. Satisfying and comforting foods can include vegan chili; marinated grilled tofu with kale on a bed of quinoa; spinach, chickpea, and potato curry; roasted sweet potato tacos, etc. Try adding nutritional yeast, which has a nice, cheesy flavor and is rich in B vitamins, including B-12. It’s wonderful sprinkled on sauces, scrambles, soups, pasta, legumes, or anything you like. Add spices such as cumin, curry, and turmeric, along with fresh or dried herbs. Including between-meal snacks is also important, as they add nutrition and help prevent becoming too hungry and overeating at the next meal. But, all snacks are not equal, and just because something is vegan doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily nutritious. Although some chips are vegan, for example, they may not be healthy. There are endless, easy to prepare vegan recipes for meals and snacks online that are nutritious and delicious. Healthy vegan food, while trying to lose weight and get in shape, does not need to be boring.
Lastly, staying hydrated is important for our bodies. Filling up a water bottle in the morning with plain water, or with a splash of fresh juice or slices of fresh fruit to add flavor, will remind us of how much we’re drinking; and enjoying alternatives to coffee and caffeinated drinks with hot or cold herbal teas are ways to ensure we are getting enough fluids.
Exercise Should Not Feel Like Punishment
The same “all or nothing” approach is often used for working out. We are either all in, or not exercising much at all. That’s why it’s so important to find activities that we enjoy and can stay with; there are so many options out there for all levels! Changing it up for variety is also important in keeping our interest and for using different muscle groups. Start out slowly if you have not routinely exercised, listen to your body, and work up to what you are comfortable with. Making it a priority and including it at a time of day that best fits for you will help in making exercising part of your routine. Exercise not only helps to control weight but, it is a stress reducer and can be helpful when one is planning an important event! Also, just moving more in our daily routine is very helpful: parking the car farther away from the entrance of a store, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, walking around the house while on the phone, stretching while watching TV, taking a walk on a lunch break, etc. It all adds up to building good habits that can have long-term benefits.
If you are not achieving the results you had hoped, it may mean that it’s time to approach getting in shape from a new perspective. When we focus on losing weight for a specific event, versus making positive lifestyle changes, we tend to not look past that event so keeping the weight off and staying in shape is less likely. Making these lifestyle changes means that we won’t be on the on-again, off-again diet roller coaster and are much more likely to be healthier and achieve long-term success.
