Diet Danger Zones

After dieting for a while, I usually reach a place that I now call “the danger zone.” This is not the fast food district, the kitchen, or any one location. It’s just a generally rough spot in the road. I’m now in that danger zone.

There is a big temptation to go off track after I lose a few pounds and feel my clothes getting looser. I know I’m not the only one; the yo-yo diet effect is very common. You lose a few pounds, think it’s great, and then start slipping. Before you know it, you’re back to your old bad eating habits. You gain the weight right back, and usually a few more pounds for good measure. Yes, I’m very familiar with it. I’ve been there a few times.

Now I get it – this is why they say diets don’t work. A light bulb has lit up above my head. I’m a believer.

The thing about the diet mindset is that you think of it as temporary. That’s why you can live with it, tolerate it, and put up with it. I mean seriously, I can endure pretty much any amount of deprivation for a couple of weeks. After that, things start to go haywire.

Crash diets work if you need a quick fix, but they’re not about getting healthy. In fact, starving yourself for two weeks to get into a dress is pretty bad for your body. You can be sure of two things – you will start eating normally again, and as soon as you do, the pounds will be back, and they’ll likely bring friends.

Why do we do this to ourselves? I’ve done it over and over again myself and just didn’t get it until very recently. We’re all about instant gratification. Isn’t that part of why we gain weight anyway? For me it was. Fast food is convenient, quick and easy, much more so than actually cooking a healthy meal.

I was a size 8 on the day I got married. Just for that day though. I starved myself to get into that dress and when it was over, all bets were off. I didn’t know how to eat healthy. I knew how to not eat and I knew how to eat junk. Those were my options.

So this time around, I’m doing it differently. I don’t need a quick fix, I need lasting results and a healthy body. Now that I’ve lost a few pounds, there’s the danger of getting slack about it and treating it as a diet I can go off, rather than a permanent change in my eating habits.

Recognizing the danger zone is a major step. I’ve seen this pattern before and I realize I am at a point that I could easily tell myself I’ve done enough and just quit. However, I have Barb and Tiffany as my support group and cheerleaders this time around and they’re fighting the same battles I am.

If I go off track, I’d have to admit it to them, and that wouldn’t be pretty. We’re in this together now and we’ll see it through. The threat of Tiffany’s “fish phase” is a very powerful incentive to stay on track. I’m trying to be really good so I might avoid it.