The best-kept secret of successful dieters

Changing your diet is hard. There’s no denying that. That’s why 95 percent of people who go on diets fall off the wagon eventually.

But if you’re one of those 95 percent, don’t get discouraged. It doesn’t mean you’re doomed to dieting failure for the rest of your life. It just means you need to try a different approach to dieting.

First of all, you need to stop using the word diet as a verb. Saying you’re “on a diet” is a surefire way to back yourself into a corner psychologically. You automatically feel deprived and restricted, which sets you up for failure down the road. Instead, turn your focus to eating healthy.

You don’t need to follow a strict diet to eat healthy. In fact, researchers have found the strict, disciplinarian approach to changing your diet is what dooms you from the start—that and a tendency to look at the downsides rather than the upsides of your diet.

After studying 542 dieters, researchers from Baylor University found that the difference between someone who successfully changes their diet and someone who doesn’t is all in their perspective.

Successful dieters focus their attention on adding healthy foods to their diet, while unsuccessful dieters focus on taking unhealthy foods away.  And, like I said earlier, making yourself feel deprived is never a good diet strategy.

Successful dieters also take a more optimistic approach to their diet. They’re “glass half-full” kind of people, because when they do think about the unhealthy foods they need to avoid, they think about unhealthy foods that they could easily let go of. Unsuccessful dieters focus on their favorite unhealthy foods— the ones that they really don’t want to live without.

In fact, dietary optimism seems to be a theme in how successful dieters tackle their diets. When adding healthy foods to their diet, successful dieters focus on adding healthy foods that they actually like. Unsuccessful dieters focus on forcing down healthy foods that they don’t like.

So the mystery is solved. The key to successfully changing your diet is all in your mind. It’s just a matter of focusing on the good rather than the bad parts of a healthy diet. If you’re ready to put this healthy eating approach into action, here’s a quick recap of what you need to do:

• Add more healthy foods to your daily diet. That should be your main priority. Even if it means you still eat a donut occasionally.

• Eat the healthy foods that you really enjoy. If you love strawberries and spinach, eat lots of those. If you hate Brussel sprouts and kale, don’t try to force them down just because they’re good for you. There are plenty of other foods that can give you similar nutritional benefits.

• When you cut back on unhealthy foods, start with foods that you can easily live without. Maybe you could easily replace soda with sparkling water, but aren’t quite ready to give up potato chips cold turkey yet.

• Be flexible. Treating yourself occasionally is healthy. Dieting is so hard because you tell yourself that you’re never going to be able to eat your favorite foods again. But it’s okay to have a piece of cake every once and awhile. You’ll find it easier to eat healthy on a day-to-day basis, if you know there’s something to look forward to every now and again.

Source: Meredith E. David, Kelly L. Haws. Saying “No” to Cake or “Yes” to Kale: Approach and Avoidance Strategies in Pursuit of Health Goals. Psychology & Marketing, 2016; 33 (8): 588