How To Successfully Stick to a Healthy Diet

Despite craving unhealthy foods all day long.

It is no news that eating healthy leads to a healthy life, but it is nearly impossible to transition when unhealthy foods taste so good.

When I was pregnant, I developed an unhealthy diet with the excuse that I had no control over pregnancy cravings. After I delivered my baby, I was 55 lbs. over my normal weight. I had a whole plan in mind of how I would lose all of those extra pounds. However, that’s when Covid-19 restrictions went into effect worldwide, and I remained locked in my house for nearly seven months.

My husband and I were accustomed to eating out every weekend and going to new places at least once a month. We really enjoy being outdoors, but all of that changed since Covid-19. We were home 24/7, and our newborn really helped us not get bored, but babies sleep a lot, and so I began to bake during my leisure time. It was so much fun. I’d bake something almost every day, and of course, that was not helping me one bit achieve my goal; instead, I kept gaining weight.

Because I was stuck in my house all the time, I did not realize how much weight I had gained. I always wore casual stretchy clothes, and it was hard to notice. One day, we decided to have a small family gathering, and we took some pictures. I was shocked when I saw myself in them. It finally hit me; I weighed myself later that day, and according to the BMI calculator, I was obese. I began to really worry and work seriously towards my goal.

That’s when I had to return to work. Nothing fitted me except for my maternity clothes. And, I had less than ten pieces to wear altogether. It quickly became frustrating not to fit into the clothes I love. I had to lose weight. I was constantly feeling down because I had never been in that place before and did not know what to do.

It was not easy at first. I work right next to a shopping plaza with several restaurants and a supermarket. I often found myself walking to the plaza because I could not control myself each time I thought of all the foods I could eat there. I had to devise a solution that would prevent me from falling easily into temptation.

Here are four things that have really worked for me.

Create a budget It was challenging to stay put in my cubicle when I thought about the banana nut bread from Starbucks or a taco from the Mexican taqueria, maybe a slice of pizza from that Italian restaurant or a glazed donut from Publix—yes, I love those donuts. I could not help but take out my debit card and walk to the shopping plaza and get something.

There were days I would purposely forget my lunch at home to eat something from the plaza. Still, I was resolute about my weight loss plan, but instant gratification got the better of me each time. Therefore, I gave myself a limit of how much money I would allow myself to spend eating out during weekdays. That solved the problem of going so often.

Take a walk However, the budget was not enough because I still had cravings, and I wanted to put an end to them, which were the culprit of my falling into temptation in the first place. I tried a lot of things, but nothing really worked. One time, I almost gave in to my desires, but as I was on my way to the plaza, I caught a squirrel playing around. I stood there just watching the little guy enjoy his life.

It made me think about how simple life really is but how complex we make it by giving ourselves all sorts of unwanted responsibilities and limiting ourselves to the expectations of the world. I noticed the beautiful trees around me, the birds, the squirrels, and I just sat there for a few minutes, and suddenly my craves went away. I now take walks regularly when I start craving unhealthy foods.

Do not buy the next size I have decided not to buy any more fast-fashion clothing. There are many reasons for that, starting with the fact that they are unethically made. I will not spend a single penny on getting more clothes I do not need. I have a closet full of stuff already, and I have made it a goal to wear it all.

This helped me keep my eyes on the prize. I knew that if I continued to rotate between 9 garments, they’d worn out fast, and I would have to buy new clothes, and that was a definite no. Therefore, I did everything I could to lose those extra pounds — drinking more water, cutting fast foods, and stop baking. The last one was hard because I really enjoyed baking, and everything I made was delicious, but it is unhealthy for both my husband and me. And I have to do what was best for us.

Think of the long term benefits The hardest part about losing weight is that because it does not happen overnight, we think cheating every now and then is okay. I often lied to myself. The last donut I ate was the last one I’d eat, the last time I had pizza was going to be the last one, and so on. I said that every time but each time, I failed to live by those words, and before I knew it, I was eating all those things again and still would say, “this is it, no more after this time,” only to start the cycle all over again.

I was frustrated, and I felt like a failure, and when we feel this way, we find it harder to commit to our goals because giving up is the easiest thing to do. And we end up thinking that our goals are too high to achieve. And so I would go back to the starting point, convinced I could not do it and that I had to accept my new reality. Then I looked at my son, and I realized that I am one of the most influential people in his life, and I did not want him to view failure as an alternative. I began to focus on the end goal, and I was finally able to stick to my plan and have lost 48 lbs.

I am nothing special if I did it, so can you.