How to Never Blow Your Diet Again

Learn how to never blow your diet again! Instead of starting diets and then giving up, here is a new way to do it.

Imagine your life this way.

• You never blow your diet.
• You never worry about going to parties or special occasions.
• You eat real food and love it.
• You like who you see in the mirror.
• Mondays are never about having to start a diet again.
• You are peaceful about food, and you know you are the one in control.

It may sound like a fantasy at this point, but it is possible and I’m going to share five ways that you can begin to shed diet mentality and begin to take care of your body in a new way.

June 2023 Update: I am more convinced than ever that these things work! My clients not only lose weight but they feel better all over, with fewer aches and pains and more energy. Best of all, they lose the cravings and obsession over food.

Losing weight can be the result of truly loving your body and wanting to take the best care of it you can!

As a weight loss and life coach for women over 50, I’m at expert at helping you use your MIND to get the results you want in your body and in your life!

The first step is to realize that you’ve been caught up in diet mentality, perhaps for as long as you can remember.

This is how to never blow your diet again. Going on a diet rarely works for the long-term; only about 5% of dieters keep the weight off. Yet, the idea of going on a diet is so persistent with most women.

We women think about food and their bodies all the time. The problem is that the way they think is detrimental to their efforts.

We focus on a number on the scale and we talk to ourselves in horrible ways.

It’s our dream to lose weight and have a great body. As a result we obsess abut what are healthy foods, what has fewer calories, and how to decrease our hunger. 

But after years of suffering, a lot of women just give up trying to do anything and accept that nothing is really going to work for them.

While most women don’t have clinical eating disorders, I would estimate that most women now have some form of disordered eating and body dysmorphia. 

From my perspective, I often see a cycle of deprivation, usually followed by binge eating. Most women would rather keep doing something that doesn’t work and won’t ever work, rather than considering having peace around food.

We have been conditioned to believe it is impossible to just eat, eat food we like, and eat when we are hungry.

However, when you can do that–you will never blow your diet again. Because you are never going to diet again. 

Why I Quit Dieting After 50

By the age of 50, I was done dieting. I accepted my size 14 body. Fortunately, I didn’t give up on taking care of it. I ate real food and I exercised. I believed that I would never get thinner, but I still wanted to be healthy.

I believed then, and I still believe, that being thin doesn’t mean being healthy. They are two completely different things.

I believed that I could never get a better body or lose weight. I had totally given up hope.

Yet, in my early fifties, I discovered some new ways of thinking about eating that changed my life. I lost about 30 pounds and I had the cutest body of my life.

At that time, I didn’t have the mindset or all the tools I do now. I gained some back, but I never gained it all back; I was definitely on the right track.

For the last year and a half, I have had the mindset and tools to keep my weight in a range that I love. My weight doesn’t change by more than a pound or two. I wear a size eight and that has become my normal.

I don’t have to worry about it, diet, or obsess about food. I don’t have any crazy exercise program I follow. And I am never going to blow my diet again!

Why Diets Don’t Work for Women Over 50

The secret to never blowing a diet is simply to never diet again.

Dieting can definitely help you shed pounds; at least initially. But diets always have an ending and when you go back to your favorite foods, the weight often comes back on.

I teach women to lose weight while eating foods they like.

When you change how you eat, without changing your thoughts, then you never develop the mindset that allows you to eat with confidence, compassion, and love for yourself.

Before you ever try to lose weight, you first have to have compassion and love for yourself.

You have to understand why you are the size you are.

Diet mentality says it’s because you eat too much.

It actually keeps you miserable. It tells you that you have to suffer to lose weight. It tells you that you need to be punished for eating too much. 

It tells you that there is something wrong with you because you are a certain size or weight.

Diet mentality is not your friend. And you will rebel against it. Your body will rebel. Your brain will rebel.

How to Lose Weight and Regain Your Life

I offer a six-month coaching program to help women lose weight. It’s six months because, one, of course I want you to get weight loss results.

More importantly, I want you to have success each and every day, that is not dependent on what the scales says.

It takes about six weeks for women to start to get, that so much of their food and weight drama is all taking place in their brains.

Women usually come to coaching feeling like shit. They hate how they look, and they hate that they let themselves get into this situation.

We have to deal with that first. You cannot EVER hate yourself into looking or feeling great.

It takes time to break through all the ingrained and poisonous thoughts you have. It takes time to develop new thoughts and patterns. It takes time for your body to trust you enough to shed weight.

You see, we all have blind spots. We can’t see how we are thinking is affecting what we are doing. But this is the most important part of losing weight.

You’ll want to quit. We all do. You might try something, and it might not work, and you’ll feel like you are failing. But you aren’t! The only way to fail is to quit or not even try.

How Not-Dieting Works

As I said, the first few weeks are adapting from a diet mentality to a way of eating that is compassionate and loving.

There is no one way of eating that is perfect for everyone. You have to experiment and discover what works best for you.

Make small changes to your diet. When your brain resists just allow it. That’s right, you don’t have to do anything!

You will gain more confidence as you go along. You’ll learn to trust yourself in any eating situation. And you are going to lose weight.

Losing weight though, will just be the cherry on top. All the things you accomplish along the way are what is going to really change you.

• You’ll be eating real food that tastes great and fits your unique lifestyle.
• Food will not be an enemy or something to fear.
• You’ll understand how your body works and what works best for it.
• You’ll celebrate wins every week and you will understand EXACTLY what YOU did to make it happen.
• You won’t ever have to feel like you’ve “blown it” ever again.

Doesn’t that sound like way more fun than going on a diet?

How to Get Started Losing Weight

I care deeply that you get the best results possible in the shortest amount of time. I don’t want you to ever have to diet again.

I believe that all women already have determination, commitment, and even willpower. None of that is the problem.

If you are functioning well in most areas but this one is driving you crazy—then have some compassion for yourself! You aren’t a bad person because you struggle with your weight.

Here are five things you can begin to do right now.

Eat When You Are Hungry–Stop When You Feel Full

This alone can be very helpful and make a huge difference. You can lose weight with just this one step. Working with your appetite will allow you to be in any situation and not worry about blowing it.

Okay, so this is fairly easy. Simply allow yourself to feel hungry before you eat. At first you might have some trouble identifying this. But stick with it and you’ll learn to enjoy that feeling.

Feeling hungry is a great thing. It means it is time to eat. It is also a great tool because when you don’t eat until you are hungry, you are better able to tell when you are full.

Most of us learned to eat by the clock. Women are often surprised though, that their own hunger doesn’t even match up to clock times. 

When you begin to pay attention to this, your brain may have some resistance to it. You’ll start to notice the times when you want to eat but you aren’t actually hungry. And you’ll also notice the times when you eat more than you actually need.

Always be kind to yourself! Assure yourself, that you aren’t going to deprive yourself or beat yourself up about what you eat.

Now, be sure and read the next paragraph. We all know and have experienced that there are some foods we eat and we feel hungry within a couple of hours.

Improving the quality of your meals will really help with this!

Add More Real Food to Your Meals

Usually when we want to lose weight, we start with what we can take away. We look at our weight-loss plan, measure out our small portions, and tell ourselves we’re going to eliminate junk food. 

Our weight-loss journey is about depriving ourselves rather than nourishing ourselves. 

This cause almost immediate resistance. No one likes being deprived. It feels like punishment.

In a way it is. It’s very common to think that we need to punish ourselves for our weight or how our body looks.

I have worked with women that actually need to eat more real food to lose weight. Sometimes women are depriving themselves so much that their bodies refuse to lose weight.

This looks like doing intermittent fasting for something like 20 hours or only eating small snacks during day without eating much for real meals.

This never works long-term.

Think about it. You already feel bad about your weight. On top of that, now you are going to punish yourself for EATING.

Instead, begin to think about how you want to feed and nourish yourself. 

Buy the best quality real food you can. Get your favorite vegetables and cook them in your favorite ways. Eat your favorite proteins. Try some new things. There is so much variety and our bodies love that!

Start trading out convenience or fast food for food you make yourself. If you use packaged creamers, try full fat coconut milk or heavy cream. Swap sodas for water.

Give yourself more than you take away. Plan your food and meals with love, love for yourself and your amazing body.

Eat More Nourishing Fats

There are three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

Fat is an actual nutrient!

Fat isn’t something to be scared of or eliminate from your diet.

In fact, adding nourishing fats can help you stay on track because fats satiates us and it makes food taste better.

Start by adding a tablespoon of nourishing fats to every meal. I like olive oil, butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, avocado, olives, and nuts. These are fats that are good for your body.

If you are scared of eating fat, don’t be. Research has debunked all the old myths about fat, even saturated fat. There are a very few people who have medical reasons to watch their fat intake.

However, if you are a healthy adult, ignore anyone who says you need to watch your fat.

There are some fats to avoid: margarine, vegetable oils, canola oil, and any other seed oils. These are not good for our bodies.

So, with all the veggies you are eating, try them with some delicious nourishing fats and see what a difference that makes.

Have Goals That Aren’t About Numbers on the Scale or Time

This is incredibly effective. Bodies are designed to stay stable. It can be really frustrating to be doing everything right and you don’t lose any weight or not fast enough.

It’s always tempting to say, I want to lose two pounds a week. We’ve been conditioned to think that’s a good rate.

Yet, the reality is, that it probably won’t happen that fast every week. You may lose a couple of pounds one week and then none the next week.

You know what happens. You feel devastated and think it’s not working, so you go face first into a pizza or container of icecream.

Those kinds of goals just don’t work!

Instead have goals that you have control over.

• You eat real food every day for lunch.
• You walk four times a week.
• You don’t eat snacks at night.
• You add fat to each of your meals.
• You wean yourself from soda
• You do activities that don’t revolve around food.
• You plan for and allow yourself to have a treat every week.

These kinds of goals are way more helpful and fun. Keep track of them each week and celebrate every time you stick to one of these goals.

Love the Body You Are in Now

Okay, I hear it all the time. You don’t want to go out or buy clothes until you weigh less. You don’t want to apply for a job or start a business until you weigh less.

Take a few minutes and think about anything that you are putting off because you think you weigh too much.

Why are you putting off something that you want to do because of your weight?

None of these things will be easier or better if you weigh less. It is not the number on the scale holding you back; it is your brain holding you back.

Go buy a beautiful well fitting outfit now. There are affordable options out there. You probably haven’t bought yourself something cute in a while because you are waiting to lose weight.

But get yourself at least one outfit that you feel amazing in. Treat your body like you love it.

If there is anything you aren’t doing because you hate how you look, then fix up what you can and go do it.

Make your hair pretty. Smile more–it’s the best makeup. Go for walks and listen to music that makes you feel beautiful. I have my personal soundtrack for feeling beautiful in my post, How to Feel Absolutely Beautiful

Never Blow Your Diet Again

The best way to never blow a diet is to never be on one! It’s time to quit dieting and learn to just eat food in the right quantities at the right time.

Most of us have been on too many diets and they just aren’t good for us. Thinner does not equal healthy. You may never look like that ideal version of yourself and it’s time to quit beating yourself up about it.

When you eat right for your body, you do look and feel better. You might even lose weight too. But losing weight as a goal has to be second to loving your body as it is and feeding it real food.