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5 Reasons Your Diet Will Fail

You keep track of the food you eat. You avoid junk food, practice portion control, and even exercise several times a week. But losing weight just seems impossible.

Well, you’re not alone. This is a very common problem. Many dieters try, over and over again, to lose weight, but eventually become so discouraged that they simply give up. Don’t let this happen to you. When you understand the things that cause dieters to fail, you can avoid those thing, and be successful in losing weight and keeping it off.

1) While you might expect help from family or friends, they are not always supportive. Some people seem to be able to eat whatever they want without gaining weight. People eat junk food in front of you, at work and at home. They don’t understand how hard it is for you. Talk to these people and try to get their help in removing the offending foods.

Your environment works against your diet success. It’s hard to resist fast food and coffee shops, huge restaurant portions, unhealthy snacks and all of the advertisements. You must learn to control your environment as much as possible. Avoid places where you are tempted. Read nutrition facts on packages to learn the correct food portion sizes. Always carry a healthy snack (an apple or raisins, a few nuts, etc. And try using one of the new portion plates for your meals.

2) Diets don’t take into account your own body, metabolism, habits and lifestyle. It’s a ‘one-size-fits-all’ method, applied to everyone. One way to succeed is by developing a personalized plan. A doctor or nutritionist can help. You can find one locally, or through the Internet. In addition to setting up an individualized diet plan, a dietician can become a coach or personal trainer, and help you stay on track.

3) You may not be aware of how many calories some common foods contain. Be sure to check labels, because even foods that appear healthy can contain a lot of calories, for example fruit juices and low fat products. Most people don’t realize that a frappuccino coffee might have up to 600 calories! Keep an eye on these hidden sources of calories that may be sabotaging your diet.

4) Lack of persistence can also result in diet failure. Making good progress in your dieting efforts requires minimizing the number of times you ‘cheat’ and being persistent. Don’t look for quick weight loss. It is much healthier to lose weight gradually. And it takes time. Don’t get discouraged and stop your diet too soon.

5) Too many people lose weight and then gain it all back again when they return to their former eating habits. Don’t let that happen to you. Healthy weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight for life requires a commitment to changing your lifestyle. You will have to adjust your attitudes on food and eating. Find a diet program that works for you. A portion control plate can not only help you loose weight, but can be used to help keep the weight off.

Success depends on finding the right diet plan for you. Doctors and nutritionists agree that there are several key elements in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. You CAN be successful, if you pick healthy foods, use portion control to limit consumption, exercise regularly and never give up.

Are parsnips classed as a vegetable portion or carbohydrate portion on a balanced food plate?

My mother insists on loading up my dinner plate with potatoes AND parsnips or rice AND parsnips. But as I am trying to control my portions I would have thought as a starchy root vegetable parsnips would count as the carbohydrate portion of the plate. So how should I consider them?

According to calorieking.com a half cup of (boiled) parsnip slices has 13.3 carbs and 55 calories…

That’s compared to a half cup of potatos at 15.7 carbs and 68 calories or a half cup of white rice at 22.3 carbs and 102 calories…