Ditch dieting, create a healthy lifestyle instead

Creating a healthy lifestyle is more difficult than without a diet but also more rewarding and I have a few tips to share to you on how to achieve such a goal. If you want to find out more, there is an emotional effort of weight maintenance but the benefits are worth.

The diet culture is a modern damaging trend

Ever since I became aware of myself and of the information surrounding me, I remember the diet culture. It was everywhere: in the magazines, in hair salons, in every chat between women. I basically grew up thinking that, at one point in my life, I will follow a diet. A diet was seen as this miracle pill that will make you slim in no time if you followed its restrictive, or just stupid, dietary rules, from eating as little as 800 calories a day to eating cabbage soup three times a day for a week.

When it came to dieting, ideas were limitless and almost every woman I know today followed one of them at one point, never knowing why their lost weight will eventually be gained back again and why these jumps will give them health issues such as menstrual disturbances or hormonal changes as well as a damaged relationship with food, among many other negative outcomes.

I, myself, was one of these women. I started dieting when I was in high school and I kept doing it for 10 years afterwards with massive jumps in my weight. I lost 15 kilograms, then I added them again and I played this mindless game two or three times, not knowing I might have health issues because of that. It was the best I knew back then.

A culture of diets was a part of every woman’s life, teen or adult, so it was accepted and nobody was questioning this kind of practice.

How I understood that diets hurt more than help

It was only when I started to eat healthy and train constantly with a professional that I started to understand how crazy and dangerous diets are. From unhealthy changes in body composition, to reduced bone density and low energy, to name but a few, I started to see diets for what they are:

Diets are pure pressure on women to risk their health, and sometimes lives, only to fit an image that was carefully crafted and promoted for too long as a way of being, with different body sizes or shapes considered abnormal.

Most of us women tried to fit a pattern designed by society, endangering ourselves with every diet that we followed. I eventually realized, from my own experience, that there was only one way to ditch diet such a culture from my life and start living a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy food and snacks while exercising as constantly as possible.

All these changes were made in order to not only lose weight, but maintain it for the rest of my life without ever feeling hungry, angry and depressed because of it ever again.

Creating a healthy lifestyle and habits took time and I am still learning to make the right choices and decide accordingly to my body and needs. But, by now, I understood I do not have to be in a certain way for anybody and what matters the most is being healthy, strong and having the everyday energy I need. Here are a few suggestions that help you to create and stick to a better lifestyle.

Some simple tips for a healthy lifestyle

Do not forget! The most important thing when you have a healthy lifestyle is that it improves all aspects of life, all day, every day.

Eating healthy and working out aren’t related to looks only. They have an entire range of benefits and you will only enjoy them if you give good food and moving a try.

Eat as many vegetables as possible

I started to eat vegetables at least twice a day, at lunch and dinner, as often as possible, as many and diverse as possible. Eating veggies as a main side dish had a great impact. I can usually eat as many as I want for so little calories and they have a lot of benefits: better digestion, a sense of satiety that goes on for longer, better skin, weight loss.

Dring at least 2 liters of water every day

Hydration changed my life for the better. I stopped having headaches every day, my skin glows, my digestion works better and I feel full of energy. I just make sure I have a glass of water next to me all the time and it becomes amazing how fast you can drink it when you just have it there. I consume up to 10 glasses of water per day and I feel great!

Walk as often as possible

Even if I try to workout as often as possible, sometimes I just don’t have the time to do it. However, no matter what I do, I walk every day, at least 5000 steps if not more. Walking is in our nature and it is a pity we don’t cherish its benefits as we used to. Walking helps my energy flow, makes my brain work better and I feel less anxiety or negative emotions when I breathe fresh air, no matter what season it is.