It can feel impossible to get back on track with your diet after you’ve let yourself slip. Whether you’ve stopped altogether, or you’re just cheating all the time, getting back into it can be challenging. It’s not just a matter of knowing what to do. You know what you want to do. However, working it all back into your life doesn’t seem as obvious as it did when you have the motivation of novelty on your side.
Use the following tricks to get back on track when you’ve stumbled from your diet.
One of the most powerful ways to get back on track after you’ve slipped from your diet is through tracking. Logging everything you eat can hold yourself accountable for your habits. There are apps that can make this exceptionally easy, or you can use web-based trackers if you want to be able to hop from one device to the next.
Tracking is powerful to be able to get back on track because it can not only stop you from overeating, but it can also help you spot bad habits you didn’t know were there. Do you really understand the impact of that afternoon mocha latte and pastry? Was that extra serving at dinnertime – even though you weren’t really hungry anymore – necessary? You’ll certainly stop pouring so much money into the vending machine!
To help get back on track with the right eating habits, you need some planning. Plan a weekly menu and repeat this habit for at least a month. It may seem like a nuisance at first, but it will get easier. Once you’ve got the right habits in place, you’ll be able to be less rigid about your planning.
Start by planning all the meals you’ll have. Plan meals using the most perishable foods on the days immediately following your trips to the supermarket. Once you have your meal plan, head out and shop for everything you need to make them. That way, you won’t have any excuse not to make them. Whenever possible, prepare the meals in large batches that you can freeze make the leftovers into the next day’s lunch. This will help to make sure that you get the most out of the prep you put into your meals because it will stretch over several future meals as well.
Rewarding yourself is a great way to get back on track with your diet. It will help to motivate you and will help you to feel great when you stick to the plan.
That said, make sure that you reward yourself with something other than food. The last thing you want to do after you get back on track is to sabotage yourself!