These day, nutritionists and lifestyle experts are stressing on changing the way we think. Though there are tons of fad diets still trending out there, the world is slowly warming up to the fact that diets are passe — lifestyle is what they need to change in order to lose weight. Also, the word “diet” has a lot of negative implications. The moment we say the word, we think of restrictions regarding our food habits or banning one food group entirely from our diet chart. Moreover, the word doesn’t really mean restrictive eating habits — it only means the food that we eat.

However, social media has changed the meaning of the word completely. We now label food as either bad and good, and we keep telling people we can’t eat this and that because “we are on a diet”. Finally, we are also wrongly educating our children about diet and its importance in losing weight. They grow up thinking they should stay away from certain foods in order to stay thin, not to mention the negative body image that they are being taught.

So, instead of constantly jumping from one fad diet to another, make these lifestyle changes instead!

Lifestyle Changes Regarding Our Eating Habits

Instead of diets, it is best to talk about good food and processed food/junk food. If you think your weight loss endeavor will only pay off if you start eating only those food with the names written on a piece of paper, you are wrong. So what lifestyle changes can you make when it comes to eating the right kind of food? Choosing good calories over bad ones, having all kinds of food groups in your plate, and being happy with what you are eating — all three are extremely important! Making food from scratch at home is great, but you can’t completely rule out eating outside. However, the type of restaurant you choose and the type of food you order will matter. It will also make the next generation know about the kind of food they should be eating and what they should be avoiding. Eating mindfully and practicing portion control are also things to learn and get used to in your new lifestyle.

Lifestyle Changes In Your Exercise Routine

You might have a great exercise routine that covers all parts of your body and promises to build those six-packs in six months. But what you need to find out is how good is that routine for your body? Is it giving you more stamina than before? Is it making you feel good? Is it making you energetic? Or is it something that constantly exhausts you? If it is the last one, then your program is obviously not working for your body. Talk to your trainer and find out what you can do to change your routine so that it suits the needs of your body.

Lifestyle Changes Regarding Your Sleep

We are usually fixated with numbers and hell-bent on making them happen. Hence, when we read somewhere that 7-8 hours of sleep is good for the body, we try to follow it. However, it is important to remember here that feeling rested and energetic after waking up is all you need to understand if your sleep cycle has completed — you don’t always have to follow the numbers. Since we all are different with various habits, it is best to be flexible about the number of hours you need to sleep.

Lifestyle Changes To Manage Stress

You can do meditation and yoga all you want. But if you do not implement the teachings from it in your daily life, you are not doing anything at all to change your lifestyle. Also, in today’s age, we have this habit of ticking off things from our checklist. For example, since we are doing an hour of exercise in the morning, we can sit and work for the next 8 hours! Even our dietary needs constantly change every day, so we can never really tick it off from our checklist. We need to listen to our body every day, eat according to our appetite, sleep more if we are stressed, and be open to changes since our body is dynamic and so are the surroundings!

The moment we say we can’t eat this food because we are on a certain diet, cortisol starts flowing in our body and we all know how bad the stress hormone can be. So, let’s not obsess over what we eat and make changes in our lifestyle instead!