It is very common with dieters that they procrastinate, in other words they put off the high importance things such as reducing their weight before they have health problems for the low importance things such as going out for a meal with friends that night. Putting off dieting and other things in your life is a big problem in todays society and lots of research has been done into.
The reasons dieters put off dieting are
1. Perfect Time - People want to wait until a perfect time to diet, a time when there are no distractions, no plans to go out, no special events, the right weather to stay in and the moons and all the planets lining up together. In other words they are waiting for a time that is never going to happen. No day like today !
2. Fear Of Failure - People who diet have likely dieted and failed a lot in their life, they may have not made it through the first day or first week, or maybe reduced their weight and then regained a lot. Therefore they are so scared of failing again that it is safer to never start in the first place. A total lack of confidence in yourself that you can actually acheieve and maintain your ideal weight. This is very common and usually a revelation to most dieters procrastinating.
3. Confused About Dieting - People are confused with all the diet advice, exercise advice and healhly living advice on which diet or plan to take up. Therefore because of information overload they don't do any of them due to not knowing which road to walk down.
4. It's Too Difficult - People believe that dieting is difficult, it is hard and not fun and therefore don't want to do it. They believe they have so much weight to lose that in reality it just can't be done and therefore they never start.
5. No Motivation - A person may have little or no interest in actually losing weight, they may have been told to by friends, family or the doctor but in reality they would rather eat than diet and therefore 'play along' that they are going to be reducing down but they don't see the real benefits of being slim and healthy.
6. Distractions - A person may have distractions that hinder them being able to focus on dieting, they may have a party coming up, a stressful job or lifestyle or a busy life that requires 'eating on the run'. They therefore prioritise other things in there life above dieting and being healthy.
7. Not Fun - A person may just not want to diet because it isn't fun to not be eating, they feel like a hermit and like the odd one out, they don't want their friends and family to comment.
You'll know if you procrastine if you answer more than five of these statements with yes !
You procrastinate excessively if you agree with five or more of the following statements:
- I often put off dieting as I find it difficult
- I often give up dieting as soon I start to find it difficult.
- I often wonder why I should be dieting.
- I often have difficulty getting started on a diet.
- I often try to do so many things alongside my diet that I cannot do any of them.
- I often put off dieting as I have little interest in it.
- I often try to come up with reasons to do something other than diet.
- I often ignore starting a diet as I am not certain about how to start it or complete it.
- I often start a diet but stop before completing it.
- I often find myself thinking that if I ignore my weight, it will go away.
- I often cannot decide which of a number of diets I should do.
- I often find my mind wandering to things other than getting to a health weight.
- I often think that even if I get to a healthy weight I will regain the weight anyway.
- I often think I am destined to be overweight for the rest of my life.
- I often think it is impossible to get to goal weight, never diet again and stay slim.
So how do you get round all this ! Well my tips for the day are
- Motivate yourself to diet with thoughts like "There is no time like the present," or "Nobody's perfect."
- Prioritise the tasks you have to do in your life and put dieting near or at the top.
- Commit yourself to completing a diet once started.
- Reward yourself when you complete your diet.
- Make sure your diet works for you and is ecological with your life and lifestyle.
- Break your diet down into short manageable goals.
- See if you can get a diet buddy to work with when reducing weight.
- Get help from others who have reduced weight and maintain it.
- Make a schedule around your diet and stick to it.
- Eliminate distractions that interfere with your diet.
- Set reasonable goals for your diet.
People spend a lot of time planning things in their life like moving house, going on holiday or buying a new car but spend some time planning and commiting to a diet and a healthy lifestyle and you are much more likely to reach your goal.
