Slimming Complacency

A Dieter’s Disaster

Complacency when dieting can strike in different ways. Sometimes we do not recognise that the dangerous complacency has set in.

Dieting

Do you all remember your first week of dieting? You left class with your diet book, chose your diet and studied it carefully. You planned your week, shopped according to your diet and more importantly stuck to your diet 110%. You even completed a truth sheet. Ring any bells with anyone?

How do you feel you are dieting now? Are you dieting as committed, as enthusiastically as your first week? Are you shopping and purchasing the correct foods to allow you to diet successfully? Are you writing everything down that you eat and drink on your truth sheet?

I would guess that the answer to one of these questions, if not all, is no. Why is this?

Let’s look at the facts.

We diet well on our first few weeks and get a good weight loss. After a few weeks, a few little extras may creep into our diet. The biscuit your child left, the odd chip stolen from your husband’s plate. We “forget” to weigh out the foods that are restricted on our diets. Our portion sizes increase because we are not controlling our food intake strictly enough.

We may get away with this for a couple of weeks and still be fortunate to lose a pound or even two, however, eventually the dreaded scales catch up with us and shouts a weight gain. What do we shout? “I’ve been good, I haven’t cheated!” You may believe you haven’t but can you honestly say that you have dieted like your first week? This is where complacency is very dangerous, we have allowed these little extras to creep into our diet but we feel we are still dieting properly. Remember all these extras do contain  calories and do count.

Weighing

When weighing ourselves, the golden rule of slimming is to not weigh yourself at home, only at class. The same time, same place, same scales, once a week. The first few weeks you are sticking to this rigidly. Why shouldn’t you? You know you have been dieting correctly.

Let’s face facts, you know when you have had a good week and you are eager to see your weight loss on the scales.

When the dangerous complacency strikes and these few little extras creep into your diet, deep down you know you haven’t dieted strictly. So what do you do? Get on those scales at home!

This can be disastrous and have two effects. A good result may see even a few more extras added to your diet as you convince yourself you can afford to eat a little more. Unfortunately by the time class comes around this perceived weight loss can become a “stay the same” or even a weight gain. A bad result on the scales can result in despair.

What’s the point when I am only gaining weight? What do we all turn to, to drown our sorrows? Unfortunately, food. This poor weight reading leads to a bad week and an even worse result on your class scales. Please remember, if you stick to your diet correctly and do not become complacent you will get the rewards at the scales each week and a “double check” at home is not needed.