Is There A Right Time To Diet?
Is there a right time to diet and how long should you be looking to be in a dieting phase for?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size straight forward answer. There are a few things your should take into consideration when deciding when to diet and how long to set your dieting phase for…
Is now the right time?
Am I consistently hitting my targets?
Do I want to?
We all hate it when we feel like we are always aiming to lose some fat to make ourselves ‘feel better’ but we shouldn’t be aiming to diet all year round. It feels too restrictive and the cycle of over-restricting, ‘falling off the wagon’ and trying to get back on only to ‘fall back off’ again a week or so later. Have you ever stopped to think…
‘Maybe now isn’t the best time to diet’
I would generally suggest to plan in any dieting phases in parts of the year where social events are less frequent, it will feel far easier to hit your goals and targets if you don’t have tons of meals out, weddings, anniversary parties and nights out in the diary. That’s not to say that if you are in a dieting phase and something pops up it means you can’t go. Not at all, it might just mean that you make more goal orientated choices for that event, for example:
Picking something high in protein.
Picking something that is either a carb based (tomato and chicken pasta) OR fat based (Chicken, Chorizo and avocado salad) meal rather than a mix of the two to help reduce overall calorie intake.
Ask for any sauces/dressing on the side, you can then decide how much you want to add.
Try and limit liquid calories, opting for water or diet soft drinks will help keep calories under control, a few glasses of wine or a couple of cocktails will soon add up!
If it’s a special meal out, opt for 2 courses rather than three.
‘I want to diet, but I can’t stick to my targets’
If you have decided now is the right time for you to diet, but you are struggling to stick to your targets. Ask yourself:
Have you set your targets too low? if so you might be struggling to adhere to them.
Are you being honest with yourself? Are you actually trying to hit your targets, or are you forgetting to track some things or eating meals that do not comply with your non-tracking guidelines of choice?
How long have you been dieting for? It could be that you have been dieting for a long period of time and that you need a break from trying to be in a deficit.
‘How long should I be looking to diet?’
Diet fatigue is real!! If you try to diet for a pro-longed period of time, you might find that you get ‘bored’ and start to lose track of ‘why’ you set out to diet in the first place. With this in mind, I would be looking to set an initial time frame, this might be in the lead up to an important event or just a set period of time. It helps to set an ‘end point’ and can help motivation, if you know that this phases is only going to last 12 weeks, rather than indefinitely you may find it easier to stick to your targets and make progress.
If you are looking to lose a lot of weight, it might be an idea to schedule in some diet breaks along the way, to give yourself a mental and physical break from dieting. you might do 10-12 weeks of a deficit and then pull calories back up to maintenance for a couple of weeks. If you are tracking you might have a few un-tracked days each week. This will not only help you to feel refreshed, but can help with your relationship with food and help you with life after you have achieved your goal!!
Remember dieting is a choice, one that you can enter into at any point, you can also change your mind at any point. You are in FULL control of what you do and when you do it, you do not need to justify your choices to anyone!!!
