"Just Do It" or Transition Dieting - Which is right for you?
I am a "just do it" kinda guy. I have a hard time doing anything in moderation, but I have trained myself to be moderate by completely eliminating the behavior I want to change for a period of time.
For example, I used to drink way too much. WAY too much. So I quit completely for 18 months. During that time, I did not even try a drink from a great bottle of wine my brother bought at a reunion we had (much to his dismay). I do drink again now, but I have control of it.
Same with grains. I used to be Mr. Grain. I had sandwiches, pasta, pizza, cereal, you name it, at every meal. So I quit eating grains completely for 6 months. I eat grains again now, but I have control of my consumption.
When I started Tony Horton's P90X, I followed the diet plan supplied with the program. It was quite a bit different than what I had been eating, but I was easily able to change my mind about that and focus on my new style of eating. Just do it.
I know, though, that many people have a hard time, and I only recently read an article that might help those people. It's about The Transition Diet.
The Transition Diet is a way to move yourself from one way of eating to another. It's designed to get you to alter your diet in certain ways on a weekly basis over an 8-week period, so you can ease yourself into a healthier diet. There are cheat days involved, too, which, I think, all good diets have -- you gotta be allowed to indulge yourself every so often.
You should read the whole article, but the essence of it is:
- Week 1 - Eliminate junk food
- Week 2 - Eat small and often
- Week 3 - Eat some colorful, low-density food (like vegetables) at every meal
- Week 4 - Cook at home
- Week 5 - Reduce starchy carbohydrates (like rice, potatoes, bread)
- Week 6 - If man makes it, don't eat it - no processed foods!
- Week 7 - Eat healthy, but without any rules -- do it by feel, what you think is healthy
- Week 8 - Eat a perfect diet -- and it's up to you to figure out what that is
Weeks 1 through 5 are cumulative, so you continue them all the way through. For example, week 1 you eliminate junk food and you continue to eliminate it through the rest of the transition.
Week 6 is more of a cleanse week, so really try not to eat any processed foods. Then add them back in, although hopefully in much lower quantities, after that week.
As I said before, all the weeks have cheat or reward days, so you have that outlet for your old habits.
I'm more of a "just do it" kinda guy, but you may not be like that, so if you really want to eat healthier, but have a hard time forcing yourself into a drastic diet change, you may want to try transitioning into it.