Raise your hand if you’ve ever gone online to search something like “best diet to lose weight fast”.
Most of us have done it at least once- I know I’ve been there! Way back before I was a Registered Dietitian working with busy women to meet their weight loss goals, I was on my own mission to find the right “diet” for me!
After Googling the “best diet to lose weight fast”, raise your hand if you felt confused, lost, or anxious after having multiple diet names and rules thrown at you that didn’t sound like any fun. Lastly, raise your hand if you’ve gotten mad and frustrated with yourself for not being able to follow those diet rules and feeling like you failed AGAIN.
If that’s you, you’re not alone! Here’s why you feel confused after Googling diets…
With online diet advice, you’re looking for a one-size-fits-all solution to your very unique needs.
As much as we all wish it wasn’t true, nutrition and weight loss are not a one-size-fits-all approach. Each person has unique needs, which means you need nutrition and coaching that is tailored to YOU.
Searching for online diet advice is so confusing because the internet is full of unique people with needs very different from your own. They tell their unique stories about what worked for them so that you will try to apply it to your life as well. But that doesn’t work for you because just like them, you are unique and have your own unique needs.
For instance, what worked for Becky Sue who is half your age, has no health concerns, and has 5+ hours each day to meal prep and exercise, probably isn’t going to work for you if you’re busy and feel you have no time to comb your hair and brush your teeth, let alone meal prep!
BUT, surely you didn’t think I was only here to tell you to stop searching for online diet advice…so what’s the solution you ask?
A pretty simple one that only requires a little bit of thinking and reflection on your part! Stop looking for outside answers for your unique needs until you’ve thought about these questions:
- What are your goals?
- Be specific! Think about goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
- Why are they your goals?
- Think about your reasoning behind wanting to accomplish each of them!
- How will you measure success when working towards these goals?
- Be sure to choose a variety of ways to measure your success. If you’re aiming for weight loss, think of some non-scale victories you can use to keep your eye on the prize!
- What barriers are getting in your way of you being successful right now?
- Be honest with yourself on this question, there are barriers and there are excuses.
- What do you NEED to be successful?
- Think of what would be most helpful to get you where you want to be.
- What’s ONE thing you can do right now to take steps toward your goals?
- Start small and work your way up 🙂
These are all great questions that I like to ask women who are looking to take a closer look at their nutrition habits to feel happier and healthier!
Answering these questions may help you see that you already have the tools you need, and that you actually don’t need to Google quick fix diets anymore. Or maybe, answering these questions will help you see that you need an expert to help you with a tailored approach, which is totally OK too!
Either way, at least it will help you put your needs first so you can stop contemplating the endless stream of diets you’ll find on the internet that are not successful and not enjoyable.
In the Busy Gal nutrition coaching program, we assess all these things and your lifestyle as it is right now before making any changes. Because if we start by focusing on YOUR unique needs and lifestyle, and make gradual changes that will add to your life instead of taking away from it, you’ll feel empowered and excited vs overwhelmed and defeated.