The Results of Unhealthy Diets

Unhealthy diets can lead to unwanted results. Like being tired, irritable, having cravings and even feeling depressed.

Whether it's a junk food diet or an extremely restrictive one; neither is a good idea.

Emotional Eating/Binge Eating Results

The obvious consequence of this type of eating is weight gain. Along with the physical result is the emotional turmoil that ensues.

After a binge or emotional eating episode; I would feel horrible.Sometimes I would be physically ill and nauseous because of all that I had eaten.But the worst part for me was the emotions that would flow over me.I would feel hatred towards myself and guilt for "doing it again".I would promise myself that I would do better tomorrow.And that would bring on the desire to begin a restrictive diet to compensate.

Restrictive eating Results

When you restrict a diet to extremes; it perpetuates the cycle back to binge eating.

When you cut back too far on calories your body actually holds onto any fat that it can.This happens because you've entered "starvation mode". Your body will burn muscle (because it requires more energy) and keep any fat.

Not only is this detrimental to your health; but it also lowers your muscle to fat ratio in your body.That is terrible news for your metabolism and the ability to maintain health.

Eat Sportively

One thing I recently began doing was to focus on eating sportively. By "supportive" I mean the foods that energize me and make me feel happy.No... not the immediate gratification that twinkies provide;but the foods that make me feel good about myself and give me energy even after eating them.

All it takes is focusing on one meal at a time.Getting at least one meal a day that gives you energy and motivation can improve your overall well being.

Forget the unhealthy diets and the extremes in eating... start one small step at a time and eat sportively.

Build a Supportive Environment

The first part in creating an environment you can thrive in starts at the grocery store.

"What we don't buy we can't eat". I used to kid myself and say that I could buy cookies and not eat them all. But the next day would prove otherwise when the entire package was gone.

Your environment will either help your new healthy lifestyle or hinder it. Make it hard for yourself to access the kinds of foods you binge on. It may be hard to do this now; but you'll be grateful looking back.

In our weakest moments we don't grab healthy fresh foods. The first thing we look for is something to give us the high we want.You know what that is for you, we all know our weak spots. For me it was anything from cereal to chocolate to chips to pizza rolls.

Set yourself up for success starting in the store and in your home. The more you focus on your environment the less unhealthy diets will creep in.

Start small: building one good habit on top of another.

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