How to stick to your healthy eating plan

Whether you’re on a diet or trying to lead a healthy lifestyle, temptation is your biggest enemy. Being on a diet means that you worry about everything you put in your mouth. Peer pressure to eat at fast food restaurants or pizzerias makes it even more difficult. This can be very frustrating for the dieter. Don’t despair though. You can overcome these obstacles and learn to prevent others from leading you into temptation.

A problem area may be your job. If someone orders lunch for everyone, it’s almost always unhealthy food. In meetings or seminars there are the inevitable donuts, soft drinks and cookies. Try to politely decline unhealthy food and let the orderer know in advance that you would like something healthier. If a lot of food is provided, you can take your own portion, divide it in half and save it for tomorrow’s lunch. Learning to stick to your healthy eating plan means you have to be resourceful.

Social gatherings are also a great source of peer pressure, especially if alcohol is served. Party food tends to be fattening, fried or loaded with sugar. For the dieter, the situation is almost intolerable. For one thing, you don’t want to offend the host or hostess. You also don’t want to appear unsociable. Now may be the time for a little white lie. You could say that you just got back from dinner with a client or that you’re not feeling well and have an upset stomach. Eat before going to such a social gathering. This will make it much easier for you to resist temptation. If you fill up on healthy food before going to these social gatherings, you will have ensured that your caloric intake has been healthy and it will be much easier for you to resist all tempting foods.

Being on a diet is never easy. Temptation is all around you.