When Does a Diet Become a Lifestyle? by Amber Allen-Sauer

I have been on Jorge Cruise’s Belly Fat Cure diet plan now for six months. That is the longest I’ve ever successfully stayed on a diet. I’ve lost 47 lbs, hit my original goal weight and then my final goal weight. So I should be done with this diet, right?

I have never been successful at converting a diet into a lifestyle. In the past I have lost weight on Atkins and Weight Watchers Core plan (now called Momentum, I believe). I stopped both diets at my fist milestone, 20 lbs, and quickly gained the weight (plus bonus weight!) right back. What initially seemed like great successes, made me feel like a failure. It made my fearful that I would always get stuck at that same number, and never be able to overcome it. I know that both of these diet plans work for many dieters, but I was unsuccessful at converting them from being simply a diet into a lifestyle.

Until now (I think, knock on wood, and tap my red slippers together). There are many signs that my mentality has shifted. The best evidence, as if this were a criminal trial, is that I reached my goal weight and I didn’t change a thing. I didn’t add back another carb serving or more sugars. I didn’t up my nightly square of dark chocolate to 2 squares. It feels like a natural choice. It has become a lifestyle.

I haven’t always felt this way on the Belly Fate Cure. I was in a 13 week class with Jorge and while I realized I needed to lose a minimum of 40 lbs, I committed simply to stay on the plan for the duration of the class. I hoped to lose about 20 lbs during that time. I did great and exceeded that goal, but then in weeks 12 and 13 combined I only lost 1 pound. Which feft like failure. Now without the weekly classes or the camaraderie of my classmates, I doubted I could continue to make this diet work for me. I started to think about what other diets I could switch to that might get me the same results I had the in the beginning of this one.

It sounds funny now, doesn’t it? Hey Amber, I know a diet plan that will get you similar results… the same one, done right! Instead of starting on a new diet, I decided to start over on the Belly Fat Cure. I decided to repeat in Week 14 what I had done in Week 1. I stopped using any specialty products I hadn’t splurged for in the beginning. I reread parts of the book. I looked back at my food tracker and reminded myself what I had eaten. And it worked, I lost 3 lbs in Week 14, just like I had in Week 1. I did it again in Week 21 when I came to my first real plateau, but this time I tweaked it a bit by adding more fiber and kicking up my cardio. And sure enough, it worked again.

I think over time we get lazy on a diet. We forget the basic tenements of our plans and we plan a little fast and loose with the rules. But most of us stray, ever so slightly from the plan we think we are so committed to. Over weeks and months those changes could be affecting your weight loss. So the next time you question why your diet isn’t working anymore, take a step back. Instead ask, are you really working for your diet?

Amber is the author of Me & Jorge, a blog that chronicles her weight loss story and challenges on the Belly Fat Cure by author Jorge Cruise.

© 2010 by Amber Allen-Sauer. Used by kind permission of the author. What do you think? Please send Amber your comments or questions to Amber.