About to Quit Your Healthy Diet? Here’s Why It’s a Mistake

The newness of a healthy diet can be intoxicating—you’re in the honeymoon phase of making different choices, trying different South Beach Diet recipes, starting up a different self-care routine and even seeing a different number on the scale in exchange. It’s all so exciting and new that you think, “Well, this is a breeze!”

But what about when the honeymoon phase ends, and you find yourself surrounded by temptations that seem to show up just to test your strength? And after a few weeks, after you’ve ridden the wave of new-diet bliss, you feel like you could use some extra support, a good dose of weight loss motivation and possibly some old-fashioned tough love, too.

So, you’re thinking about calling it quits on your healthy diet. Throwing in the towel. Giving it the old heave-ho. Listen, we’ve been there too. Sometimes quitting seems easier than sticking it out while you wait for your new lifestyle choices to become hard, fast habits. But before you make that call, read this article!

Do you remember why you came to the South Beach Diet to begin with? Bet you can you pinpoint the exact moment where something clicked—and you knew it was time to get started on your weight loss goal. It’s those moments that change the course of our lives for the better, making us stronger, more confident and determined like never before.

Maybe you were sick of having no energy, waking up tired in the morning, dragging through the day clinging to your coffee mug like it was your only hope. And forget about bed; you’d already nodded off on the sofa before you even skimmed the surface of that DVR queue.

Maybe you hated getting out of breath walking up the stairs—maybe you broke up with the stairs altogether and became besties with the elevator instead. (Little did you know that elevator was more of a “frenemy”—it was never going to help you conquer those stairs!)

Maybe you wanted to be able to keep up with the kids or grandkids! To get off the sidelines and into that exhilarating game of duck, duck, goose; or perhaps the exhilarating game of life.

Consider where you started, and how far you’ve made it up until this point. Not just physically, not just the number looking up at you from the scale. What have you overcome? What have you surprised yourself by accomplishing? What have you let go of, and never looked back?

Those are the victories that make this a journey worthy of seeing it through.

Weight loss can deliver some big health benefits as well. In fact, a recent study found that losing as little as five percent of your body weight can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, also reported improved metabolic function in the liver, pancreas, muscle and fat—with study participants showing a nearly 50 percent reduction in fat in their livers. Excess liver fat is associated with abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and in severe cases, cirrhosis and liver failure.

While study participants who lost 10 to 15 percent of their body weight saw even greater health benefits, as you’ve seen here, even losing a modest five percent can have a big positive impact on your health.

There are many reasons people quit their diets before reaching their weight loss goals. But hear us out—there are so many more reasons not to quit, and they all have to do with you. Your health, your happiness and your future.

So, if you’re feeling tempted to call it quits on your healthy diet plan, know that you can turn it around and charge right back toward that weight loss goal. Here’s how:

1. Get support

A little networking goes a long way: Gather up your girl gang for weekend workouts and healthy ways to celebrate your collective weight loss successes. Rally coworkers to share lunch-hour walks and healthy diet lunch recipe ideas. Get the family on board with cleaning out the fridge and cabinets, tossing any lingering temptations and pivoting the focus of family activities and events away from food and onto different ways to create lasting memories.

Starting the South Beach Diet also means you’ve joined the network of other people who have been in your shoes. You can connect with them through social media and become a regular here at The Palm. The Palm Weight Loss Blog filled with tips from our experts on everything from low carb diet weight loss and healthy recipes to fitness and lifestyle hacks, which will help you keep things fresh and exciting in your routine.

2. Get positive

Enter the no-judgement zone when it comes to your weight loss program. Slip-ups, missed workouts, a scale that can’t make its mind up from one day to the next—they happen to everyone from time to time and do not have to mean that all bets are off. Choose instead to think of these things as an opportunity to learn more about yourself, and you’ll start to retrain your brain and body to react differently the next time you hit a bump in the road.

Celebrate your weight loss successes, big and small. Congratulate yourself for all of the good choices you’ve made, the holiday temptations you’ve passed up, the workouts you’ve squeezed in on busy days. Wake up and remind yourself that you are capable, worthy of success and full of love. Look yourself in the mirror and remind yourself that you are beautiful and strong. Do these things multiple times every day, until it becomes second nature.

3. Get small

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, try breaking up the big weight loss goal in your head. Smaller weight loss goals can feel much less intimidating, and much easier to achieve. Set aside an hour to meal prep for weight loss on Sundays (get our top tips for Sunday meal prep right here), go for a 10-minute walk after dinner, choose a fresh salad when you’re out to eat for a work lunch.

Notice how that small choice made you feel better—do you have more energy? A sense of empowerment? A clearer mind? Remember that. And do it next time you feel your discipline slipping. Each time you do, it’ll get easier, you’ll get closer to your weight loss goal—and further away from the feeling of calling it quits.