Don’t “Start Your Diet Tomorrow”

By: Erica Wells, RD

I saw a comment the other day posted on a photo of a desert that said something along the lines of “delicious, my diet starts tomorrow!” All I could do was cringe because I knew the negative ramifications behind those words. The fact is, whenever you use the phrase “my diet starts tomorrow” you are setting yourself up for failure. The reason is because of the disordered eating pattern comes along with it. Often, when one uses the phrase “I’ll start my diet tomorrow” they are planning to enter into a period of deprivation for some undetermined period of time in attempt to lost weight. The result is a “last meal” mentality where one eats everything they find pleasurable or “bad for them” (sometimes whether or not they are even craving it) in preparation of not being able to eat said foods “ever again” or at least until the personal goal is met.

The problem is tomorrow either gets put off resulting in repeated binging, or tomorrow comes, isn’t sustainable and binge eating resumes as one has felt deprived or has plans of “starting again tomorrow.” This is why diets don’t work. You do not need to deprive yourself to get results. In fact, deprivation is going to make it harder for you to meet your long-term goals and maintain them. You may be able to successfully lose weight during a period of deprivation but once you return to your previous eating habits odds are you are going to gain that weight right back. This leads to “yo-yo dieting.” The on-again, off-again of dieting just becomes a vicious cycle. Instead, gradual changes over time, with emphasis on eating better on a daily basis is a better approach to losing weight long term and keeping it off. If your goal is to eat healthier overall then it becomes easier to eat in moderation, including those pleasurable foods that you once thought you had to eliminate completely.

So when you are presented with a yummy dessert (or some other “no-no” food), instead of using the words “my diet starts tomorrow,” then stuffing your face like you will never again be able to eat that food again in your life, ask yourself “do I really want that?” If not then save your splurge for when you really want something. If the answer is yes, then eat it. Keep it small and your other meals balanced so that you can enjoy it without the guilt or the overindulgence. Controlling how much and how frequent you eat foods that are not good for you is not deprivation but rather practicing moderation. If you splurge at a meal, don’t use this is as an excuse to eat anything you want for the rest of the day because this sort of habit is part of the “Oh well, I fell off the wagon today, I will just restart my diet tomorrow” trap. Instead make healthy menu selections for the remainder of the day and increase your physical activity accordingly to balance things out.