I love New Year's resolutions. Especially those that are centered around diets and eating cleaner.
But for those of you who are trying out a new diet (keto, intermittent fasting, carb cycling, etc.), remember that the most important part is to make it stick. I think everyone would agree to that, right?
So, how do you “make it stick”?
It depends on how your adhering to the diet in the first place. I see two main approaches people use:
WILL POWER
SKILL POWER
WILL POWER: This is the most common mindset around dieting. This approach sees adherence to a new diet or fitness program as the main fuel to keep it going. I’m either “on or off”. I’m either sticking to it or I’m failing.
SKILL POWER: This approach is less common. It looks to break down the diet into “skills” that can be developed.
Example of dieting skills you can develop:
Eating to 80% full (understanding what this feels like)
Eating slowly
Getting protein in at every meal
Eating 5 servings of colorful fruits and vegetables per day
Adding 1 new healthy recipe to the repertoire every other week
Making smart carb choices
Bottom line: What you're left with when you're “off” of the diet is the most important part. If you're using only will power, you’ll eventually fall back to the same habits and skills that you started with. This makes sense because with the will power approach, you didn't develop anything that will “stick with you”. However, if you develop skills, then you create a new operating system that is always with you, whether you're motivated or not.