Put Your Personality on a Diet, by Milky "Weigh"

I'm sure most of us have been on a diet since the "freshman fifteen". When you have to stay up past 11 to do homework, who is really thinking, "Let me grab a broccoli pop to snack on"? With those of us who are working 40 hours a week, and getting home in the late evening, i'm pretty sure no one actually cooks a healthy meal when they walk in the door. Hell, I don't even cook. The domestic gene missed me completely. Despite the slight setbacks, I was able to reach my ideal weight by acquiring a maintainable lifestlye, inclusive of both diet and exercise. Today, I would like to talk about diet.

My friends and I found that certain personality traits of ours were causing us to overeat. So we were able to look at our individual situations and come of with successful ways to change our bad eating habits. Here they are...

1. You are impatient

If you are impatient you are less likely to keep track of what you are eating. As a result, you are probably consuming more than you think. Stop eating dinner while you are talking on the phone, chatting on aol, watching television, and typing a paper. Eat your dinner without distractions and allow yourself to notice when you feel full. How many times have you opened a bag a chips as you were doing other things, and when you finally decided to close the bag, you realized there were only crumbs left? How many of you ate the crumbs and kept it movin'? Slow down! If eating slowly feels awkward, that's proof that you are in some type of hurry or frenzy.

2. You are easily discouraged

I used to have trouble sticking to a diet if I couldn't see measurable results right away. If I was eating Subway, while my friends were eating gyros then I had better see a six-pack forming. To rid myself of that mentality, I started setting small, reachable goals. Rather than telling myself that I could no longer eat fast food, I only allowed myself to have fast food on the weekends. Instead of drinking at least 2 glasses of pop/juice on a daily basis, I vastly increased my water intake. I would require myself to drink a glass of water before I could drink a glass of juice or pop. Small achievements increase your confidence in yourself and motivation. Stop feeling guilty because you cannot eat salad everyday. Start by having a salad twice a week. Start small, and slowly increase the intensity of your diet. You have to create a diet for yourself that is realistic.

3. You are social

My best friend is a social butterfly. But she was relying on food , as well as friends, for comfort, so she would cave in to all of her cravings. If there was a day in which she was bored with nothing to do, she would eat. I have experienced this myself. There's nothing on television on a Saturday, all of your friends are busy, so you are left to sit and channel surf. All of sudden those Twizzlers in the cabinet start calling your name, then the Doritos, then the Sunkist in the fridge, and so on. Keep all of your favorite snacks out of the house, so when you do indulge, you are forced to go to the grocery store. If you have to drive to the gas station, then drive to the grocery store for one measely bag of Doritos, chances are you will just settle for the pretzels in the cabinet.