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Q. Someone told me that the best time to start a diet is in the spring. Why is that?
A. This idea was news to me. So I did a quick search of nutrition journals and came up with nothing. Then I did a Web search and found lots of advice in cyberspace on this topic. One astrological site suggested that the best time to start a diet was during a new moon. Another astrological site said that late February through April is the prime time. One weight-loss site pegged the best time as May, because the days are longer and they claimed that this made you have more energy and be more active. A diet forum suggested starting a diet on the weekend. A woman in another forum claimed that the best day to cut back was the first day after your period ends. A diet book said to start a new diet when you travel because you’ll shake up your normal, and bad, eating habits. (Of course, if you’re vacationing in Italy, you might slip into worse habits, like pizza at every meal!) One weight loss site advised that the best time to lose is “Now! Before you get any older!” Anecdotal evidence suggests that people are most motivated to start a diet in January or before a big event like a wedding or high-school reunion.
Bottom line: There are many reasons and rationales for why certain times may be better to kick-start a new health regimen. But when it comes to starting a diet—or better, a lifestyle of nutritious eating choices—the best time is, as that weight-loss site said, Now!
Keep in mind that one reason why it may be seductive to attempt to pinpoint an ‘ideal’ time to begin a diet is because so many people fail to stick to any plan. It’s a way to troubleshoot in advance. But really, there is no perfect time that will guarantee your success. So instead, you should identify what generally derails you from healthy eating. Figure out how you can pre-empt triggers that make you succumb to high-cal foods, or obstacles that will make it easy to slump back into bad-eating habits.
Every person is different. By monitoring your dieting and eating patterns you should be able to spot pitfalls that cause you to overeat. Here are just a few of the common trouble spots along with some sensible solutions:
Behavioral Boo-Boo 1: Following a drastic diet rather than learning to make nutritious food choices.
The more extreme a diet, the less likely it’ll be sustainable. Learn to modify the way you eat now so that you simply improve upon what and how you already eat. A few simple choices like switching to low-fat dairy products or adding more vegetables to a meal can automatically reduce calories and lead to weight loss.
Behavioral Boo-Boo 2: Overeating depending on where you eat.
Studies show that people eat more when they are around others in social settings. If you go to dinner with friends most nights, chances are you are eating more than you would if you just ate at home. You might try having a dinner party instead of eating out because home-cooked food usually has fewer calories. And if you eat in front of the tube, you may be eating bigger helpings than you would sitting quietly at a table. The TV can distract you from paying attention to how full you feel, making it easier to pile more food in. Plus junk-food commercials may send you back to the kitchen for fattening snacks like chips and cookies.
Behavioral Boo-Boo 3: Slurping up the sweet stuff.
Switching to water may be the only diet trick you need. Many people drink many excess calories without realizing it. If you drink beer or wine regularly, you may drop weight simply by losing the alcohol. One glass of wine or can of beer can have between 100 to 200 calories (and cocktails can have significantly more). A mere five drinks a week can be the equivalent of eating a candy bar every day.
But alcohol is not the only culprit—sodas, elaborate coffee drinks, sweetened teas and juice drinks and even “energy” waters can boost your daily calorie intake by the hundreds, even thousands, depending on how much you drink. Instead, quench your thirst with good ol’ plain H20, and when you need a sip of something sweet, whatever you do, don’t supersize it. If you’re not crazy about water, you can add a little sizzle by adding a twist of lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit. Or you can add mint and cucumber to a water pitcher for spa-like refreshment. Or you can drink diluted juice: My favorite is a glass filled with one-fourth cranberry juice and three-fourths water.
Behavioral Boo-Boo 4: Doing a total self-help overhaul.
Don’t try to change all of your bad habits at once. Many of us live in an all-or-nothing world, where you feel like you either are doing all the things you should or slacking off. The problem is, you need wiggle room because life gets busy and stressful. If you create standards that are inflexible, it will be hard to meet them. Take baby steps. Figure out the small areas you can improve, then start and stick to those. Then adopt more little changes as you learn to live an overall healthier lifestyle.
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