Everyone one of us are on a diet.

I have a pet peeve and when people look at me and say they are NOT on a diet, I actually find this most often with people who are on fad diets such as: Paleo, South Beach and Atkins; guess what we are all on a diet!! Yes you, and you, and even you and even the entire cast of Pretty Little Liars are on a diet.
 

How can I be so sure about this? Well a “diet” isn’t something you go on and go off of, like a prescription. A diet is what you eat, day in and day out, whether you planned to eat that way or not. So when people ask me what kind of “diet” I am on, or what diet helped me lose weight, I always tell them I eat food, real food.

Starting early on in my life I started to fad diet-- once I started lose the weight I wanted, I was "off the diet," and back to eating whatever I wanted. But about a year ago I realized that it's not about being "on a diet," rather, it's more important to "have a healthy diet," consisting of nutritious foods from all the food groups.

I know some people are lactose intolerant and can’t consume dairy but you can get those nutrients from other places. Also like my boyfriend’s dad there are some people out there who are celiacs and have a severe allergy to gluten but even these people can get nutrients from other places. I do not agree with cutting out entire food groups I think this makes the difference from making a healthy lifestyle change to harming your body.

Men'sHealth makes a great list of lifestyle changes to lose weight, and keep it off forever: 

1. Drink coffee or tea - it may lower the risk of adult-on-set diabetes according to an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

2. Take out sweetened drinks - (did you know the average person drinks more than 400 calories a day & gets around 10 teaspoons of added sugar every day from soft drinks?) 

3. Think about the last meal you ate - scientists found that people who thought about their last meal before snacking ate 30 percent fewer calories

4. More protein - jumpstart your metabolism, squash your appetite, and eat less at later meals!

5. Put your fork down while you chew - eating slowly can boost levels of two hormones that make you feel fuller, Greek researchers found.

Honestly, don’t deprive yourself. I always found I yo-yo’ed back to my original weight when I deprived my body of food I enjoy. We only live once and if we consume that which we enjoy in moderation we will have no problems having it affect our weight, but it must be consumed in moderation. 

The other day I really wanted cake I split a piece with my boyfriend. Did it satisfy my craving? Totally. Do I crave it today? No. Do I always give into my cravings? Of course not, but there are the times when I know I have been really good and having a small piece of cake isn't going to set me off on a wild spiral, but 100% saying to myself NO I can never have that ever again tends to set me up for failure. Enjoy that piece of cake, just not every day.