Overdoing It

Earlier I wrote about getting too much exercise before you are ready. Moderation seems to be one of the most lasting catch phrases in dieting as well. I didn’t last even 2 weeks on diets like:

South Beach
Atkins
Grapefruit
Slimfast

The single biggest reason why I did not lose weight with these diets was that it was way too much change in too little time. Such drastic limits on my food intake were often combined with an all or nothing approach to exercise. I have tried to completely change my life with the flick of a switch. On more than one Sunday night I have sat on the porch and made a list of how I would change my life starting the very next morning.

• The list often looked something like this.
  Lose 20 pounds this month
  Start South Beach
  Start exercise plan
  1 hour cardio before work each day
  20 minutes of weights 3 days each week
  Read one diet motivational quote every morning
  Weigh in on Wednesday and Sunday
  

I tend to be an overachiever so a plan like this might also include 2 work goals and 2 or 3 writing goals to be accomplished in the same month.

For some reason I’m still surprised when I’ve given up by Thursday because I just want to go to sleep and not think about exercise or how far behind I’ve gotten on writing my 1000 words per day.

Overdoing it, setting too many goals with too high of expectations is a great way to stop yourself from sticking to a diet. It is the fastest way I’ve found to not lose weight. Yet I repeat the pattern at least 3 or 4 times every year.