Is perfectionism ruining your diet?

The 'all-or-nothing' mentality

If you struggle to stick to a diet or weight loss programme, it might be because you're trying too hard to 'perfect' everything.

“Being a perfectionist dieter is 'the all-or-nothing' mentality,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and author of The Flexitarian Diet.

It's normal to want to follow rules exactly when you start a new weight loss programme or diet, but as Blatner explains: “Real life is just not conducive to this perfect-eating attitude.”

Seven common diet 'fails'

Do you think you're a diet perfectionist?

1. Do you expect to eliminate your favourite foods completely?

2. Do you generally start your new diet on a Monday?

3. Do you expect to feel starved or deprived?

4. If you make so much as one unhealthy food choice while you're on your diet, do you immediately throw in the towel?

5. Do you use the words 'good' and 'bad' to describe certain foods?

6. Do you try and speed up your weight loss progress by eating less food than your diet suggests, in order to reach your goal?

7. Are you convinced that your past failed attempts were due to lack of focus or effort?

If you answered 'yes' to several of these questions, you might be setting yourself up for unnecessary failure.

Recommended reading: Is your weight loss dilemma all in the brain?

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