Takeaway: Identifying and leveraging strategies that align with your current dieting style can lead to greater success.
Two Types of Dieters
Do you struggle to keep treats in the house because you know you'll eat the whole package?
Do you feel deprived when you try to avoid your favorite guilty-pleasures for long periods of time?
There are two categories of dieters:
The first are moderators. These are individuals who don't do well when entire groups of foods are cut from their diet.Â
Moderators need more frequent treats, often every week. Moderators tend to feel more satisfied with a single serving, or even just a few bites.Â
The second category of dieter is abstainers.
Abstainers are all-or-nothing eaters. They do better when they avoid problematic foods altogether.Â
For abstainers, any size portion is a single serving. No matter if it's fun-size or family-size.
Moderators can have one slice of pizza. Abstainers go for the whole pie.Â
Moderators can have just a handful of M&Ms. Abstainers will eat the whole bag.Â
One type of dieter isn't better than the other, but knowing your style helps to craft a realistic nutrition plan.
Most people fail to lose weight because they try to follow a nutrition plan that disagrees with their style.
I'm going to share how to figure out what your style is. (Most people have a good idea what category they fall into.)
And I'm also going to share how to structure your diet to agree with your dieting style.Â
"The Pint Test"
If you're still unsure which category you all into, there's an easy test to perform.Â
If you had a pint of your favorite ice cream in the freezer, could you have a few bites or are you eating the whole thing in one sitting?
If you can stop yourself at a few bites, you're probably a moderator.
If you're scraping the bottom of the container, you're probably an abstainer.Â
Since moderators feel more deprived without their favorite foods, they need to structure frequent treats into their diet plan. But since they can eat less of it, these treats are usually easier to work into any diet plan.Â
Moderator success equation:
increased frequency of treats + lower quantity of treat = happy dieter.
Abstainers will need to plan less frequent treats because they'll be eating more of it. This means eliminating the temptation to eat these foods in their regular plan.
Even though they'll likely blow their diet on the days they do indulge, these days are infrequent enough that the negative impact is minimal.
Abstainer success equation:
reduced frequency of treats + higher quantity of treat = happy dieter.
Trying to fit a square peg into a round hole doesn't make sense, and neither does trying to follow a diet plan that doesn't agree with your lifestyle preferences.Â
Losing weight is hard, but it can be made infinitely easier by making changes like this.Â
You can ultimately shift from an Abstainer to a Moderator, but it takes time.
Leveraging strategies that align with your current style can lead to greater up front success.
Identify your current style, lean into a plan that agrees with your preferences, then build consistency and routine to see results.
This is your equation for dieting success.
P.S. Now that you know your dieting style, leverage our Food Freedom Framework to achieve even better success. Click here to download your free guide now.