With your food closet packed with all of your favorite junk foods and your favorite treats stuffed in your nightstand by your bed for those late night encounters with Mr. Sweets, it’s no wonder you end up cheating on your diet once you actually start.
You can’t diet successfully if your food pantry is still cluttered with your favorite delectible delights.
There are so many articles and books out there on How to Diet and what to do AFTER you have started but what about some help on what to do just to get to that point.

If you are anything like me I find that the moments before I go on a diet are the most difficult. I have spent a ridiculous amount of money on all of this junk food and now that I’ve decided to diet I don’t know what to do with it. More importantly I have to start wrapping my mind around the idea that I am getting ready to starve my body of all of it’s special cravings for sugar, caffeine and starch that it Oh so loves absolutely everyday.

The question is, do you throw these items in the garbage? Do you give it all away or do you just take a week to eat it all and then think about committing to this diet idea later? Well, to help I have come up with a few steps you can take to help make this process easier. You can call it a guide but remember I am not saying this is how it has to be done, this is just what has worked for me so I am anxious to share it with you.

Day 1 (Week before Diet starts) “De-junk-food-toxing”

The first day of my “pre-diet” process is all mental. If I can conquer my mind and take control of those thoughts of eliminating all of my favorite foods I can move one step closer to finding a way to get rid of this food in my pantry. So I suggest not doing a thing. You got it- simply make a note to yourself in your day planner or maybe on a sticky note on your bathroom mirror that you want to live long days and by doing that you need to take your body through a process of de-junk-food-toxing. Say it to yourself. All I want you to do is to think about this because remember this is mental.

Day 2 (Six Days before Diet starts) “In the Box”

Now that you have taken a full day to hopefully really think and mentally commit to dieting go ahead and take a look in your food pantry and take out your favorite junk food. Remove it and place it in the box that you were suppose to get. Only take your favorite and remember you have not started your diet yet so it is ok to eat that last snack. (Don’t binge!) I want you to go to www.tatatatat.com and find a local food bank or charity close to where you live. You can also gather numbers and addresses to a church close by that has a food bank as well.

Day 3 (Five days before Diet starts) “Junk-food box & starting an eDiet“

The most important thing to do on this day is to stop going back in the junk food box once you put food inside of it. This is critical because it is your first day of really implementing that discipline that it will take once you start dieting. You have already placed your favorites in this box, now it’s time to empty everything else. What I mean by that is depending on the diet you plan on starting eliminate all foods not associated with that diet plan.

(By the way, if you’re looking for a diet I started eDiets last year and found a lot of success. It jump-started me on my way to eating healthy. You can get a FREE eDiets Profile to help you get started.)

Note: Remember this Step-by Step works for any diet you decide to implement. If you use eDiets.com you need to prepare for the time it will take to receive your first meal

Day 4 (Four Days before Diet starts) “The Healthy List”

Now that you have eliminated all foods not associated with your diet plan you are ready to start your list. The list consists of all the foods you will be allowed to eat while on your diet. Today is the day you will start to dedicate your life to eating healthy. Try thinking about never associating yourself with certain foods again. This process will be easier if you have already eliminated all foods that shouldn’t be there. So break out your diet plan, take your list and go to your local grocery store with only healthy foods on your mind.

Day 5 (3 Days before your diet starts) “Just because it’s junk-food doesn’t mean it has to go in the garbage”

By now you should have found a Charity with a Food Bank or your local church to drop off that food you do not need to eat. Go ahead and take this day to drop off the unwanted foods.

The point in giving this food away is obviously to keep from throwing it in the garbage when there are so many hungry families out there that would take anything to eat, besides food costs are on the rise and who feels like throwing that hard earned money in the garbage. But hey, that’s just me. I had a lot of unhealthy foods in my pantry and I couldn’t stand to see it in the garbage so I dropped it off at my local Food Bank.

Day 6 (Two Days before Diet starts.)  “Replacing Unhealthy foods with Healthy Lifestyle-changing foods”

There are so many things that you have accomplished by Day 6 and you haven’t even started your diet yet. That is a beautiful thing for you and for your body and mind.Your food pantry should be totally cleaned out of all unnecessary foods and replaced with all of your healthy snacks and foods. You should be eating those healthy snacks by this day and have no junk-food anywhere in sight.

Stay tuned in for my “How to secretly put your family on a diet while you diet”. It’s hard to diet when your husband and kids are still buying fatty junk-foods and eating them in front of you. This way everyone diets, they just don’t know it.

Day 7 (One Day before you start your diet) “Congratulations”

You might be laughing at the Congrats but believe me just getting to the point of cleaning out your house of all those fatty, unhealthy foods is extremely difficult for those starting to diet. As a matter of fact it is the very reason most dieters cheat. If you don’t have those foods in your house you will be less likely to cheat.

Remember: Prepare your meals in advance and pack those healthy snacks in your work bag before you leave in the mornings.

I hope this guide has helped those dieters who seem to always end up cheating on their diet or just given some guidance and helpful tips to anyone needing help on how to start a healthy diet. Good Luck!

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