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Everyone knows that 80% of weight loss has more to do with your diet than exercise. Eating healthy doesn’t only help you lose weight, but it also ensures that you have more energy during the day.

It also helps to boost your mood, and a healthy diet reduces your risk for chronic disease and reduces brain fog . However, despite all of these benefits, a lot of us still have problems maintaining and sticking to a healthy diet.

Here are some suggestions that will be helpful at staying disciplined about dieting. Making a diet stick is one of the biggest tests in self-discipline. Those who are truly disciplined about their eating habits have better mental clarity because they are healthier.

Studies have shown that when people are pressured to lose weight, they tend to fail eventually. Your plan to eat healthily will backfire when you get a lot of pressure to get results fast. Research even suggests that when you feel this pressure that you will have a higher tendency to drop out of any kind of weight loss program within a year [26].

The better alternative is to set realistic expectations. Talk with your fitness coach and set your expectations straight.

It should be obvious that it is difficult to stick to a healthy meal plan when you are surrounded by temptation in the form of unhealthy food. The simple solution, of course, is to do an inventory of your fridge.

Clean it out. Remove the unhealthy snacks, treats, and food options. Give them away to charity or to a friend who may want them. Next, make a new grocery list full of healthy food options and then go out and buy them.

Here are some foods that nutritionists have recommended to help reduce brain fog:

Schedule a healthy diet meal plan. Make sure that the recipes are tasty and include recipes that you love. Being more disciplined in your food choices translates to better discipline in other aspects of your life. Best-selling author and life coach Stephen Covey explains that smaller victories translate to bigger and more fulfilling victories.

You have to write down your goals. You may even have employed a vision board. If that is the case, then make sure to include a vision of yourself having that healthy figure.

You can even include a picture of all the healthy food that you want to eat. Write down the reasons why you want to eat a healthy diet. You can make a collage out of your vision or dream board and take a picture using your phone.

Every time you feel discouraged, or you are tempted to eat unhealthy food, then you can look at that photo and be reminded of the reasons why you wanted to eat healthy in the first place. You can even use it as the wallpaper of your phone so that it is the first picture you see when you answer a call or send out a text message.

Having a clear-cut goal will motivate you to keep going. Even if you fail sometimes, your goals will keep you committed and disciplined.

Do you often think that your diet is ruined because you had some ice cream or you gave in to your cake craving? That is an all or nothing mindset and isn’t going to help you.

The same is true when it comes to work and your goals. Do you call it quits when you fail to close that sale? By skipping the all or nothing mindset, you keep going despite your failures.

Everyone makes mistakes, and just because you failed that one time it doesn’t mean that you have already ruined your diet—or you’re a failed entrepreneur.

Forgive yourself on the spot and pick up where you left off. If you have reached your maximum calorie intake for that day because of that ice cream, then just go on with the rest of the day. Resume your diet immediately and let bygones be bygones.

When you try a new diet, it should be complemented by a new exercise plan. Studies suggest that when you make this tandem, your chances of success will improve since both of these changes tend to reinforce each other [27].

When two habits reinforce one another, your chances of maintaining both habits increase. Here’s an example. You want more consistent results at work—let’s say you want to make it to work on time every time? Then make it a habit to get enough sleep each night so you can wake up early and refreshed every morning.

You can also complement that with food that can help you wake up better each morning, such as apples, eggs, dark chocolate, red meat, and spinach. Making healthy food choices is a display and practice in better self-discipline. These are habits that help you become more disciplined.

Keeping a healthy snack on hand will help you avoid buying unhealthy snacks from the vending machine (or anywhere you usually buy them from). That way, when you get hungry or when you’re tempted by unhealthy food options, you have something to munch on. This practice helps you stick to your health and fitness plan.

One of the best ways to stay disciplined is to avoid temptation. Are you tempted to put things off and procrastinate? Then find something that can take your mind off the temptation, like a photo of your kids or maybe a dream vacation you’re saving up for. Keep it on hand so that you can be reminded of better things and resist the enticement.

Sticking to a healthy diet plan is easy when you’re at home. You have all your healthy food options there. However, you can’t say the same thing for restaurants or diners, especially when you’re on the road traveling to some distant point in the country.

When you have to travel, then you should research the restaurants that serve healthy food options that you will find as you make your journey. Plan your trip so that you will make stops at those restaurants, bars, stores, or diners.

And just to make sure, in case you can’t find any place that serves healthy options, then pack your own snacks and meals.

Starting your day with a high protein diet will reduce the chances of getting hunger pangs or cravings. Note, however, that your breakfast should be well balanced but should have more protein.

Protein takes longer to digest, and that means you will feel full for most of the day. Studies show that doing this might even help you keep your blood sugar levels steady [28]. You also tend to avoid overeating for the rest of the day as well [29].

How many years have you been on that unhealthy diet of yours? Was it five or maybe ten or so years? Do you think you can change that in a week? The answer is no.

It will take time before you can replace unhealthy eating habits with healthy eating habits. A lot of times, those old habits will creep up on you. And that’s okay because that will happen from time to time.

What’s important is that you get back to your healthy eating habits as soon as you can. Give it as much time as it needs. The important thing is that those little changes are piling up, and you are getting healthier steadily and surely.

Being healthy and making healthy food choices improves mental clarity. Your ability to focus diminishes when your brain doesn’t get the nutrition it needs. Adding foods that help to reduce brain fog to your diet helps increase mental focus.