It's happened to all of us, especially early in the year. We make promises to ourselves about new diet plans and losing weight. This will be the year, we tell ourselves, that I will stick with it. I'm going to eat healthier. I'm going to exercise every day. Then, something happens. We make a mistake. We get down on ourselves. Maybe we try again, maybe we don't. If we slip enough times, we probably give up.

To be successful with losing weight, we need to accept that, sometimes, you fall off the wagon, and that's okay.

Why You Break Your Diet

You break your diet because staying on a diet is hard. You've been conditioned to eat a certain way, and now you're trying to change that. You're surrounded by social pressures: restaurants, dinner parties, and fast food commercials practically demanding that you break your diet. This world was not built for dieters.

What to Do When You Break Your Diet

When you break your diet, don't panic. One mistake will not undo days, weeks or months of work - but only if you don't let this pattern get out of hand. This is the real danger. Some people make one slip up and figure that they might as well go all the way and just "pig out." Instead, look at the situation rationally. One slip up does not mean you have no willpower or that you are incapable of following through. It means you're human. All you have to do is make a commitment to yourself to start over the next day, or even at the next meal. It's okay to fall off the wagon as long as you make the decision to jump right back on.

You could also try to think how you broke your diet and ask yourself if it was really worth it. Did that cake really taste that good? Do you really feel better after having that hamburger? If not, try to remember that the next time you are tempted.

A good way to avoid sneaking a cookie here, a cookie there, is to commit to meal planning. With a tool like Organic Liaison's Menu planner, you can see exactly what you're eating for the entire day, week or month, at a simple glance. The Menu Planner plans your meals for you, pulling from organic recipes, allowing you to modify them for your particular dietary needs, if need be.

In addition to the Menu Planner, you can also find organic produce at the press of a button, with Organic Liaison's Organic Network Locator. Just input your zip code and hit go - you'll have instant access to all the organic restaurants, grocery stores, and farmer's markets in your area.
How to Stay on the Weight Loss Wagon

You can stay on the weight loss wagon any number of ways.

Remember that a great diet strategy is partnering up with a buddy who has similar weight loss goals. Our Chubby Buddy program is a great way to find people with similar diet and exercise goals to help you stay on the wagon. The Chubby Buddy program is a community of people helping each other to lose weight together.

When you choose your Chubby Buddy, make sure he or she is close to your own age, with a similar amount of weight to lose. You don't want to pick someone who has 100 pounds to lose when you are looking to lose 20 pounds. You also don't want to pick someone who is much older or much younger than you; you want to sync weight-loss activities as much as possible (if you snowboard, you may become bored with someone who only likes to walk and vice versa).  Also, your Chubby Buddy should have a similar temperament - you don't want someone who is a tyrant or a personal drill sergeant. On the other hand, don't choose someone who will just stand by and doing nothing while you devour an entire birthday cake by yourself. Buddy-ing up with someone who is a good match will help keep you motivated and engaged during your weight loss journey. Studies show that it's much easier for two people to resist social pressures than it is for one person to go it alone - so find a Chubby Buddy and get started.

Another way to stay on the wagon is to keep faithfully to a daily weight loss journal. Organic Liaison provides you with an online Daily Journal to record your weight loss efforts. This journal is available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so that you can document EVERYTHING: what you eat, what time you eat, how many calories you eat, etc. Making an impulse decision to have that donut is easy when you're not holding yourself accountable. However, recording your donut snack and the calories that come with it changes things. It makes your mistakes real. It forces you to think about the consequences of what you're doing to sabotage yourself.

Finally, remember your goal and the fact that the weight loss wagon is taking you down the road to a healthier, happier, and more confident you.

Deborah is the Health Director for Organic Liaison, has been a Registered Dietitian for over 16 years, counseling clients on nutrition and fitness, and is the author of 200 Superfoods That Will Save Your Life published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Her mission is to educate Organic Liaison members to achieve optimal wellness through balanced eating and exercise. For more on Deborah - click here.