The stress of following a diet plan takes away from the pleasure one may experience from eating and instead of experimenting with new food, you stick to what you already know and is easy and convenient. To reinvigorate your meals and bring back the excitement food once provided you, it may be time to ditch the strict diet plan in favor of a more holistic approach to weight loss.

Balanced Approach

Following a strategy that includes a healthy meal plan and exercise routine, along with good lifestyle choices will allow you to de-stress and lose weight. Once you have ditched the restrictive diet, your food options will expand vastly. A stringent diet would have helped you cut down on your calories substantially. Suppose you had a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day (the average recommended for adults wanting to lose weight). Your balanced plan can help you achieve this in a modified manner so you can still achieve your weight loss goals. 

As you will incorporate exercise in your holistic plan, you can schedule 3 to 5 workout sessions a week for 30 minutes of moderate exercise which would expend 300 calories. Therefore on the days you train, you will only need to cut your calories by 200 instead of the usual 500 calories. This will allow you more food choices. 

New Foods

Now that you have found the additional calories in your path to lose weight, you need to fill them up with new foods that are still relatively healthy. A great way is to research online for foods that may be popular in other cultures, but less so in the US. For example, chickpeas are an appetizing legume with high levels of protein and dietary fiber. You may try chickpea soup or hummus with whole grain bread layered with flaxseeds. Another healthy food from a different culture is whole-wheat bulgur. Try Google-ing Turkish recipes for bulgur and you will find some tantalizing options.

Adding new foods to your diet can be achieved easily if you remove yourself from the burden of a restrictive diet and adopt a balanced lifestyle. The removed stress from following the diet in and of itself will help you be more creative at mealtime. The additional exercise will allow you to consume a few more calories per day while adhering to your weight loss objectives.