Once one has been diagnosed with GERD, heartburn or acid reflux, he should have to make some significant changes in his daily diet. These changes aim to stop further damage to his esophagus and stomach while healing and curing his digestive system.

However, there is always one problem – the motivational issue. One will easily feed up on their new diet plan; the foods are tedious, keeping away from favorite foods, not seeing fast result, etc.

These thoughts will immediately kill his intention and motivation to go on with his new diet plan. As a result, his acid reflux problem will come back again and again as he eats those irresistible foods which trigger acid reflux. Below are 5 simple things to do that anyone can follow to success with their new diet plan:

1 — Set your goal and write it out

This is the very first step to ensure your success in curing acid reflux, GERD and heartburn. Write your goal in present tense, so as to have a stronger picture that you would have achieve your goal and feel pain no more.

Keeping the goals somewhere is not going to work. Write them big and paste them on places where you can see easily. Your bedroom, kitchen, dining room, office, even on your Facebook wall.

For better result, your goal has to be time-bound and measurable, so you can track how far you proceed with the changes.

For example, you can write your goal like this:

‘For the next two weeks, I have already excluded my favorite chocolate cupcakes and donuts in my diet; I feel pain no more in two weeks.’

You may create a few smaller goals to accomplish, as they are easier to achieve.

2 – Prepare a list of foods to avoid and another list of foods to consume; keep the lists in sight in kitchen and dining room.

It is advisable that you keep a list of foods to avoid as your reminder. Discipline yourself to review the list every time you are preparing or having your breakfast, lunch, tea break and dinner. For the first 4 weeks, strictly avoid the foods in the list, so as to give some time for your esophagus to heal.

The list of foods to consume should include foods that are not acidic and would not trigger acid reflux. There are two types of foods in this list, namely healing foods and neutral foods. Healing foods, as you can tell from its name, can heal esophagus damage and are good for your stomach; while the neutral foods are the foods that would neither cause acid reflux nor cure the damaged esophagus.

Google it now, there are tens of thousands of resources in the internet providing information about which foods to avoid and which foods to consume. Be prepared, many of your favorite foods will show up in the foods to avoid list!

3 — Start your collection of anti-acid-reflux recipes and cook accordingly

There are always cooking books and recipes designed for acid reflux patients available in the market. Log on to Amazon.com or visit a bookstore, you will find a lot of useful cooking books and recipes. Flip through the books and recipes, buy a few of them, and prepare newly bought recipes at home!

Those cooking books and recipes are prepared by experienced nutritionists and they know what to eat and what not to eat for acid reflux patients. They understand that the patients may have to give up many of their delicious foods. Using their creativity and innovation, they come out with new recipes to suit the needs of acid reflux patients. Some recipes may even have healing effect on the patients!

In short, you will still able to enjoy fantastic and delicious foods and healing your reflux pain at the same time.

4 — Set alarming reminders with your mobile phones, iPads, Tabs, or laptops to keep you going

Sometimes we are forgetful; sometimes we might ignore the foods to avoid, especially when your foods are right in front of you. Set alarming reminders 10-15 minutes right before you are going to have your breakfast, lunch, tea break, and dinner. This works well, as you will be reminded not to order the wrong foods, which will make you feel your stomach burning later on.

The reminder should be some simple sentences. You can write something like: ‘Hey, Thomas, you are near to have your heartburn cured. Don’t spoil it now.’ If you are going to have your lunch in a restaurant at 12.30noon, set it alarmed at 12.15noon.

5 — Get support from your family members, friends and colleagues.

Human factor is another important parameter that will secure your success. Your beloved family members, your trusted friends, and your most respected colleagues, they will certainly give you a hand to help you curing your acid reflux disease.

Talk to them. Let them know about your pain. Inform them about your goal and your diet. They will understand. They won’t cook spicy foods or order greasy dinner for you.

In most cases, some of them might have the same problems with you! They might also feel the acid reflux pain and need to adapt themselves to new diet plan. Simply ask them to join you! Being together, through sharing and caring, you will be much motivated to go on with healing your stomach and esophagus.