Weight-loss talk is heard too often these days. If there’s a new fad diet going around, you hear about it and its so-called “successes.” • Weight-loss success ought to be defined not by how much weight has been lost, but by how long the weight loss is maintained. • People who have had long-term success with weight seem to be relatively quiet. You don’t usually hear, “I’m going on 10 years of managing my weight successfully,” or “I haven’t binged in 15 years!” • There are plenty of weight-loss myths that get in the way of weight-loss success. Here are some real-life examples, with names changed to protect patient privacy:

Myth 1: The Less You Eat, the More You Lose

Jeanie walked into my office sharing her frustration at a life filled with one diet after another. “I’ve tried every diet,” she told me. “You name it, I’ve tried it.” It quickly became clear that Jeanie subscribed to the myth that you have to keep eating less in order to lose more. Her diets became more restrictive through time. After years of such diets, her body had compensated for her starvation attempts by slowing its metabolism, making it more difficult for her body to burn fat and easier for it to store it. Without her realizing it, Jeanie’s diets were contributing to her weight problem.

With education, Jeanie was able to restructure her thinking and behavior. She started to eat more often, stopped skipping meals, and avoided long periods without eating. She focused on nutritious meals that were satisfying, preventing extreme hunger and feelings of deprivation.

She learned to allow time for her body to start burning more again. After all, she had been abusing it for a long time. Those kinds of physiological changes don’t happen overnight.

Once Jeanie understood how her body worked, she was able to give up the belief that the less you eat the more you lose. Then she started to gradually lose weight. By being consistent she made these changes part of her lifestyle and was able to manage her weight successfully.

Myth 2: If You Have a Busy Life, That’s Exercise

George was a busy guy. His work kept him on the move. Through the years, his body had put on an unattractive spare tire. “I don’t understand it,” he said. “I’m busy all the time at work. Why can’t I lose weight?”

George had confused busyness with fat-burning exercise. The type of exercise that burns fat is sustained activity that gets the heart pumping, creates deep but relaxed breathing, and lasts 30 minutes or more. Most of the busyness that George thought should be fat-burning exercise was stop-and-go activity.

George decided get up a half-hour earlier to get a run in each day. He started out slowly and worked up to running 30 minutes at a time. In addition, he used the run to decompress from the stress of work. Gradually, George’s body started to show the fat loss he was looking for.

Myth 3: Carbs Make You Fat

Leni was a believer in the no-carb craze. She was proud that carbs never touched her lips. Never, that is, except when she binged on carbs several nights per week. “Why can’t I control my eating?” she said. “I know I shouldn’t eat carbs, but I lose control!”

Leni didn’t realize that the reason she was bingeing was precisely because she was trying to eliminate carbs. Although some carbs are not very nutritious, they don’t, in and of themselves, make you fat. If they did, all people who eat bread and pasta would be fat.

Leni loved carbs. Her stringent rule of no carbs was actually causing her to lose control by making her feel deprived. This psychological deprivation made her preoccupied with carbs. It’s no wonder she lost control. Once she understood why she was bingeing, Leni was able to work on letting go of her rigid expectations, eat high-quality carbs and feel satisfied. Gradually, she regained natural control of eating, the binges stopped and she lost weight permanently.

• • •

There are ways to lose weight, but only a logical approach will keep it off. It pays to take the time to be honest with yourself about approaches that are only perpetuating the problem and start down the right road to a life of leanness. Even if the weight loss is slower, it’s not nearly as frustrating as losing and regaining the weight again and again.

Previously published in The St. Petersburg Times July 17, 2010

Americans like to eat out a lot. Unfortunately, eating out can get in the way of managing our weight. There are ways, however, to lessen its caloric impact.

Eating out can be fun and flavorful but it can also be fattening. Restaurants are businesses so they are concerned with the bottom line . One of the ways that restaurants get people to return is to make the food irresistibly flavorful. How do they do this? By enhancing the flavor with fat and spices (mostly salt). Fat and salt are inexpensive ways of making food tasty.

When we eat out we have no idea of how much fat, salt, and other ingredients are in the food. We just know whether we like the taste or not. For example, we see that we’re eating chicken but we don’t know how many calories, fat, or salt we’re eating. What we think is a normal meal may prove to be the reason we are frustrated with our weight gain next week.

Restaurant Portions

Another method that restaurants have used to get us to return is by serving extremely large portions. It’s not unusual today to be served enough for four people. Because it’s on our plate we have a tendency to think that it must be a serving for one person, but don’t be fooled – it could be enough for four people.

Frequency of Eating Out and Weight

Americans do like eating out frequently. With our fast-paced lifestyles, some people eat out more than they cook at home. That’s unfortunate because the more we eat out, the harder it is to manage weight.

How to Out-Smart Restaurants

How can we still have fun eating out without ruining our goals for fitness?

• Gradually reduce the number of times that you eat out and replace with quality meals at home.
• Don’t starve yourself all day to compensate for the meal out later. It will make you hungrier and will cause overeating. Eat enough to satisfy during the day but pick foods that are high in nutrition and fiber, and low in fat.
• Reduce or eliminate how much alcohol you drink when eating out as the effects of alcohol will only cause you to eat more and will add more calories.
• Ask for a “doggy bag” at the start of the meal and save part of the meal to have the next day.
• Eliminate the extras such as appetizers and desserts. These only make your “four-person meal” more like a “six person meal.” If you really want the appetizer or dessert then forgo the entree. Decide which is most important to you.

How to Handle Menu Choices

If you’ve done your job of not being too hungry or inebriated when you’re looking at the menu, it should be easy to choose a healthier meal. Here are steps to take:

1. Decide which meal you would really like.
2. Look for the most nutritious (more fiber, more vitamins, less fat, less salt) meal on the menu.
3. Ask yourself if you’d be satisfied with #2. If yes, then order it. If no, go to #4
4. Look for a meal that resembles your first choice but is more nutritious. Ask yourself if you would be satisfied with that choice. If yes, order it. If no, go to #5.
5. If you feel you won’t be satisfied with any of the alternate choices go back to choice #1. Now look for ways to make this meal more nutritious. For example, ask for meat to be baked or grilled instead of fried or saucy, ask for a lower fat vegetable, and don’t put butter on your bread.

It’s easy to gain weight from eating out. The smart ones learn to manage it well.

How to Eat Healthy Food Without Measuring, Weighing, or Counting

Diets that involve rigid measuring, weighing or counting never last. But there are simple and fun ways of improving nutrition without becoming a scholar on the subject.

Who wants to be bothered with studying up on nutrition to eat better or lose weight? Learning about vitamins and minerals, number of servings, and what food qualities affect what body functions can get tedious and boring.

Isn’t There an Easy Way to Improve Nutrition?

You don’t have to be a nutritionist or a biologist to improve your nutrition. All you have to do is:

1. Want to eat better.
2. Understand that learning to eat better is a process and needs to be done one step at a time.
3. Strive for continual improvement rather than perfection.
4. Be willing to experiment.

The 1-2-3′s of Better Nutrition

• One: Food Groups

The first thing to do to improve nutritional intake is to have a general knowledge of food groups. Most people are familiar with what these are:

• Protein/Meat Group-foods such as meats, eggs, beans
• Fruit/Vegetable Group-all fruits and vegetables
• Grains/Cereals Group-breads, pasta, cereals

Although the particular food groups differ depending upon the source, concentrating on the three basic food groups above will get you started in a good direction and keep you from feeling overwhelmed about how much to know. Remember it’s about increasing nutrition, not about perfection. Later, if you wish to learn more and continue to consume higher quality foods you can get into more details. For now, keep it simple. The psychology of change is important to success.

• Two: Color

The most nutritious foods have bright colors. Instead of boring ourselves with what vitamins and minerals are in different foods all we have to do is focus on color in the following ways:

1. Look for foods that have bright colors such as green, yellow, red, orange, and black. Fruits and vegetables are the most colorful foods.
2. Strive to make your plate colorful. A plate that has mainly beige and brown foods is not what we’re looking for. Make it look like a beautiful color wheel.
3. As you approach each meal ask yourself, “What colors have I eaten today? What colors am I missing?”
4. Strive to have a meal where most of the plate is composed of bright-colored foods.

By following the above, your nutrition will improve significantly and you will have had fun doing it. It’s that easy.

• Three: The Comfort Group

These are the foods that give you warm fuzzies – your favorite foods. It’s important to include comfort foods in any eating program as trying to eliminate them completely makes it more difficult to succeed at your goal. It’s one of the main reasons most diets are broken sooner or later. However, the focus here should be to see how your comfort foods can be made more nutritious. For example, if your comfort food is ice cream perhaps you can add colorful berries to add more nutrition and fiber. Experiment with your favorite cookie recipe to see what can be added or eliminated to add nutrition and still keep the flavor. Don’t eliminate these foods – just make them more nutritious.

Finally, experiment with different recipes to see if you can find ways to eat those nutritious foods you don’t like by disguising their flavor with other tastes. Sometimes mixing foods you don’t like with those you like a lot will make the whole dish taste good. Chopping less liked foods into tiny pieces to mix with other foods, also can be tried. Just don’t give up on something nutritious just because you feel you don’t like it. If nothing makes a disliked food taste good don’t eat it, but search for the same color elsewhere. It’s about making nutrition easy and fun.

Disclaimer: The above tips do not replace the advise of your health care professional. Consult with your doctor.

What are the Most Effective Cellulite Control Methods?

It’s a fact – there is no cure for cellulite. However, there are proven ways of cellulite control that are realistic and won’t break the bank.

Cellulite is nothing more than fat under the skin which tends to look like cottage cheese primarily on the thighs and butt. There is no other substance feared and hated more by women. The desire to get rid of it is so strong that women will go to great financial and risk-taking lengths to be free of it. Billions are spent on products and treatment methods promising to make it disappear. Some of these products sound logical and others are down-right silly, but none of these get rid of cellulite. That’s the sad truth.

Since there is so much money to be made from products promising to get rid of cellulite, Americans will continue to be bombarded by advertisements pushing ineffective products and treatments. It’s up to the consumer to educate herself and not be vulnerable to such scams. The good news, however, is that by becoming an educated consumer there will no longer be wasted time trying things that don’t work. The time will be spent using effective methods of controlling the appearance of cellulite.

If Cellulite is Just Fat Why Does It Look Lumpy in Some Places and Not in Others?

Areas of the body where more fat tends to be deposited and where skin is thinner are where the fat will take on the appearance of cottage cheese. That is why it tends to appear mainly on thighs, butt, and stomach.

There are several factors that influence whether you will get cellulite or not. They are:

• Gender-More women than men get cellulite.
• Genetics-It tends to run in families.
• Fat-The more fat on the body overall, the more likely cellulite will show.
• Skin Thickness-The thinner the skin the more cellulite will show. Women and certain ethnic groups, in general, have thinner skin than others and are more prone to showing cellulite.
• Age-The older you get the more likely that cellulite will appear. This has to do with changes in the thickness of the skin as we age.

What are Some Ineffective Products and Treatments for Cellulite?

The numbers of products that are sold as cellulite treatments are numerous but here are a few:

• Massage-the argument is that cellulite is caused by poor circulation and massage will improve circulation.
• Topical creams-meant to “dissolve” cellulite.
• Vitamins, minerals and herbs
• Body wraps
• Spa treatments

Some products may give a temporary appearance of improvement due to plumping of the skin rather than an actual decrease in cellulite.

Neither liposuction nor Smartlipo is approved by the FDA for getting rid of cellulite. Despite any advertising or anecdotal claims to the contrary, there is no good science demonstrating that these expensive procedures are effective with getting rid of cellulite. To date, most doctors (including plastic surgeons) still recommend getting fit as the most effective way to control cellulite.

What are the Most Effective Ways to Control Cellulite?

Get fit. Gradually reduce overall fat, increase muscle mass through strength training, drink plenty of water, and eat healthily. It’s an inexpensive method and it doesn’t waste your time. There’s no magical cure for cellulite but by doing what works, you’ll also achieve other health and appearance benefits.

The Psychological Approach to Dealing with Cellulite

• Accept that cellulite is just fat.
• Think about the factors such as age, gender, and heredity that may be involved in your problem with cellulite.
• Learn how to best lose overall fat and tone muscles so that you can reduce cellulite in a direct way.
• When you’ve done all you can do sensibly, move on with life. Keep working on getting fit and have fun. Don’t let cellulite get in your way.

© 2009 Lavinia Rodriguez

Warning Signs of Body Image Distortion

There are people who insist that they are overweight when others continually tell them that they’re not. They see fat where others don’t. Who’s right?

Everyone distorts her body size to some extent. After all, people can only look at themselves from within or through a mirror. They can never see themselves from the perspective of someone else. Having some body image distortion is normal.

However, there are some people who distort their body size to such a degree that it is considered abnormal. For example, an anorexic patient weighing 77 pounds might view herself as obese in the mirror to the astonishment of those around her. This, of course, is the extreme; but generally when someone sees her body size as significantly different from how others see her body it is an indication of a body image distortion disorder.

Some Characteristics of People with Body Image Distortion

People with abnormal body image distortions tend to be:

• people with low self-esteem
• people who are perfectionists
• men in sports with weight requirements such as jockeys and wrestlers
• people with eating disorders
• people who have had a significant person in their lives who continually criticized them about their size

Warning Signs of Body Image Distortion

• No matter how much weight you lose, you still view your body as unacceptable or too big.
• People describe your size in a significantly different way than you do.
• You have difficulty accepting compliments about how good you look or how thin you are.
• You feel large/fatter on days when you are upset, and smaller/thinner on days when you feel good.
• You feel significantly heavier or thinner from day to day, although realistically you know your body couldn’t have changed drastically overnight.
• After feeling fine emotionally and physically during part of a day, something goes wrong and you react by suddenly feeling fat and or unattractive.

Steps to Recovering From Body Image Distortion

Although it is difficult and time-consuming it is possible for a body image distortion to normalize. Here are some essential steps in achieving recovery:

1. Learn to accept that you are distorting based on the overwhelming evidence coming from the outside world who views your body more realistically than you do.
2. Decide that you’re going to trust other people (the world in general – not a single person) more than yourself when it comes to how big your body is since they are more accurate than you are at it.
3. Work on accepting that although you perceive yourself and feel fat, it is not true because there is too much evidence to the contrary.
4. Remind yourself at every instance that it’s impossible to suddenly be fatter than you were a few moments ago so it has to be a distortion.
5. Use self-talk to keep reminding yourself that the distortion will change as you learn to accept yourself unconditionally and trust that the problem has nothing to do with the size of your body.
6. Focus on other things in life that bring enjoyment and activity.
7. Dare to do the opposite of what your mind is telling you. If your mind is telling you to not go out because you are fat, purposely go out. If it says not to wear something because you’re too fat, purposely wear it.
8. Trust that you can get past this and recover. Life is meant to be enjoyed not to be miserable about your body.
9. Get a life apart from your body size.
10. Leave the past behind.

A body image distortion gets in the way of a person’s happiness and is a serious problem. It is not unusual to need help dealing with it. Professional help is best if you’re not able to follow the steps mentioned above on your own. There is life after a body image distortion – a happy one.

Previously published in www.Suite101.com June 19, 2009

The Realities of Belly Fat and What can be Done About It

Many people buy into gimmicks for losing belly fat without understanding the basics of how belly fat can be eliminated.

Why is belly fat so difficult to get rid of? Can belly fat be spot-reduced? Can diet alone get rid of belly fat? Can abdominal exercises alone make fat around the belly go away? These are questions that are asked by millions wanting to be free of the unattractive fat around their middle. Belly fat can be gotten rid of but having a good understanding of what it is and how the body works can prevent a lot of frustration and failure when attempting to slim the gut.

What About All Those Products that Say They Eliminate Belly Fat?

One thing is abundantly clear. Products that claim to single out belly fat through a particular exercise or pill don’t work. An indication of this can be noted in the small print that recommends one go on a diet and general exercise program while being on the product. It’s the general exercise and diet that actually causes the fat loss. Unfortunately, people who continue ignoring their previous failures with these types of products and fool themselves into thinking that the next product will be the panacea, are wasting a lot of time when they could be doing what works even if it takes effort and time. It’s the tortoise and the hare story all over again. The tortoise always wins.

Is it True That I Can Get My Body to Spot Reduce Belly Fat?

There’s no such thing as spot reducing. The body burns fat all over and genetics has a lot to do with how an individual’s body burns fat. For some people it seems that their upper body loses weight faster than their lower body. Some women lose weight in their breasts more rapidly than around their waist. There are also some general gender differences in how fat is lost. Women tend to hang on to fat around their thighs and hips. Men tend to find the same problem with their guts. It’s a myth, however, that you can decide where you want to lose the fat and then come up with particular exercises that will do just that.

If I Can’t Spot Reduce, How Do I Lose the Gut?

Belly fat is most successfully reduced through consistent aerobic exercise, muscle resistance exercise and a balanced diet. No surprise there but it truly is what works. Of course, as previously mentioned, the belly fat is being lost along with other fat around the body. It’s general fat loss.

So How Do I Start to Lose Belly Fat?

It’s definitely possible to lose belly fat. What a person has to understand is that in order to lose it and do it permanently, you have to do the following:

1. Accept the reality of how the body works and how fat is burned.
2. Surrender to the fact that there is no such thing as spot reducing no matter what anyone tells you.
3. Look at your body as a whole – striving for overall fat reduction and muscle toning.
4. Start a frequent (at least five days per week) aerobic exercise plan of your choice to burn fat all over.
5. Start a muscle building and toning exercise program that you will do two to three days per week which will work on building muscle overall for more fat burning and to tone abdominal muscles.
6. Finally, you have to make your exercise program a priority and keep it fun.

By embracing the realities of belly fat and being willing to be the tortoise who consistently works even if it’s at a slower pace than everyone else, the race will be won but permanently.

Previously published in www.Suite101.com June 16, 2009

Get Past Feeling Down About Your Body Today

Many women feel the blues as summer approaches because they feel their body is again not where they want it to be.

Summer is associated with the outdoors, more physical activity, and less clothing. Despite their best intentions, many women find that every summer they are faced with a feeling of disappointment in themselves for not being in better shape. Intentions to get fit and lose the weight gained during the holidays have not been realized. Instead of happily going about savoring the season, it’s another summer of feeling self-conscious and frustrated about body image.

Although it’s not possible to change the past, it is possible to prevent having the same frustration and disappointment next year, and it’s not too late to get more fit while enjoying what’s left of summer today. It’s possible no matter what our body size. It’s all in how we approach things.

Beating Yourself Up Is a Useless Practice

For some reason many people think that if they beat themselves up about something they feel they’ve done wrong, it will motivate them to do better. As a matter of fact, the more a person reprimands herself the harder it will be to accomplish what she set out to do.

Imagine a child trying to learn to tie her shoe. It’s not difficult to see that if the child is put down every time she makes a mistake, she will become anxious and frustrated. This level of stress interferes with the child’s concentration and motivation making it difficult for her to learn the task. If, instead, the child is praised and reinforced for her efforts and achievements, she will feel enthused and gain confidence making her more successful.

Adults are no different than children in this respect. Everybody needs positive strokes, not punishment, in order to be motivated and achieve goals. This is especially true when dealing with our body and weight loss expectations.

Start Where You Are

How we talk to ourselves about our body is important. Using “should” statements such as, “I should have lost all the extra weight by now,” “I’m too big to be in a bathing suit,” or “I shouldn’t go to the beach looking like this,” is how we beat ourselves up. Engaging in “should” statements makes us want to give up and guarantees that we’ll find ourselves in the same emotional place next summer.

It’s better to accept where we are today, set aside the past, and focus on what can be done now. If we do this, we’ll be in a better place at the end of the summer than we are right now – even if it’s not where we originally wanted to be. It’s better than no progress at all which is what will happen if we give up altogether.

Self-talk That Works

It’s never too late to change how we talk about our bodies. Try these statements on for size and then create some of your own:

• “It’s never too late to start positive changes.”
• “I want goals that are achievable. I’m not going to set deadlines for my body. I will follow something that I can keep up for a lifetime.”
• “I want to improve my body image by first accepting my body where it is and then going forward – one step at a time.”
• “Thinking about the past or what I haven’t accomplished will not get me anywhere. I’ll look ahead, not back.”

Summer blues about your body image can be a thing of the past if you go about it in a smart, positive way.

Previously published in www.suite101.com May 30, 2010

How to Stay Active and Cool This Summer

Many people want to get more fit during the summer but find it hard to keep up with regular exercise in the heat. How can we stay cool and yet keep up the pace?

Summer is not the time to give up on exercise just because of the heat. Some people have no trouble sticking to their exercise routine no matter how hot it gets, but that’s not most people. There’s nothing to feel guilty about if you can’t take the heat, but it also does not mean that we forgo exercise until the weather gets cooler. The whole objective is to continue an active lifestyle for a lifetime so we want to find ways to stay active throughout the the year.

Where to Start Beating the Summer Heat

It’s best to let go of any expectations about exercise. There ought to be no rules about how, when or where we should exercise and no rules about what type of exercise we should engage in. It doesn’t matter if running, walking, tread mills, or any other type of exercise is the latest rage. The important thing is that we move consistently. The body doesn’t care how we move – just that we move. It doesn’t even have to be considered exercise to be exercise. For example, playing with your kids or grandchildren in the pool may not be considered formal exercise but, if kept at a steady pace, it can be.

Just because you walk the rest of the year doesn’t mean you have to walk in the summer. If you take such an all-or-nothing approach to exercise and you can’t take the heat of summer, you’ll probably do nothing when it’s hot. In addition, this type of thinking keeps you from being creative enough to find other activities that are good exercise and will keep you active all summer.

Six Steps to Finding the Right Exercise for Summer

Here are some steps to take in finding the right exercise for those “too hot” days:

1. Make a list of places you can exercise that are cool enough for you. These may include shady areas, your house, the office, the mall, outside in the evening, and in water.
2. Make a list of ways that you like to “move.” This list might include dancing, stepping, swimming, water aerobics, cleaning house, jumping rope, gardening, using an exercise DVD, and so on.
3. Review accurate information on how to exercise properly to get the results you wish to get. The objective here is to move at a pace that gets your heart rate up enough where your body needs to breath deeply but not to the extent where you cannot have a conversation with someone while you’re exercising. We want to be breathing heavily but not to the point of pain.
4. Decide which exercises on your list you would like to start with and how you will be able to make them “aerobic.”
5. Set aside the time when you will engage in your summer exercise program. If you had a doctor appointment you would make sure nothing interfered with that time. Your exercise time should be given the same priority. If anyone asks to see you during your exercise time, just say, “I’m sorry. I have a commitment then.”
6. Nothing says that you have to do the same form of exercise all summer. The more you vary exercise, the more enjoyable it will be and the more likely that you will want to continue it.

The summer heat doesn’t have to get in the way of your work outs as long as you know how to stay active and cool.

Previously published in www.Suite101.com  June 3, 2010

It’s a common concern of many women as summer approaches. They want to feel comfortable in a bathing suit, have fun, and are also anxious about the whole prospect.

Life is short and everyone has the right to enjoy it. That’s why buying a bathing suit should not be an experience that will get in the way of enjoying life. Despite this, too many women are doing just that-letting the buying of a bathing suit interfere with savoring every moment of each summer activity.

It’s never too late to have fun, however. Here are some tips for making buying a bathing suit a more pleasant experience.

1. Think of your body as a room in a house that you want to redecorate. It doesn’t matter the size of the room, just think of what would look best.
2. Select the colors that would look good on you just as you would play with selecting colors for your room.
3. Select the style that looks the best (like selecting furniture).
4. Select accessories that look good with your color palette just as you would select accessories for your room.
5. Think of comfort. It’s important to feel comfortable in what you’re wearing just as you want to feel comfortable in furniture in your new room. The more comfortable the bathing suit the less preoccupation there will be with the body. That should be the last thing to think about. It’s summer and it’s time to enjoy it.
6. Now that you’ve selected the best bathing suit for you, forget about it. Go out and have fun. Let that be the end of the issue of buying a bathing suit.

Focusing on Body and Weight is Not the Answer

Believe it or not, if a person is trying to lose weight, the more comfortable, happier, and fun-loving they are, the easier it is to be successful with losing weight for a lifetime. The more a person hides, is anxious about their body and weight, and the more depressed a person makes themselves, failure with weight is almost guaranteed. Not only that, it’s impossible to have fun when one is too concerned with what one looks like.

You Can’t Be Anxious and Relaxed at the Same Time

That’s right. When you’re in a bathing suit it’s impossible to be anxious and relaxed at the same time so by doing everything you can to be more relaxed you avoid anxiety. Here are some examples:

• Focus on the beauty around you such as the sky, the cool water, the warm sand, and the laughter all around you.
• When you find yourself focusing on your body or wondering what people are thinking about you, engage in self-talk-reminding yourself that you’re there to enjoy your time. Other people are focusing more on themselves than you so take a deep breath and go have fun.
• Remind yourself that your goal is to live a happy and fulfilling life regardless of any imperfections.
• Remind yourself that you’ve done the best job you could to “decorate your room” and now you’re setting that aside and focusing on the present moment.

Get a Life!

It’s your responsibility to get a life so create one that you will be proud of when you get to the end of yours. Who wants to look back and think, “I spent all my life focusing on my body and never letting go enough to truly have fun.”? Don’t let buying a bathing suit get in the way of your life.

People usually think it’s their fault they haven’t been able to stick to a diet. However, it’s not a lack of willpower. It has more to do with the brain.

It’s a well-known fact that 90% of dieting attempts fail. Considering that over 60% of Americans are overweight or obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and that we have a huge dieting industry giving Americans a myriad of choices from which diets to choose, it’s apparent that people are attempting to diet but failing at it. This doesn’t make much sense, does it?

It does make sense if we consider how the human brain thinks compared to how most diets are designed. It’s the key to why diets fail.

Why Most Diets Fail

• Most diets are rigid, stipulating black and white rules of what you can and can’t eat.
• Most diets eliminate some foods completely (usually our favorite foods).
• Most diets give unrealistic expectations (such as impossible weight loss expectations or suggesting one will achieve some sort of perfect body)
• Most diets don’t put enough focus on exercise which is the most fat-burning behavior one can engage in.
• Most diets cannot be easily followed for a lifetime.

How the Brain Works

The brain doesn’t like rigidity especially when it comes to what we eat. It does like a flexible plan of eating which says things like, “I want to strive to gradually reduce my portions,” rather than, “I have to stick to my diet perfectly. I can’t eat anything that’s not on my diet.”

The brain responds better to small steps and feels overwhelmed by large goals. It’s easier to think about losing five pounds than a hundred pounds, for example. It will want to resist a plan that says it has to run three miles daily when one hasn’t been exercising at all, rather than one that asks that we go out and just walk a few minutes and gradually increase the distance.

The brain will also tend to resist the thought of not being able to have its favorite foods at all instead of incorporating favorites into the plan.

The Brain Can Be a Friend to Your Weight Loss Goals

Most diets are designed so contrary to how the brain thinks that it will resist attempts to stay on the diet. That is why staying on a diet gets harder the longer one is on it. Sooner or later the dieter quits, thinking the failure was his or her fault rather than the fault of the diet itself.

Instead, if the “diet” or, better said, “the weight loss life plan” is set up to be flexible, positive, realistic, can easily be followed for the rest of ones life, and includes all liked foods, our brain will be our friend rather than resist our efforts. Understanding why diets fail is the first step to success with weight loss.