Maria's Last Diet

Losing Weight Shouldn't Be a Waiting Game

by Maria's Last Diet

Don't wait for the magic moment. It is not in the alignment of the stars, or in the "perfect" diet, or in a pill. Don't count on finding the time when you are under no stress, you are not tired, overworked, overwhelmed.

Don't wait until Monday, or until after vacationing or until the kids grow up and leave the nest, or until Sunday after you've gone out to that fab restaurant on Saturday night.

Don't wait for your friend, don't wait until it gets worse.

Don't wait until you think you have all the answers (no one does).

Losing weight needs to be fit into your regular life with all its stresses, bewilderments, disappointments, holidays, weekends. It is a process, and as you go through it you can learn how to stick to your resolve even while you are negotiating the ups and downs of every day.

If you wait for the exact right time, it will never come.

Weight Loss for Women is Wonderful

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Maria...

I lost 51 lbs, and I wanted to share with your readers an idea of what it means to me.

It's like all the heft and bigness and large presence is now in my mind and my heart and my soul, instead of in my body. I can't begin to tell you how good it feels.

True Confessions: Weight Loss Secrets Revealed

by Maria's Last Diet

When I try to give up food-lust, I feel empty.

Like I lost my best friend.

When I try to curb my appetite, it makes me hungrier.

When I can't stay on my diet, I hate myself.

When my size 12's no longer zip up, I act desperate.

When a friend loses weight, I'm terribly jealous.

When I look in the mirror...well, I don't do that.

When I lose confidence, I eat more.

When I feel criticized, I eat more.

When I'm hurt, I eat more.

When I get hopeless, I eat more.

When I eat more, I eat even more.

Weight Loss Help In a Different Package

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Maria...

I am a thinker and a seeker, and that's why I like what you have to say. It helps me use these abilities I have on my inability to lose weight.

I had never realized that I could think about the problem of losing weight, and that just thinking about it would make a difference. I used to keep my weight problems in a separate part of my life. It was a part of my life where I felt pretty stupid.

I'm into this mental effort now. I truly believe in the mind/body duo. It's time I put my money where my mouth is.

    - Margarita

Weight Loss Secrets: Women and Their Toes

by Maria's Last Diet

Shape magazine recently did a survey and found that women would rather have an extra toe than be fat.

What do you think of that? And yet, many women are fatter than they'd like to be.

Well, if women are so opposed to being fat, enough that they would rather have a physical abnormality, why aren't most women thin?

Maybe it's because it's hard for many people to lose weight. Even in an age where there are more diets around then ever, it's still not easy to lose weight.

But if you really, really want to lose it - if you hate fat as much as the women in the survey - there is a way.

It's nothing new. You've heard it before. We here at Maria's Last Diet have said it over and over and over again. You can't just put yourself on a weight loss diet plan and expect the diet plan to work a miracle. You've got to pay attention to the non-food issues involved in your weight problem.

Because it's never just about the food. It's always about food plus:

• habits
• feelings
• self-esteem
• support
• defenses
• conflicts
• resistance
• change

Believe it.

How Do I Lose Weight? Do the Impossible.

by Maria's Last Diet

The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland said, "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Do you ever find yourself wishing you could do certain things, but feeling like it's impossible for you to do them?

Here's a good exercise.

Write down 6 things that someone could do to help them lose weight that you think you can't do. Number them just like this:

   6 Things Impossible for Me to Do Regarding Losing Weight

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Now, think of at least one way you actually might be able to do each one of these things.

Your Perfect Weight Loss Diet

by Maria's Last Diet

The definition of the perfect weight loss diet is hard to agree on.

Some say...

• it needs to be easy
• it needs to be fast
• "healthy" is the most important issue
• "tasty" is what counts
• "well-balanced" is the ticket
• the more one-sided it is, the less you need to think
• lo carb
• lo fat
• write it all down
• weigh and measure everything
• use the scale every day
• lose weight quickly
• lose weight slowly
• lifestyle is what needs to change
• get group support
• only diet and exercise get you there
• diet with a buddy
• make up your own weight loss diet
• get prepackaged meals
• use only organic foods

Given all this, perhaps you ned to make up your own mind.

So, what do you say is best for you?

Weight Loss Help So Your Mind Doesn't Get in the Way

by Maria's Last Diet

Kenneth Baum is a sports performance consultant who has helped no less than Olympic athletes.

In his book The Mental Edge, Baum corroborates what we here at Maria's Last Diet always say: "Bodies work perfectly; the mind gets in the way."

Baum goes on to explain that in order to do well, you need to be on "automatic process".

So, for example, if every time you eat a meal when you're on a diet, you stop to tell yourself what to eat, how much, what not to eat, etc., you are having to think too much. This usually causes anxiety and tension. Being anxious and tense is not at all conducive to doing your best in any endeavor.

But if you've "trained" yourself - that is, if you've practiced what to do at meal times and other potentially difficult eating times, then your mind will be much more at ease. With your mind at ease, you are freed up to do your best.

The mind/body connection is real. Make it work for you, and not against you.

Looking for Weight Loss Motivation? Read This.

by Maria's Last Diet

All my life I wanted to be thin.

Really? Since when?

Since I was about 11.

Were you fat then?

No, but my mother was scared I would get fat. She limited what I ate.

That must have been hard.

I hated it. Other kids had candy in the house, but not us. We had all health food.

Yuck.

None of my friends ever wanted to come over after school. Who wants an apple and whole grain toast for a snack?

I like that stuff.

Me too, now. But not then.

Well, how much do you have to lose?

The same 30 lbs as always. And that only brings me down to 130. I guess I just want to be average now. I don't even care about being so thin anymore.

Maybe it was your mother who cared so much.

She still does. Every time I see her, she looks me over top to bottom.

Thirty pounds isn't so much.

No.

So why don't you do it?

I think I've just come to the idea that 130 is an OK weight. I used to shoot for 115, and I could never get there. So if I did lose weight, I'd just gain it back out of frustration.

You don't look so fat to me.

No, but you know what? I feel like crap. I can't run after Chloe without getting breathless. I eat too much and I get miserable. And all the clothes that I'd love to wear don't look good on me. This time, it's for me, not for what anyone else thinks.

Great attitude.

I'm glad I finally said it out loud like this.

Weight Loss Help with What Is Hard

by Maria's Last Diet

Nothing worthwhile accomplishing is easy. So why is it any different with our weight loss challenge? And why do we keep looking for the next rapid weight loss program so we can have an easy answer?

Unfortunately, quick easy answers tend to lead to quick, easy weight loss failure.

Just because solving weight problems isn't easy, doesn't mean it's not worth it.

If a weight problem in any way interferes with your happiness and your comfort, the best thing to do is to meet the weight loss challenge head on.

Prepare yourself for a process, with ups and downs, losses and gains, steps forward and even a few back. Mistakes will me made. The route to accomplishing anything is layered with right moves and wrong moves, the wrong moves being followed by learning and more trying, and more and more skill-building.

Success in solving any problem in life is hard won, but it can be interesting as well as exciting. If we are to grow as people, we need to face challenges, in this case, our weight loss challenge, and see what we're made of.