Maria's Last Diet

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.

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

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.

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.

Losing Weight the Powerful Way

by Maria's Last Diet

Much has been said about the dismal stats regarding overweight people in this country: 66% are overweight, and 33% of those people are actually obese. 

Despite all the weight loss programs, all the new diets, all 2500 diet books on the market, and all the money spent on weight loss products and services ($33 billion annually), people are still fat.

More specific to women, the stats show that 62% of women between the ages of 20 and 74 are overweight. 45% of women are on a diet on any given day.

Maria's Last Diet is here to tell you that dieting and exercising are never enough if you want to achieve permanent weight loss. You need to integrate the mental side of losing weight into your plans.

By the mental side we mean the following:

• Thinking about the things you do automatically that interfere with weight loss
• Self-reflecting about what food stands for in your life
• Recognizing certain feelings and mood states that send you into overeating
• Bringing to light the lies you tell yourself about your overeating and your weight gain
• Thinking about your resistance to change

These are the powerhouse issues. These are the issues that will block your way every time, leaving you with yet another diet failure to contend with.

Don't be a statistic. Do something amazing for yourself. Tackle those non-food matters - tackle them hard. Pay attention to them. They will show up most especially when you are dieting. If you ignore them, you will never make yourself one of those weight loss success stories. But if you are brave enough to acknowledge the mental side of things, you will surely come out a weight loss winner.

Oprah Show: Weight Loss Success Stories

by Maria's Last Diet

In case you missed it...

One of Oprah shows was all about people who had lost large amounts of weight. One woman lost 180 lbs and looked absolutely wonderful.

Oprah asked her how she did it and she said that it was all up there in her head and in her heart. This time she said that she got mentally ready.

BRAVO.

File Under Weight Loss Secrets: Put Your Determination Where Your Mouth Is

by Maria's Last Diet

Weight loss secrets of a New Year's resolution dieter: Cutting back.

My latest diet has a pre-planned menu calling for the following Monday lunch: 3 ounces water-packed tuna mixed with 1 stalk celery, 1 slice chopped red onion, 1 thin slice tomato, 1 Tbsp light mayo, on 2 slices whole grain bread. 1 small apple.

How many, many, many times have I been handed this very same lunch suggestion or something so close to it that it's barely different?

My first diet lunch of the new year requires a big cut-back for me, but there's a difference here. This day - as I prepare the lunch at home to be put into a thermal bag and carried to work - this day I am determined.

This is definitely different. What happened was, I woke up on New Year's day and I looked in the mirror and I said to myself, this is ridiculous. I am a pretty, successful business woman, wife and mother. I am fun, I like life, I love my work and my family. I have a sweet house, and a nice sense of style. I am also too fat - too fat for me.

Maybe my overeating helps me manage everything else. I've thought that many times. But it's now become something I don't want anymore.

Whatever it takes, the forty or so pounds are going to come off.

Dieting and Weight Loss Tips New Year's Resolution

by Maria's Last Diet

This is the weight loss tip of the day, of the week, of the year, of the decade, of the century: It's never just about the food!

So, make sure your weight-loss resolution addresses the non-food issues as well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!