Maria's Last Diet

Cravings vs. Dieting.

by Maria's Last Diet

What happens when cravings collide with your diet? Which one wins out?

Maybe it doesn't take much to push you over the edge. What to do?

Here's what.

Face every dieting day armed with a plan for cravings. You probably don't know when a craving will hit, so the best thing is to have a little plan up your sleeve, one you can whip out on a moments' notice. That's the way to make sure a craving doesn't rise up high enough to overwhelm you.

There are many different ways to cope with a craving.

• You can try to ride out the craving without giving in, until it naturally recedes.

• You can have on-the-spot ways to divert your attention away from the craving to something else.

• You can decide to have a very small bite of what you are craving.

• You can give in to the craving, but have a foolproof method of getting right back on your diet immediately afterward.

• You can engage in a meaningful conversation with a helpful person, try to determine why you are having this craving at this time, and see if there's something else to do that will satisfy you.

These are just a few of the methods you can base your "cravings plan" on. There is no one-way to devise such a plan. See what you think will work for you, and then have it ready to use when the unexpected craving hits. Don't wait until that moment to figure out what to do. Act preemptively to keep your diet intact.

How Goal Setting Leads to Losing Weight

by Maria's Last Diet

Goal setting is an integral part of losing weight.

There are two kinds of goals to set: short-term goals and long-term goals.

Short-term goals should be set to guide you in your daily actions. For example:

• physical activity day by day
• how many calories to consume each day
• buying healthy food
• keeping a food log
• weight each week

Long-term goals are set to help you keep your motivation going - for example: an ultimate weight-loss goal or improving your health.

Goal setting works best when it is specific and detached. For example: I will walk for 15 minutes every morning before work. Or: I will prepare a lo-cal snack in the evenings that I can bring with me and have at my desk mid-morning.

Short-term goals like these can lead to the achievement of long-term goals, like losing weight.

But: both short-term and long-term goals need to be realistic and obtainable. So, for example, if you set a goal for yourself of running 10 miles a day - unless you're well-trained to do this - that would not be realistic. Also, a long-term goal like being a size 2 might be unrealistic and unobtainable.

Both short and long-term goals need to be stated in specific, objective terms. This is the only way you can know when your goal is actually reached. For example, if you say "my goal (long-term) is to get healthier", this may be hard to judge. But if you say "I'd like to lower my blood pressure and cholesterol levels" then you have a good way to evaluate whether you've achieved the goal or not.

Take away lesson: when you are setting your goals - both long and short-term - be specific, be objective, and be realistic.

Can't Lose the Weight? In a Rut? Here's One Person's Answer.

by Maria's Last Diet

I'm stuck. I feel silly, with the country in such bad shape. But I'm in bad shape too, and I feel awful.

How so?

I feel like I'm a pile of lost potential.

Why lost?

I feel like the good stuff has passed me by.

Really? At 43?

Sounds silly. I just can't see myself getting out of my rut.

What's the rut like?

Well, I'm fat, and no matter what I do I can't lose weight. So on top of everything else - the financial disaster, the fighting all over the world - there's me, a total waste. I can't even run any more.

It would be hard for you to single-handedly fix the economy and create peace in the world.

That's for sure.

But you might be able to single-handedly fix your weight, since it's bothering you so much.

How?

Can you think of any way? Even a small way? Something you can do?

I can't. That's why I'm stuck. But it's so ridiculous. I'm a pretty strong person, and kind of smart. And you're right, I should be able to fix my own life.

I didn't mean you should. I only meant I think you can if you want to.

I haven't been able to.

So what can you do differently?

I could take more time, really think about how I can do it.

That's good.

Maybe that's just what I need: to study my problem, and figure out what would really help me lose weight.

Sounds like a wonderful first step.

It is different. I've always forced myself to go on a diet, without thinking.

I like your new plan. It's fresh and exciting.

It is, isn't it?

Obsessed with Counting Calories

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Maria...

Life is better if you're not worried about every bite of food that goes into your mouth.

I was so obsessed with counting calories; I couldn't fall asleep at night. I would calculate and re-calculate what I had eaten for the day. I would get upset if the number was too high.

I finally knew I had to quit that obsession - not to mention the fact that it didn't help me lose weight anyway.

Actually, I went for counseling to help me cool it with this. I found out that it had very little to do with weight, and very much to do with how little control I felt I had over my life in general.

I'm so much better now. I just wanted to share it with other Maria's Last Diet visitors.

    - Genevieve

How to Lose Weight the Personal Way

by Maria's Last Diet

To lose weight, and especially to keep it off you need to get up close and personal...with yourself.

It's OK to use a cookie-cutter diet - one that lots and lots of other people use. It's fine, that is, as long as it's a diet you like, and one that is good for your health.

But the changes in behavior, thinking, and dealing with feelings that you need to make so you can really conquer your weight problem - that's a highly personal matter. You can't do it like everyone else. Your behaviors, your thoughts, your feelings - they are uniquely yours.

You can share thoughts, feelings, and ideas about your behavior with others. You can get help from others. You can think about what other women do who are in a similar situation, and borrow strategies. But the bottom line is, when trying to solve a weight problem once and for all, you'll need to look inward.

Emotional Eating is a Force to be Reckoned With

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Maria...

When my emotional forecast calls for rain, I can't step away from food. That's when I dive in.

My weight is on a bungee cord - up and down, up and down. I know everyone has moods. But for me, life presents its challenges and my feelings react.

What I need to get hold of is why I continue to use food in order to deal with my emotions, and how to stop. I guess I'm afraid of feeling too much, and I don't know how else to deal. Really, though, as I think about it, I somehow settled on food as my coping mechanism.

I'm sure with some trial and error, I can come up with a much better method, one that won't leave me continually disappointed in myself and feeling fat.

    - Katherine

"Diets don't work." We hear this all the time.

by Maria's Last Diet

We all know people who have lost weight on a diet, and even some who have kept the weight off.

So - at the very least, we can say diets do work - in some cases.

In those cases, are the diets different? Is it the diet that works or doesn't work? We already concluded that you can't say unequivocally diets don't work, because sometimes they do. So what makes dieting work for one woman, and not another?

Here are some common reasons why a diet may not work for a woman.

• She gets impatient
• Life gets too stressful
• She suffers a disappointment
• She has a fight with someone close to her
• She has trouble denying herself anything
• She gets very busy
• She eats automatically, without thinking
• She gets discouraged if she doesn't lose weight fast
• She doesn't know how to hold onto willpower
• Someone criticizes her
• She gets bored
• She gets lonely
• Someone hurts her feelings

You can probably find yourself somewhere in these scenarios. They really are very common diet spoilers.

So, what do any of these instances have to do with dieting itself - with the actual diet? Exactly nothing. The key to solving each of these dilemmas without blowing a diet lies within a woman herself. No matter how a woman plans to lose weight - a diet, just cutting down, eating healthier, exercising more, stopping overeating - these spoilers will always interfere with weight loss if they are not handled in a better way.

Well then, does dieting work? It all depends on how the dieter herself works.
       ....here comes Diet Tuffy to the rescue       

Is Eating a Problem for You?

by Maria's Last Diet

Here's a thinking exercise for a Sunday afternoon.

Fill in the reasons.

"My eating might be more of a problem for me than I like to admit - for these reasons."

What did you come up with?

Being Aware of Dieting Truths Really Helps

by Maria's Last Diet

Obvious things

• 45% of women are doing it at any given time
• It's hard
• Many women fail many times
• It requires tremendous self-control
• You can lose weight if you stick to it
• Most people can't stick for very long
• There are over 2500 books about it
• There is conflicting advice about which diet is best
• There's a new diet every other week

Not so obvious things

• It's not a magic cure
• It's a process
• It's a journey of learning
• When women fail at it, self-esteem often suffers
• You simply can't rush it and succeed
• Maintaining a weight loss is even harder than dieting
• You need a lot of support to do it well
• You'll learn a surprising amount from your slips
• It requires significant behavioral change
• It is hard for people to change

Losing Weight: A Health Scare Won’t Do It

by Maria's Last Diet

Let’s say you get a diagnosis from your physician: you have several important indicators of heart disease. So: will you go ahead and quit smoking?

Very likely, you will.

Will you go ahead and lose the weight you need to lose?

Probably not.

A study published on February 9th in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that people who are diagnosed with a serious medical condition like heart disease are motivated to quit smoking. But they are not motivated enough to slim down.

Sherry Pagoto PhD and Judith Ockene PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in the same journal, editorialized that counseling from your physician alone will not have an impact on weight loss. They cited research that indicated only intensive behavioral counseling had this kind of impact on weight loss.

Why is it so hard when it comes to losing the weight?