Maria's Last Diet

Monthly Cravings

by Maria's Last Diet

As you probably know, you are not alone in this. It is a common challenge. Many women get cravings associated with the very important monthly hormonal changes that take place.

These cravings can be hard to resist, maybe even impossible sometimes. So, why not make it legal to give in at these times? After all, is that what really keeps the weight on? Is it due to those times each month when you feel cravings? Or is it really all the other times, the times when physical cravings for sweets, chocolate, etc. are not present?

Unlike a problem with drugs or alcohol, you cannot give up food altogether. Instead, you need to change your relationship to it. Part of this process involves understanding that people do need more food at times, less at other times. People even need certain food at times and not at other times.

Instead of fighting against your monthly cravings, why not allow yourself to satisfy the craving, say for chocolate (a common one), but not in a limitless way. If your cravings occur every month, then they are predictable and you can be prepared for them. Have your plan in place to answer the cravings, but also how to control them. For example, having half of a chocolate bar or 2 or 3 cookies once or twice a month can fit into a weight-loss plan beautifully.

Reaching a Weight Loss Plateau

by Maria's Last Diet

Reaching a plateau (or more than one) on the way to your weight-loss goal is to be expected. The task is to hold on to your motivation during a plateau. Legend has it that King Solomon had a ring made with a saying on it that would always be true: "This too shall pass." Make yourself a reminder of this, like the King's engraved ring. Because if you can wrap your mind around the idea that the plateau is temporary—and also normal—then you can hold on and get through it. It's the feeling that it will last forever that makes you want to give up.

Once again, remember: This too shall pass.

Personal Reasons for Losing the Weight

by Maria's Last Diet

I'm desperate to lose these 25 lbs and get back into size 7 jeans like when I was a kid. So why can't I do it?

We thought we'd share with you an idea that a woman wrote to us about last month. She, too, was concerned with what size she was. She reflected on this, and wrote:

"When you're a kid, it's important to 'fit in' to a certain size. But as we get older, it's probably better to concentrate on different values. What I started to do was to dig deeper into my well of aspirations and ideals and come up with an important reason for losing the weight, other than being a certain size.

I thought about the economic crisis, and how wanting to make a lot of money fast can backfire. But the companies that have a greater purpose in mind—companies that want to contribute to people's welfare and do something for humanity—these are the companies that usually make it in the long run.

So, what could I say to myself about losing the weight that would help me find the real value of doing it? Would it make me a more open person? Would it make me a more honest person? A more tolerant person? Would it leave me feeling better so I could be more helpful to other people? Would it help me be less selfish? Would it let me be more able to pursue the higher goals I have for myself? For me, it was all of the above."

We all tend to get shortsighted and hung up on things that don't matter so much. I wonder if considering what really and truly matters to you in your life, and thinking about how losing the weight can help with those things, might be the answer you are looking for.

Tips on Losing Weight: Optimism and the Power of Positive Thinking

by Maria's Last Diet

A lot has been made of the power of positive thinking. We have all heard the idea that thinking positively has a beneficial effect on health.

Optimism, one form of positive thinking, has actually been found to both promote healthy behavior and to undermine healthy behavior. The distinction here is based on whether the optimism a person exhibits is "defensive" or "functional".

Defensive optimism is exemplified by the person who believes she is in less danger of disease than others. With functional optimism, a person might see herself as capable of coping effectively with challenges and adversity. The functional optimist takes care of her health by engaging in disease-preventing behaviors. The defensive optimist does not take these same precautions, because she sees herself (unrealistically) as less vulnerable to disease than other people.

Thus, you can't say that thinking positively if you are a defensive optimist is an adaptive strategy when it comes to matters of your health.

What kind of positive thinker are you when it comes to dieting and losing weight? Are you the defensive optimist or the functional optimist?

Here is a typical declaration from someone who wants to lose weight: Next week, I'm definitely going on a diet, and this time I'll stay on it.

Now that's a pretty optimistic statement. Is it functional or defensive? Is it defensive—not realistic—or is it functional, meaning realistically positive? How can you tell?

You can tell if you look below the surface of the resolution, dig a little deeper, ask questions which will show if she is just blindly optimistic or if she has good reasons for being optimistic.

Here are the questions:

• Has she set a goal that is within the realm of possibility?
• Has she spent time creating a plan of action?
• Does she anticipate challenges along the way?
• Does she have plans in place to help her meet those challenges?
• Does she believe in her ability to follow through?

It takes realism PLUS optimism to reach a goal.

In other words, if it is to work, this woman needs to back up the resolution "next week I'm definitely going on a diet, and this time I'll stay on it".

Can you?

Weight Loss Support Does Not Mean Nagging

by Maria's Last Diet

Stop nagging!

Does someone close to you—someone who wants to help you lose the weight—resort to nagging, even without meaning to? The trouble is, nagging often makes us go the opposite way. This is because we sense someone telling us what to do as challenging our personal freedom.

You often hear people say you can only lose the weight when you want to, not because it's what someone else wants you to do. If a family member or a friend starts nagging, it's probably best to let the person know he or she isn't helping that way. Together you can surely find other ways for that person to give you weight-loss help and weight-loss support while you are trying to lose the weight.

You definitely need weight-loss support—just not in the form of nagging.

Making Weight Loss for Women Easier

by Maria's Last Diet

The main goal of a dieter is to achieve her weight-loss goal. This is usually way off in the future. An alternative to concentrating on this type of future-driven, long-term goal is to focus on the actions required to meet this goal. In other words, your focus won't be on "I have this much weight to lose". Your focus will be on the actions you are taking right here and now, as well as the actions you plan to take next.

By making your focus the day-to-day actions you take, you increase your chance of successfully reaching your future goal.

Here's how it works. Say you want to lose 40 lbs. That's your long-term weight-loss goal. What will make this goal a reality is how you plan and act from now until then.

There are two broad areas in which you need to plan and act. They are the food and the non-food elements involved in losing weight. The food part has to do with what you eat, how much you eat, and how often you eat. For the food part, the plan can be to go on a diet, stop overeating, cut down on junk food, etc. The non-food part is trickier. It has to do with your relationship with food. It has to do with what you might be using eating for—like feeling better emotionally, regulating your moods and temperament, stopping unpleasant thoughts, etc. Planning and acting are needed in both areas.

There is an added benefit. Shifting your thinking from the future goal to the actions you are taking in the present actually requires less effort on your part. Thinking narrowly about only what will happen at some future date is much more taxing and frustrating than taking it day by day.

What actions will you be taking today and tomorrow to keep you headed in the right direction?

Can't drink so much water to lose the weight

by Maria's Last Diet

Sometimes, things we are so used to doing, things we take for granted, aren’t things that are really good for us. For example, do you know there is very little evidence, if any, that drinking water helps you lose weight?

This is surprising, considering the fact that diets all tend to say the same thing: Drink eight to ten eight-ounce glasses of water a day. This has been the golden rule for many years. Drinking water, the diet plan tells you, will not only keep you sufficiently hydrated, it will also magically help the pounds drop off.

Everyone who has dieted has heard this, and if you have ever tried to follow a diet perfectly, you probably struggled to get that water down just like they said you should. It’s a hard job, unless you’re really, really thirsty.

First of all, there seems to be no scientific support for the idea that people need to force down eight glasses of water a day in order to get enough hydration. The Institute of Medicine reports that most people get enough water just through their day to day eating and drinking. Recent studies show that for the typical adult, there is a loss of approximately one liter of fluid per day—the equivalent of four eight-ounce glasses. But people make up that loss from what they naturally eat and drink daily.

And yet, the majority of diet plans blindly stick to their daily prescriptions for water. Some tell you to drink half a glass every hour. Some tell you to sip your water through a straw. Some tell you, if you have trouble getting it all down, mix it with lemon juice and ice. Some even advocate drinking water before meals as a way to curb hunger. However, studies at Pennsylvania State University showed that people who drank extra water before and during meals ate just as much as those who drank less.

There is also a lack of evidence for other claims, such as the idea that drinking water raises metabolism, or that drinking water helps burn fat.

This is not to say that water isn’t good for you. Of course, it is. It is obviously much better to drink water than to drink sugar-laden sodas or milkshakes or sweetened teas. But just how much water is enough really depends on you as an individual.

The best advice seems to be, let your thirst be your guide.

Can Physicians Do More for Overweight Patients?

by Maria's Last Diet

Excessive weight gain is a national problem. Physicians have been on the front lines of this problem for a long time now. Does this mean that physicians have not been doing their job?

The issue for doctors is the age-old problem of noncompliance. Noncompliance or poor treatment adherence is too much a reality in medicine. Doctors prescribe and patients are supposed to follow. But many times this is just not the case. Even pills that should be taken faithfully by patients, often are not. So how can doctors get their overweight patients to follow doctor’s orders? What can doctors do to help a patient get on a diet plan and adhere to the plan?

Here is a brief list of what doctors can do. See if you can add to this list.

• Don’t leave diet plan adherence to chance.
• Don’t just leave it all to the patient to do. Patients need dieting support.
• Give patients a professional resource to help them with the behavior and lifestyle changes that are always involved in the dieting and weight loss challenges.
• Prepare patients to realize that readiness for change comes way before change comes.
• Advise patients to choose a diet plan that is right for them.
• Explain that diet plan adherence can be measured in small successes. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

So our questions to you are:

• Can you add to the list of things doctors can do to help their patients adhere to their diets?
• Has your doctor helped you with your weight loss goals?

Other women would love to hear what you have to say. Please feel free to comment.

Have to Start Dieting, but I'm not Ready to Plunge in. What Can I Do?

by Maria's Last Diet

If you want very much to lose weight, but you aren’t ready to diet yet, don’t be discouraged. There is a lot you can do with regard to losing weight right where you are.

Success should be gauged not only by going on a diet or losing weight. Any step in the right direction should be considered a step toward success. In a beginning stage of the process, when you are just thinking about wanting to lose the weight, here is something very important you can do for yourself: keep the problem from getting worse. That is, you can try to stay just at this weight by stabilizing your eating. You may be used to thinking of maintaining weight as an end stage of a diet, something you do only after you’ve lost all the weight and you want to keep it off. It is also true that maintaining—not gaining any more weight—is very good preparation for a more focused, organized effort at weight loss.

A problem with weight requires different processes at different times along the way. You can consider this pre-action stage, before you actually go on a diet, as a time to start making small changes. This is a remarkably effective weight-loss strategy. Small changes add up to bigger changes. It is almost always a series of small but important steps that forms the ladder to any success.

To help you reverse your weight gain tendency and stay where you are, you can use some consciousness-raising techniques to learn more about your patterns of eating. When do you eat the most? Can you prepare yourself for those times? Are there some everyday methods that you can use to cope with those times when you feel most compelled to overeat? If you used some of these methods, could you reduce the amount and intensity of your overeating?

Here are some other things to do to help you prevent any further weight gain. You can care more for yourself and your looks despite the weight you are at now. This will increase your good feelings about yourself, which in turn will decrease your tendency to eat too much. You can also try to adopt some healthier habits with regard to your eating. In other words, don’t concentrate on eating for weight loss. Right now, think only of what may be a healthier way for you to eat. Another good thing to do is to give considerable thought to the benefits of losing weight for you. Make a list of these benefits and read it over often, adding to it whenever you want to. By thinking of the positive effects losing weight will have on your life, you are setting the stage for change.

The fact that you want to lose weight is a driving force. Keep your desire in mind, don’t let it go. At this point, before you are actually ready to dive into a diet, concentrate on keeping your weight right where it is. Look at this as a very important step you need to take so you’ll be ready to diet successfully.

Weight Loss Motivation Tips: Reviving Your Motivation

by Maria's Last Diet

Holding on to motivation during the weight-loss process is one of the central tasks. You need ways to revive your motivation―your enthusiasm, your energy, your focus―as you go. If you lose your motivation, you’re likely to lose your willpower and your commitment as well.

Of course, changing your habits enough to allow weight loss to take place always happens over a period of time. Here is one good way to stay motivated during this time: remind yourself periodically about why you are doing this in the first place.

So our question to you is:

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT REASONS WHY YOU WANT TO LOSE THE WEIGHT?