Maria's Last Diet:

Being moderately overweight may not carry the serious health burden that being severely overweight does. Nevertheless, there are consequences from being even moderately overweight. Here are some:

•    Feeling physical activity as more of an effort
•    Being reluctant to make appointments with your doctor
•    Not wanting to engage in leisure-time physical activity
•    Increased worry about health and appearance
•    Lower self-esteem
•    Feeling like a failure
•    Being physically uncomfortable

These, of course, are good reasons for starting on a diet and losing weight. Many women use one or more of these factors as a reason for losing weight. While we may not like to experience such consequences, they are certainly motivators. And we often do need a push to do something to make our lives better.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Monday, December 29, 2008 in Eating/Weight/Diet Problems | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Dangerous Weight Loss Products Says FDA

by Maria's Last Diet

FYI

In case you didn't hear this on the news, the FDA has issued a warning to consumers.

It designated 25 weight-loss products as possibly being tainted, and therefore, presenting a risk to consumers' health.

The FDA warning designated these products as possibly being tainted:

    2 Day diet
    3 Times Slimming Power
    3 Day Diet
    5 Times Imelda Perfect Slimming
    7 Day Herbal Slim
    7 Diet Day/Night Formula
    8 Factor diet
    999 Fitness Essence
    Extrim Plus
    Fatloss Slimming
    GMP
    Imelda Perfect Slim
    Japan Lingzhi 24 Hours Diet
    Lida DaiDaihva
    Miaozi Slim Capsules
    Perfect Slim
    Perfect Slim 5 Times
    Phyto Shape
    ProLim Plus
    Royal Slimming Formula
    Slim 3 in 1
    Slim Express 360
    Slimtech
    Somotrim
    Superslim
    TripleSlim
    Venom Hyperdrive 3.0
    Zhen de Shou

The reason for this sharp warning is that an analysis of these weight-loss products found they may contain a controlled substance suspected of causing cancer.

Some of these weight-loss products are sold in retail stores, others on websites.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Saturday, December 27, 2008 in Tips | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Losing the Weight: Your New Year’s Resolution

by Maria's Last Diet

Simply making a New Year’s resolution is not sufficient to accomplish it. We all know that.

Do you know what has to happen for you to follow through on your New Year’s resolution? If your resolution this year will be to lose the weight, then this resolution will have to be “endorsed by your self”.

It is best if you thoroughly identify with your New Year’s resolution to lose the weight. In other words, it’s a matter of life and self. This will mean that you are willing to give it your all.

You want to have as much intrinsic motivation as possible for your New Year’s goal. You want to have a feeling of well-being when you think of losing weight. You want to have a feeling of capability when you think of the sustained effort you will have to make to lose the weight. This means your resolution is compatible with your “self”.

It’s one thing to state your resolution and believe in it. But it’s quite another thing for your resolution to actually fit with who you are on the very inside of yourself.

What if you want to have “losing weight” as your New Year’s resolution, but you feel it is more of a wish than anything else?

The best advice here is to sit on the wish for the time being. Don’t rush into it. Live with the wish. Let it get stronger and more and more a part of you. The more a part of you the wish becomes, the more resources you bring to the table. The motivation will unfold from inside. It will be more organic, more integrated.

That’s what “endorsed by your self” means—you will have a lot of what it takes to face the challenges losing weight presents

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Monday, December 22, 2008 in Holidays | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Weight Loss Products Scrutinized

by Maria's Last Diet

Too often, health food and weight-loss products are totally ineffective.

In the UK, a new effort is underway to protect consumers of weight-control products.

Consumers in the UK (and, of course, in other countries as well) are often tricked into buying products that really do them no good. Because many of these products are food-based, and don't qualify as medicine, they are not controlled in a stringent way.

The new European Union directive on Unfair Commercial Practices has been adopted this year in the UK, and will hopefully go a long way in preventing products from making unsubstantiated health claims.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Sunday, December 21, 2008 in Tips | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Christmas Dieting: Is this an Oxymoron?

by Maria's Last Diet

There is often a price we pay for staying on a diet. Holidays are a special test of how much we’re willing to sacrifice for our diets.

If we could, our Christmas gift to ourselves would be to somehow maintain a weight loss diet while still enjoying the wonderful traditions of holiday eating. Is it possible to achieve both of these goals? That’s what most of us would really like to do.

Unfortunately, you may have the mindset that come December 25th you’ll have to do everything in your power to avoid the Christmas goodies. It’s a test of your self-control. What if you could have your diet and eat cake too?

As you may know from experience, we human beings rarely desire one thing at a time. It’s not unheard of to want to stay on your diet and partake of Christmas cheer as well.

Here’s how you can do it. You can strike a balance between what you want to eat for Christmas and your diet. You really can.

Let’s say that you don’t think of your diet and the Christmas fare as competing. What if you think of them as belonging together—your diet and Christmas food.

Here’s the key. A diet is not something you should be so restrictive about. This is because “diet violations” are always part of the diet process.

So, have the string beans, but have the mashed potatoes too. Stick to fruit for breakfast and make room for a little pecan pie later in the day. A taste of egg nog might help you bend your no-alcohol guideline without breaking it.

Keep in mind that people without weight problems eat a little more here and a little less there. This is what you will be doing when you combine dieting with eating Christmas food. After all, eating this way is still progress, and progress doesn’t have to be at one speed.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Thursday, December 18, 2008 in Holidays | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Dieting: Are There Bad Consequences?

by Maria's Last Diet

Should there be a black box warning on diets?

“Dieting is harmful to your physical and mental health?”

… because dieting causes:

•    cycles of weight loss and regain
•    eating disorders such as binge eating
•    undue physical and psychological stress
•    nutritional deficiencies
•    a variety of unhealthy behaviors like skipping meals, fasting and purging, laxative
     and diuretic use
•    future weight gain
•    reduced metabolic rate
•    premature death
•    emotional problems like excessive anxiety, reduced self-esteem, and depression

NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE.

So what about the black box warning?

NEVER MIND.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 in Tips | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Weight Control Using Your Own Internal Sensations

by Maria's Last Diet

A tough task if you’re overweight and want to lose weight is to regulate your food intake by your own hunger and satiety cues. These cues might seem to you to be biological in nature. But internal hunger and satiety “standards” are also something you set through your experience with eating and food.

In other words, if you have overeaten for a long time you have set standards for “fullness” based on your overeating. Eating less is experienced as “not being full yet”, and as “still being hungry”.

Therefore, if you’re determined to lose weight by eating less, you will have to find good ways of changing these pre-set “I’m not full yet”, “I’m still hungry” standards. These are standards left over from overeating and being overweight.

Here’s one way. Let’s call it GRIST like in “here’s grist for your mill”. GRIST is an acronym for “gradually reducing internal standards tentatively”. What does this mean? It means that the person who has been overeating and is now overweight first makes herself aware of the standards she has set. She notices all the signs and signals she is using to “feel full” and to “not be hungry”. Then she gradually reduces these internal standards, just noticeable difference after just noticeable difference. In other words, she reduces the standards one very small just perceptible step at a time. And she does so tentatively, giving herself a chance to return to the prior step in the reduction sequence if she likes (or feels she needs to).

If you like these ideas, make them GRIST for your mill.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Thursday, December 11, 2008 in How to Get There | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Losing Weight is not the Same for Everyone

by Maria's Last Diet

Of course you know that people are not the same when it comes to losing weight.

A recent study reported in the International Journal of Obesity confirmed this fact once again. Even when people did the exact same amount of supervised exercise, they lost different amounts of weight.

Keep this in mind.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Saturday, December 06, 2008 in Exercise Advice | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Calories in Food Hidden by "Health Halo"

by Maria's Last Diet

John Tierney of the NY Times (Dec. 1, 2008) makes a good point in discussing the obesity paradox.

The paradox is this: Americans are very concerned these days with eating in a healthy way, and yet, Americans are getting fatter.

Dr. Pierre Chandon, Professor of Marketing at the Instead Business School in France, along with Professor Alexander Chernev, Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, designed experiments to study this issue.

What these researchers found was that there is a "health halo". This is where health claims on food packaging and on restaurant menus interfere with people's judgments about just how fattening particular foods are.

The advice: try not to be fooled. "No trans-fat" can still mean plenty of calories.

If you want more information on the "health halo", Google it and check on the 2007 USA Today article by Nanci Hellmich.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Thursday, December 04, 2008 in Tips | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Dieting Tips: Do You Believe…

by Maria's Last Diet

Making a decision to go on a diet is the most important dieting step you can take? If so, your logic matches that of many prospective dieters who say: “I haven’t decided to go on a diet yet. But once I decide to, I’ll start.”

“Deciding to” looks like the key. But strongly believing in the power of this kind of decision-making is not all you need. Once you get ready to diet, “deciding to” takes on a whole new meaning.

So what exactly does it take to get ready to diet? Mostly, you have to get mentally prepared. Yes, “mentally” prepared. Being mentally prepared means the following: having the emotional wherewithal you need, having the motivation and commitment you need, having thought through a lot of what it will take for you to diet successfully, having plans, and your plans should include good strategies.

Once you “mentally” accomplish all this, then you are truly ready to diet. And you have every right then to believe in the power of your decision: “I’ve decided to go on a diet”.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Monday, December 01, 2008 in Confidence/Self-Esteem | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Maria's Last Diet

Search

White Paper

Categories

About

Email Us

Links

Become a Fan

Being Moderately Overweight Hurts Too

Dangerous Weight Loss Products Says FDA

Losing the Weight: Your New Year’s Resolution

Weight Loss Products Scrutinized

Christmas Dieting: Is this an Oxymoron?

Dieting: Are There Bad Consequences?

Weight Control Using Your Own Internal Sensations

Losing Weight is not the Same for Everyone

Calories in Food Hidden by "Health Halo"

Dieting Tips: Do You Believe…

Books

Symmetry Press