Maria's Last Diet:

Just as natural and organic foods were rising in popularity, the recession hit, and hit hard. For many people, the concern for saving money now overrides the desire for the most healthful foods. Organic has always meant more expensive, and that's not a good thing at all for most people given these very tentative and scary economic times.

A good way to be healthier (most health professionals agree) is to do these two things: cut down on junk food and stop overeating. This is also a very economical way.

Many women who write to us at Maria's last Diet have a lot of trouble doing both of these things. Junk food seems to provide comfort at times; overeating often serves as an antidote to stress, both internally and externally.

It would seem that breaking these habits could make a huge difference to a woman's health - and doesn't cost what organic vegetables and fruit cost.

What it does cost is time and introspection, persistence and personal change. Isn't that a cheap way to be healthier?

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Friday, January 30, 2009 in Changing/Learning | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Which Weight Loss Diet? All of Them!

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Maria...

I invented the silliest diet ever, and lost 24 lbs.

You're always saying it's not the diet that counts as much as a person's behavior, habits, motivation, etc. I didn't believe that. I've always thought I needed to find the perfect diet, and then the pounds would just drop off, no stress, no muss, no fuss.

So, to prove you wrong, I made up this diet: I used a different diet for each day of the week. I did a version of lo carb on Mondays, lo fat on Tuesdays, on Wednesdays I did a liquid meal for breakfast and lunch, and a diet dinner, Thursdays was vegetarian - mostly fruit, veggies, and cheese, and Friday's I had more or less Weight Watchers. On the weekend I didn't diet at all. After 2 weeks, I checked with my doctor about this, and she said it was fine - that I was getting all the nutrients and nourishment I needed.

The first week, I lost 3 lbs. It's been 12 weeks, and I've averaged 2 lbs a week, total loss = 24 lbs.

You're right. It's not the diet.

It's me.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 in It's Not Just About Food | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

The Diet Tip That Changes Everything

by Maria's Last Diet

Try something different.
Whatever you've been doing, change it up. Nothing is fixed, nothing is sacred. That includes: the diet, who you diet with, what you've been doing to keep up motivation, how you keep your focus, how you set your goal, what you do when you cheat, etc. Try something entirely new and different.

Integrate the new actions into your life.
Take these new ways of doing things and integrate them into your life. Make room for them. Set things up so they have a chance to work well. Use them as a positive force for your dieting effort.

Practice your new modes of action.
Then practice, practice, practice some more, every day. Practice is what leads to real skill. Once you become skilled in these new ways, you can call on them to help you at a moments' notice.

Persist in your effort to do it differently.
Keep the idea of "changing" up front in your mind. It is the very act of doing it differently that will turn things around.

So: Try Integrate Practice Persist

The best diet "TIPP" you'll ever find.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 in Tips | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Dear Oprah, Losing Weight Is A Diet Plus

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Oprah

You're up to 200 lbs again. And you have top-notch experts telling you what to eat, how to exercise, how to be healthy. They all have good ideas.

But don't you know, it's all about the non-food, non-exercise issues? If you address those underlying factors, you'll be able to embrace a diet, an exercise program, a healthy lifestyle. If those issues - emotions, habits, fears, patterns of thinking - keep weighing you down, you won't be able to control your weight. It's simply the case, especially for women.

Let the truth break through the noise.

With love,
Maria

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Monday, January 26, 2009 in It's Not Just About Food | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Losing Weight: Philosophy for a Sunday Afternoon

by Maria's Last Diet

What you see in the mirror is no ordinary sight. It is you, and you are unique in all the world.

Perhaps if there are parallel universes, there could be another you. But in this one, the only place we know, you are the one and only you.

You could look at it this way: because you are so unique and there is nothing else exactly like you on earth, you have a responsibility - to be the finest you possible.

If overeating and being overweight, interfere with you being the best possible you, then it behooves you to fix these problems.

You owe it to yourself, and to the world.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Sunday, January 25, 2009 in Changing/Learning | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Losing Weight in Harsh Economic times

by Maria's Last Diet

It's time to become disillusioned with high-cost weight-loss solutions. First, we don't have the money now. Second, they don't deliver the goods.

We have been bombarded with products that are supposed to do the trick, and make us thin for good.

There's the exercise machine that costs hundreds.

There's the pill that promises no hunger.

There's the food all prepared for us.

There are the 2500 diet books out there.

There are diet gurus.

There are diet coaches.

We have a unique opportunity now, forced though it is. We need to think about what is a real answer to a weight problem, personally, individually. We can no longer afford to fund the billion-dollar diet industry that doesn't produce good enough results.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Saturday, January 24, 2009 in Eating/Weight/Diet Problems | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Dieting with a Good Buddy

by Maria's Last Diet

There is evidence that social support is a positive factor influencing weight loss. When dieters go through the weight-loss process with partners, they are significantly more likely to stick to their weight-loss plans and maintain weight loss. There is also an added benefit to partnering up. When women are able to give social support to others, it improves their own health.

A study in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2005) concluded that “Participants in terms of weight loss are only as good as the company they keep; thus, they should be encouraged to invite support partners who are motivated to lose weight themselves.”

Who you pick as your diet partner significantly figures into your success.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Thursday, January 22, 2009 in Influence | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

Diets, Diets Everywhere, But How Do I Stay On?

by Maria's Last Diet

"Gotta lose weight. Just got to. What's a woman to do?

I’ve tried and tried; tried lots of diets. In fact, I was just on a diet and guess what? I fell off, just like I fell off all the others.

What does it feel like to fall off your diet? You know because you’ve been there. Awful.

I need a whole new way to help me stay on a diet. It's not about food. It has to do with solving the problems that get in my way every time I try to diet. I need something—when the going gets tough, that makes me tough enough to get going.

I need a problem solver. I need to solve my dieting problems—whatever makes me fall off, not stick to it, or not even start.

I need to square off against my diet blockers like lack of willpower, stress, emotional eating, feeling deprived, low self-confidence…and all the others.

Help! DietTuffySmalla

NOW THERE'S DIET TUFFY - THE FUN WAY TO SERIOUSLY MAKE ANY DIET WORK.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

The Freshest, Coolest, Most Enjoyable Diet Game in Town—and It’s Not a Diet

by Maria's Last Diet

Dear Dieter

There’s a BIG difference between going on a diet and staying on a diet.

Choosing a food plan is the easy part. The hard part is sticking to it.

Maria’s Last Diet is happy to introduce DIET TUFFY, a new tool that holds the surprising key to diet success.

Diet Tuffy is the freshest, coolest, most enjoyable diet game in town—and it’s not a diet. It’s the fun way to seriously make a diet WORK.

So, what keeps you from sticking to your diet, even though you want to lose weight in the worst way?

    Do you lose your willpower?
    Do you lose your drive?
    Do you get hopeless?
    Careless?
    Impatient?
    Do you get angry?
    Rebellious?

What are the factors that always make you blow it when you diet?

    Too many other demands?
    Too many temptations?
    Fatigue?

Now there’s Diet Tuffy. It will show you how to identify the problems that always get in your way—and solve them, at last.

Want to stick to it this time? Go ahead and start Diet Tuffy. You’ll have a really good time.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

If You've Failed at Losing Weight...

by Maria's Last Diet

Here's a question you might think is weird.

Are you emotionally attached to weight-loss failure? Before you simply dismiss the possibility, take a few minutes and think about it. Because if you are, you can't possibly succeed at losing weight.

In the world of women and diets and weight loss, EMOTIONS RULE.

Posted by Maria's Last Diet on Sunday, January 18, 2009 in Failure | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

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Losing Weight Doesn't Mean Organic

Which Weight Loss Diet? All of Them!

The Diet Tip That Changes Everything

Dear Oprah, Losing Weight Is A Diet Plus

Losing Weight: Philosophy for a Sunday Afternoon

Losing Weight in Harsh Economic times

Dieting with a Good Buddy

Diets, Diets Everywhere, But How Do I Stay On?

The Freshest, Coolest, Most Enjoyable Diet Game in Town—and It’s Not a Diet

If You've Failed at Losing Weight...

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