Maria's Last Diet

by Maria's Last Diet

When you run up against a weight loss problem, it’s easy to get discouraged and think there’s nothing more you can do. You feel doomed. Trapped. As if there’s nowhere to go. And you’re ready to give up.

DON’T!

If you want to beat the problems that prevent you from losing weight —

         Take careful aim at your problem

         Come up with a brand new solution

         Be guided by a solid plan of action

         Learn how to overcome obstacles that prevent you from

            losing weight

         Develop the skills and self-confidence you need

If you need help in solving the problems that throw you off your weight loss plan (and who doesn’t), go to MariasLastDiet.com and open up a blog post or two about the problem you’re having. Read the free articles that will give you some great problem-solving ideas. Or buy and read our newest, revised version of Diet Tuffy: The Fun Way to Seriously Lose Weight, and try a fun-filled weight loss problem solving method.

by Maria's Last Diet

What’s your attitude when you try to lose weight? Is it some heavy-handed approach that bespeaks grumpiness, dissatisfaction, and an easy slide into self-criticism?

Attitude makes a big difference when you try to lose weight? How’s curiosity and creativity for a weight loss attitude? What about joyfulness? Don’t forget self-acceptance and all the other uplifting attitude possibilities.

When trying to change your eating habits, stick to a diet, and handle your emotions without eating over them, your attitude is everything—well, maybe not everything. If your attitude is getting you down and making it impossible for you to lose weight, you might consider giving yourself an attitude adjustment.

by Maria's Last Diet

Here are some things you’re up against when you try to lose weight.

1. Learning something new may seem too difficult or disruptive

2. Establishing new habits is always slow and not immediately rewarding because it requires a lot of practice and a high tolerance for a lack of competence for some time

3. Not doing it right may be too frustrating and unacceptable. But making mistakes is always part of establishing new habits

4. Doing without the comfort of old ways can feel punishing

by Maria's Last Diet

Do you know that a problem you are having with another person can cause weight gain? Here is how it can happen. You may be in a relationship where the other person is primarily a taker. The taker is not only a taker he is also a good talker. He frequently tells you that you don’t satisfy him. You love this person and you believe he loves you. Yet you’ve come to believe you are not enough for him. If you were, you think, he wouldn’t be so dissatisfied with you.

Now it may sound simple-minded, but you turn to eating too much food and snacking on calorie-rich food for relief from this relationship catastrophe. By eating like this you’re getting some satisfaction at least. You too now are a taker and not just a giver. But, at the same time, you’re making yourself terribly unhappy. You’re not standing up for what you really want, which is not to overeat and over-snack and gain weight.

As you can see, you put yourself in the position of only having yourself to blame. The blame is for your pattern of eating and your weight gain, not your acquiescent, maybe even masochistic, relationship to the taker. You preserved your relationship with the taker at your own expense. You directed your anger and hatred and blame toward eating out of control and for being such a disappointment to yourself.

This is how it can go when you’re in a bad relationship.

by Maria's Last Diet

Did you ever have the fervent wish that someone or something would come along and help you solve your problem(s) with losing weight? What would it be like if your wish came true? Would it restore your faith in weight loss remedies?

If this is the dilemma you’re facing, just call on Diet Tuffy and he will come to your rescue. Diet Tuffy is a weight loss problem solver, and perhaps he is just what you are looking for.

Here’s how Diet Tuffy and you will do it.

Diet Tuffy takes you through 5 steps necessary for weight loss problem solving.

“First: You will zero in on the most significant problem you face when you are trying to lose weight. You can use the universal list of weight loss problems to help you specify a problem, or you can put it in your own words.

Next: Diet Tuffy will show you how to come up with a brand new solution to your problem.

Then: You will see how to make an ingenious plan to put your new solution right into action.

After that: You will mentally film your plan to see where it gets hung up.

And last: You will fine-tune your plan to make doubly sure it works.

At the end of your Diet Tuffy experience, you will have a solid plan in hand to overcome your weight loss problem.”

   excerpt from   Diet Tuffy: The Fun Way to Seriously Lose Weight. By Kenneth Schwarz PhD and Julie North Schwarz

by Maria's Last Diet

You do not need to be the best weight loser who ever lived to stick to a weight loss plan. But you do need to recognize and deal with your own personal weight loss blocks. These personal blocks are in conflict with your desire and your efforts to lose weight. It may be hard to get rid of your weight loss blocks, but at the least you should start with seeing what these blocks are. Simply identifying a weight loss block may help you think of what to do about it. For example, if your block is of the childish rebellious variety, such as “No one can tell me what to do,” you might think of being more mature as the solution, or another avenue might be to satisfy your childish rebellion in some nonfood way. Then see what you have to do to take these steps?

by Maria's Last Diet

Assumptions. Assumptions. Assumptions. Nothing but assumptions.

Diet and exercise. Exercise and diet. Here’s where the assumptions really run wild.

Assuming you’ll start the diet. Assuming you won’t keep putting off the start to the next Monday, and the next, and the next. Assuming you’ll keep up the diet. Assuming you have what it takes to conquer obstacles to staying on your diet. Assuming if you go off your diet on Saturday, you’ll get right back on your diet on Sunday. Assuming once you reach your goal weight, you’ll stop dieting and maintain lost weight.

Assuming you’ll start to exercise. Assuming you’ll continue to exercise while you are trying to lose weight. Assuming your exercise will be vigorous enough to contribute to weight loss. Assuming that you’ll keep up your diet so when you exercise, you’ll burn appreciably more calories than you take in. Assuming exercise won’t make you hungry to the point you eat back all the calories that you just lost by exercising. Assuming you won’t use your exercise equipment for a clothes rack. Assuming when your friend can’t walk with you, you’ll walk by yourself on those days.

Assumptions, as you can see, are something you accept as true without doubt or verification. Definitely not a good way to go about losing weight.

by Maria's Last Diet

There are always problems when you are trying to lose weight. Problems or obstacles or spoilers, call them what you wish. They are invariably something you’ll have to conquer and overcome. You won’t be able to avoid them. It’s up to you to solve these problems so they won’t interfere with your weight loss efforts.

If you can, pick one of the problems you are having. State it clearly. For example: “I eat off my weight loss plan when I’m upset.” Then formulate and state the problem more specifically. “I eat sugary snacks whenever I suffer a blow to my self-esteem.”

Once you’ve stated the problem clearly and specifically to yourself, see how you can go about solving the problem. Take it one day at a time. In other words, think how you might solve this problem just for tomorrow. You could also narrow your problem solving to a part of tomorrow, like the morning or just in the afternoon. By keeping your problem solving goal to one day or part of a day, you are increasing your chance for success.

So, how would you solve the problem of eating sugary snacks when your self-esteem has been injured? There are probably lots of ways to solve this. Here are a few. Simply put, don’t keep sugary snacks around. Another could be substituting some diet snack for the sugary one. These are the food manipulation approaches to solving the problem. A non-food approach would be doing something about your self-esteem so it’s not as susceptible to injury.

In any case, the process of problem solving always begins with stating the problem clearly and as specifically as you can.

by Maria's Last Diet

What else is wrong in your life besides your weight? Think carefully now; give it some real thought.

How are your relationships with family, friends, partner, children? What about your work life? Is your work life satisfying? Do you have any regrets about the paths you took in life? What do you dislike about yourself? How is it going in your daily life? Are you having a good daily life or is daily life a grind? What do you worry about? How are your finances?

As you can see, there are lots of things that can be wrong in someone’s life besides her weight.

Once you identify all else that is wrong in life besides your weight, see if any of the things you singled out have a bearing on your weight or on your difficulty losing weight.

Then try to do something about what is wrong, especially if it has a significant influence on your weight.