Food Diet

With the New Year fast approaching, many of us are reflecting upon the successes as well as the failures of the last 365 days. To increase the value of YOUR time, consider this coaching exercise.

Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half long ways. Then draw a heavy line down the fold. On the left side label it: Your Successes This column would contain all that went well for you and the resolutions or goals that you achieved. Then on the right side, label it: Failed Resolutions or Failed Goals. Jot down what didn’t go well and those resolutions that you failed to achieve.

Now ask yourself what qualities or characteristics were present on the left side that weren’t present on the right side? Possibly, there is really just one significant quality necessary to bridge the gap between success and failure? Let me take a few moments to share a quick story that may help you discover that quality.

During a national conference, one of my mentors who was presenting asked the audience if there existed a multi-billion dollar diet industry within the United States. The obvious answer was YES. Then he asked this question:

• “If I would drink 8 glasses a water a day,”
• “If I would walk 30 more minutes a day,”
• “If I would reduce my calorie consumption a day by 10%,”
• “If I would avoid those foods that I know put weight on me,”

“Would I or would I not lose weight through these four simple actions provided I did not suffer from a documented medical condition?” Again the answer was a resounding YES from the audience.

“Well,” he continued, “if losing weight is so simple, then why is there a multi-billion dollar diet industry? Those in the audience looked at each other with very puzzled faces. After a few moments, this wise gentleman answered his question with one single word - “Commitment.”

So as you review your Resolution or Achievement list, maybe the quality that is present on the left side and not present on the right side is commitment. How truly committed are you to those areas where you did not experience success? And why are you more committed to those areas where you had success?

William F. Scolavino said it best: “The height of your accomplishments will equal the depth of your convictions.” What is the depth to your conviction of commitment? Possibly by honestly answering this question and taking the necessary actions, you will achieve even greater success in 2006.

Leanne coaches small business owners and professionals to double performance in real time. Click here to learn how YOU can double and even triple your own success. Please feel free to contact Leanne at 219.759.5601. If you truly don’t believe doubling your results is possible, read some case studies where individuals and businesses took the risk and experienced unheard of results.

One quick question, if you achieve that recurring New Year’s Resolution or breakthrough that one roadbloack, what would that mean to you? Then, take a risk and give a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible results.

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I am embarrassed to admit how many different commercial weight loss programs I’ve tried. I don’t know about you, but after a while I grow tired of talking heads touting empty promises. None of them helped me look the way I think I should and most of them left me agonizing over eating the same foods over and over.

What’s a body to do?

In this article I’ve outline a few different ideas that I’ve found to really work. Ideas I continue to come back to again and again. Whether you need to lose a few pounds or are looking for a healthy lifestyle change, these 4 solutions will help get you started.

Solution #1: Use Creative Visualization

Creative visualization a great way to bring about lifestyle change. “Seeing” yourself thinner is one of the most successful ways to decrease your body size and improve body image. Guided imagery works by training your mind to stimulate changes within your body.

This can be accomplished using a few of my favorite tools:

Affirmations: Using affirmations will train your mind by stating or affirming your intentions. It will retrain your thinking toward positive thoughts.

When I use affirmations, I like to use positive statements such as these:

MY BODY IS BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE MY BODY!

To increase their effectiveness, I write these messages to myself on an index card or piece of paper and carry them with me. I review them several times throughout the day.

Tapes: If you are an auditory person, you will love the guided imagery and weight loss tapes available from Health Journeys ( http://www.healthjourneys.com ). Their positive learning tapes will walk you through the thought process of building a stronger, leaner body.

Books: One of my favorite positive affirmation books is Love Your Body! By Louise L. Hay. Inside this book, Louise has created affirmations for you. If you read through them each day you are sure to reap the rewards of loving your body.

Solution #2 Try An Herbal Wrap

If you need to lose a few extra pounds, you may want to try an herbal wrap. Herbal wraps help the body lose water and inches. You can get a wrap from your favorite salon however, they tend to be expensive. It’s just as easy to give yourself a spa treatment at home. Herbal wrap products are everywhere. If you’d like to get a wrap but prefer the privacy of your own home, check out: http://www.slenderwrap.com

Some of the benefits of herbal wraps include:

• Weight loss

• Water loss

• Decreased inches

• Smoothness of Tissue

Solution #3 Stop When You Are Full

In her book Appetites, Geneen Roth gives us a simple outline to manage portion control. Her two major mantras are: take time to eat and stop when you are full. These are both shape-shifting ideas. To some people, including myself, food is a friend. Therefore the tendency to overeat stems out of emotion; food provides comfort and security. Others are in a hurry. Food and the need to eat are just obstacles that get in the way.

In effort to break free from these unhealthy behaviors, ask yourself several questions:

Am I enjoying what I am eating? Do I eat standing up or on the run? Do I continue to eat even after I know I am full?

Next, begin to carve out time to eat and enjoy food with friends or family. Or to take time to enjoy a nourishing meal even if you are alone. Eat to the point of being full, then stop. Most of the time, weight loss can be easily stimulated through portion control.

Solution #4 Keep a Food Journal

In addition to the aforementioned, it may be wise for you to keep a food journal. By tracking what you eat every day, you hold yourself accountable for everything you place in your mouth. It’s simple to start. Record everything you eat for a week and document your weight each week.

At the end of the week take inventory of yourself. Have you gained weight? Lost? Remained the same? If you are gaining weight, simply cut back on your refined sugars (sweets) and heavy carbs like white rice or white potatoes. For these, substitute brown rice or sweet potatoes instead. Track your habits for a second week.

When you’ve reached the point in your eating program where your weight remains the same, you will need only consume a few less calories (or burn a few extra during exercise) each week to lose weight. Keep in mind: in order to lose weight, your body needs to burn more calories than it consumes. First, find your melting point, then adjust your portion control and exercise program accordingly.

In Conclusion: With just a few adjustments and an enjoyment of food - recognizing its beauty for nourishing your body - you can shift your focus from frustration to enjoyment. Give these alternatives to weight loss a try. Your health and your waist line will thank you for it.

About The Author

Laura M. Turner is a Certified Personal Trainer and Sr. Editor of the The New Body News and Wellness Letter. Increase your healthy I.Q. Sign up for free: www.new-body-news.com

VioletProsePubs@aol.com

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Do you have that sinking feeling about needing to lose weight and being forced to go hungry and eat nothing but dull diet food?

There’s no need to be gloomy - you can eat deliciously and have more than enough food to stop you from being hungry all the time and still lose weight.

1. Divert your Food Budget

Whatever money you save by not eating out, buying take-aways or splurging on chocolate and snacks, spend on special healthy foods from the delicatessen such as exotic fruits, smoked meats or lobster. Delight your taste buds with the finest foods instead of bombarding them with sweet or salty fattening snacks and meals.

2. Try New Recipes

Avoid boredom by eating a variety of foods and not going for the same old safe diet options. Try new foods and recipes. Actively seek out light dishes you’d like to try and experiment a bit. Look for new ways to serve everyday foods you like and you’ll end up eating more delicious meals than you ever did before.

Vary your lunches as well as dinners. Replaces the boring old sandwiches you usually buy at the local shop with home-made healthy mixed salads including lean protein and whole grains.

3. Choose Filling Food

It’s important that you don’t get too hungry while you lose weight. Raging hunger and no healthy food on hand is a situation guaranteed to have you reaching for the nearest fattening snack. Make sure your meals are filling enough to last until your next meal or snack without overloading on calories.

Typical dietary advice is to fill up with vegetables or salad but that’s difficult if you’re not a fan. If you don’t like vegetables, get a healthy filling quota anyway by adding them to soups and stews (in pureed form if they’re really not for you).

Also eat the whole grain varieties of carbohydrate foods so that you get the advantage of a slower release of energy along with the bulk they add to your diet. For snacks choose fruit and a little lean protein to provide a balanced slow-release of energy to keep you going to your next meal.

4. Make every Meal an Occasion

When you’re trying to lose weight it helps to focus on the food you’re eating, to eat it slowly and enjoy every mouthful. You have to register that you are eating. We often fail to do that when we mindlessly pop food into our mouths standing at the fridge - we feel unfed and still hungry in our minds.

Always sit down to eat and avoid distractions like reading, TV and answering your email during your meal. Set the table every evening, use your prettiest china and glassware and make your meals something to look forward to - an occasion rather than just an opportunity to wolf down whatever is available and quieten hunger pangs as fast as you possibly can.

5. Plan to Succeed

Before you go food shopping plan ahead for the next few days so that you know exactly what you need to buy. Don’t let yourself get diverted from your list. It’s a lot easier to avoid the temptations of buy-one-get-one-free pizza if you have a range of delicious, nourishing and filling foods to look forward to by sticking to your list.

Include at least one emergency meal on your list for those occasions when you find you get home unexpectedly late and are too tired to cook the one you’d planned. If you always keep eggs in your fridge and whole meal bread in your freezer you can whip up an omelette on toast. Or choose some of the better ready-made meals that keeps well in the fridge or freezer such as the quality chilled soups or pasta sauces now available in the shops.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of “The Diet Exit Plan”, an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report “How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn’t want you to know” at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

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