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What is normal eating?
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Exercise just doesn't burn a lot of calories, and besides, it can make you hungrier. But there are other weight-loss benefits to exercise. We'll discuss just one here. Does depression get in the way of your motivation? Do you want to do everything you can to assist your weight loss? Exercise and activity can chase away depression! Think about it—it's hard to change any habits when you're depressed. People with years of weight loss struggle tend to suffer from bouts of depression. So do everything you can to chase away the depression!
Remember that Diet Survivors™ concentrate mainly on changing their habits of thinking and habits of self-talk. This kind of work, while not about willpower or deprivation, still requires motivation. Having a right attitude and a willingness to try are important ingredients.
Exercise is known to release a chemical in the brain called "serotonin." This chemical tends to improve your mood. Find an activity routine that you enjoy enough that you will be able to continue to do it even when you're a little depressed or under the weather. It will help you succeed in your weight loss!
Wearing clothes that fit is a technical change, and embracing your current size is more of an adaptive change.
Every time Janet wears her slightly too-tight jeans, it makes her aware of her weight. She doesn't realize it, but wearing them sometimes causes her undue stress. Wearing tight clothing even leads her to overeat to relieve the stress. Many chronic dieters have a vast selection of sizes in their closets most of which they never wear.
In a daily meditation book, one of the reflections reads, "Wear clothes that fit." Don't rational people wear clothes that fit? Resolve today to be kind to yourself. Try wearing only clothes that are roomy and comfortable. This takes the pressure off. Since you've been living with rules and edicts for too long, consider that it's high time you chose not to be constantly reminded of your weight. Wearing clothes that fit could be viewed as a technical change, so of course, the work doesn't stop there.
If you are making true, internal, adaptive change over time, then the weight will melt off, and you will know when to move into the next smaller size. Yes, it's true that you want to save money. But people don't need more than a few items in their wardrobe. So make sure that your closet has a few comfortable outfits for work, play, or whatever you need RIGHT NOW. Ignore the rest of the clothes, or hide them away somewhere.
Clothing communicates to other people who you are. But even more so, clothes communicate to ourselves. (And that includes you men.) If you are wearing uncomfortably tight clothes, what are you communicating to others and to yourself? That you are unacceptable as you are? That you aren't quite what you should be? What kind of self-talk are you identifying in this?
Consider replacing your self-talk about clothes to "I can look good in loose comfortable clothes right now. I am acceptable as I am. I'd like in the future to be thinner, and I am taking sober steps to get there."
Start thinking about your current weight in a new way. See if you can really shift the focus inward to your beliefs and self-talk. With newfound confidence in your shift toward the hunger and satiety lifestyle, you can dare to get comfortable with how you look right now, knowing that this will in no way stop you from losing weight.
If you need to make adjustments in your home or work environment in order to accommodate your excess weight, go ahead and make those changes. Remember to tell yourself that accommodating your current weight will in no way sabotage your weight loss. In fact, the self-acceptance required to make those changes will help you succeed in your weight loss.
So start thinking in terms of positive self-talk and self-acceptance exactly as you are. For many of you, it's possible that the weight loss will never be permanent until you make this adaptive change first. For some reason, doing this in reverse order doesn't work as well. That is, expecting that you'll love yourself more after you've lost the weight is like a chronic overspender thinking his troubles will be over after he wins the lottery.
The facts show otherwise. Overspenders who receive large windfalls usually end up misspending it, and in the end, they're back in debt. So start with self-acceptance. This idea is given some lip service in diet literature, but dieters tend to skip over this step. Consider it seriously. Even consider spending a month or two in the self-acceptance phase before even changing how you eat! That's how projects unfold—a step at a time.
Greetings from Linda Moran! As you might have noticed, this free monthly e-newsletter does not promote a diet, but it's not quite anti-diet either. It's about how we bow to diets and surrender our own judgment about appetite, fullness, and taste in the process.
I went on my first diet four years ago (after my fourth baby) and ended up with an eating disorder for a brief period of time, just long enough to open my eyes to the struggling world of diet addiction, binge eating, food love, stress eating, emotional eating, and compulsive exercise. It's not an easy world to live in. I did find an answer, and now am recovered.
As a result of this experience, I have written a book which has just been published and is available from the publisher or from Amazon.com. There's something for everyone in my book, How to Survive Your Diet and Conquer Your Food Issues Forever, which uses basic principles of cognitive therapy to help readers restore their own judgment, learn how to tune in to their bodies to eat the right amount without feeling deprived, and find alternatives for emotions and stress that really work!
If just one person is helped by my book, then I will feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do. But I know it will help many! If you like this newsletter, you will like the book. Do tell your friends about both.
Regards, Linda Moran
These Web pages provide sensible advice on healthy diets, nutrition, and weight loss. However, no advice given here is intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor when deciding to make significant dietary or lifestyle changes.
Direct all technical questions and comments about this site to webmaster
Last Modified: Wednesday, 06-Feb-2008 07:12:53 PST Betterway Press
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Exercise for fun
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Click on the book cover for ordering information. |
| Learn more about the book, How to Survive Your Diet, available now! Click on the book cover to order. |
| Diets often don't work. Find out what is normal eating? |
| What is cognitive therapy? Cognitive therapy is a way to help yourself live a more rational, peaceful life, without having to delve into your past. Find out more about cognitive therapy. |
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What are technical and adaptive changes? These are two different approaches to bringing about improvement in your life. Many dieters mistakenly make technical changes, when they really need to make adaptive changes. Find out more about technical and adaptive change. |
| View back issues of this newsletter. See a list that links to every issue. Don't forget—these newsletters are printer-friendly! |
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| View further studies that support our principles of normal eating. |
| In our upcoming September newsletter, find out how you can solve your problems and reach your goals without delving into all your emotional "issues." Instead, learn how to apply your intellect to chase these annoyances away! |
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Order How to Survive Your Diet and Conquer Your Food Issues Forever by Linda Moran. Find out more about this book for dieters. 5.25" x 8.25" quality paperback 150 pages Index ISBN: 0-9749396-0-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2004092105 $14.95 |