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Diet success takes brains not brawn
Think and plan. Don't go right on a diet. That's not procrastinating. It's just smart.
Date: 9/23/2006 2:04:37 PM ( 18 y ) ... viewed 2771 times Well, we're back, and we're here with some new ideas for staying on a diet.
In our last post we talked a little about the fact that the old tried and true willpower thing isn't a good way to go when dieting. We started talking about the benefits of having real skills. You know, once you are really skilled at something, it makes that something a lot easier. Willpower is a strain on you, especially if it's your own willpower we're talking about here. You probably use willpower to carry the day when you don't have all the skills at your disposal to do what you have to do. Okay, enough already you're probably thinking. Skill, will, schmill. Move on. And so we will.
Moving on then to remind you that in our first post, called "What does it take for a woman to stay on her diet?" (also on CureZone.com), we talked about a food plan being a good guide, repeated tries at dieting being almost a necessity, and at least a little on how to work with 'cheats'.
This time we want to pick up on the value to you of thinking and planning rather than just going right on a diet. Here's what we have in mind. It comes time for you to do something about all the extra weight you're carrying around. You've been putting it off and putting it off; no time to do it, no desire to do it, no will to do it, no chance to do it. Everything got in the way. Now you're ready and you don't want anything to deter you. So you ask a friend, hear a commercial, read about, go looking for the diet that's the latest and the greatest, or else a diet that is you. And guess what. You're ready to jump right in. DON'T YOU DO IT!
Why shouldn't you go ahead and get started, at least tomorrow if not today? What we are saying to you is don't even get started tomorrow. It's not a good idea. You have to think and plan first. Okay...what's this thinking and planning business? Well, it's only the heart and soul of every diet, believe it or not. Thinking and planning make the difference between just going on a diet (because now you're much 'readier' and your no longer procrastinating) and being able to stay on your diet because you're well prepared.
What do you have to think about and plan for? You have to think about and plan for how you're going to diet. Doesn't the food plan and the diet you've chosen do that for you, you ask. Frankly, no food plans, even the best of them, can do your thinking for you. You have to do that.
Enough prelude. Here's the real skinny on thinking. What's made you fall off other diets you've been on? Do you think about that? You've got to. Otherwise, what you did before you will certainly do again. Planning: You can even plan to do things differently. The best planning comes from being very specific. It goes like this. I always cheat at night. Too many of these nightly cheats and I'm off my diet for good. Here's where thinking and planning come in. Once you realize this about yourself, you can plan for what to do.
Remember, the more specific the plan the better. A more specific plan takes account of all the elements involved in your cheat. It was nighttime. I snuck out of bed and went right to the refrigerator. It was something sweet I was after. Some nights I'm okay. Others, I'm not. What makes these other nights like this? I know, I feel lonely. (You can even thing more about feeling lonely.) Why do I feel lonely on some nights and not others. I know...it's when I have a bad day at work. These are days when I feel insecure about myself. I hate that. I try to put it away, out of my mind, out of my life entirely. I don't tell anyone. I feel I can't even tell my husband who's in bed right next to me. I feel so lonely with it. Then what? I'm haunted by my loneliness late at night. That's when I go for the sweets.
Thinking about all of these cheat elements, really thinking hard and well about them, puts you right on the threshold of the planning stage. You can plan what to do about the cheat more accurately when you know what the cheat is all about, well maybe not what it's ALL about, that'll come with practice. Anyway, what would you plan to do to assuage your loneliness? You could certainly make a plan to take care of your lonely feelings more directly than noshing on a piece of cake. You could also make a plan to prevent those lonely feelings from overtaking you and spiriting you down the road to 'cheatdom'. Remember, that your lonely feelings were the result of your own insecurities, insecurities that occurred at work. So, here's the plan. If I feel insecure at work, I should notice it and tackle it directly. If I do this, I won't feel lonely later that night, and then I won't have to displace these uncomfortable feelings into a trip to the refrigerator for comfort food.
Got the idea? Let us know what you think of all of this. This is our way of approaching dieting. This is a way to diet for the thinking woman. We still take the position after all that most of dieting is mental.
Stay tuned for the next installment. Thanks for listening.
Julie & Ken
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