by Carol Wise

Created on: August 13, 2009

After years of yo-yo dieting, it may seem to many that it is, indeed impossible to lose weight for life. Although we have from time to time encountered those who do manage to keep the weight off. It can appear to be a rare and difficult thing to accomplish.

I desperately want to believe it is possible and after over 40 years of yo-yo dieting, I think I have stumbled on a few key factors in having success in losing and keeping weight off for life. It isn't necessarily as easy as it might sound and I can't be sure that I have found all my answers, but hope can be a very powerful and driving force in any goal that we have.

First, I believe that we need to stop dieting. Diets can be extremely restrictive, harsh and unhealthy. They also tend to be thought of as temporary, a short term fix to a long term problem. Each new diet promises quick losses. As we have learned quick doesn't equate to permanent and the weight often returns much quicker then it was lost. In my experience along with addition weight, compounding my weight problems and constantly making it seem hopeless to diet.

Long before I decided I had to tackle my weight, once more, this time for life, I swore I would never diet again. Which of course leads to the question, just how will you lose weight if not via dieting? I decided I would have to change the way I ate and eat healthier foods. This conclusion was not arrived at quickly, I gave it a great deal of thought. I could not afford to fail. I had to look at many things and look at them honestly. What time of day did I tend to eat? When did I eat the heaviest? What types of food was I eating? Did I enjoy and taste my food? How often did I eat when I was not hungry but rather bored or trying to cope with emotions? What drove me to food? Why had diets failed in the past? Once I had some of the answers, I had to consider what changes I could make and live with.

I wasn't going to make any food taboo, to me this just increases its desirability and really who is never going to indulge in an item they enjoy? I also had no desire to starve. I have spent far too much time feeling hungry and obsessing on food. I had to re-learn how to eat, change how I looked at food, and think about what I was eating.

I began with small changes and the conscious thought that I wanted to eat healthier. I had many bad habits, in fact I still do but I am constantly looking to make small changes and improve my habits slowly. I never was hungry in the morning and would often

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>