six steps to being the size you want to be!

Are you tired of traditional dieting?  Maybe, maybe not.  It does work.
But it does seem like work.  Have you seen Jillian and the contestants on
The Biggest Loser?  She does motivate people to lose weight, but
where is the joy and the freedom?  And what happens to those people
when the diet is over?  Are they secretly plotting revenge and planning
on eating all of the forbidden foods again?  Even Valerie Bertinelli, who
is adorable and still looks good after Jenny Craig-ing it, is starting to fill
out a little.  Who can maintain counting calories or eating only packaged
food in a world where good food is so prevalent and junk food even more
so?
If you are looking for a saner, more livable solution to eating the foods
you love and fitting into your favorite clothes, then you are at the right
place at exactly the right time.  Look  no more.  Relax and allow yourself
to make a few small changes in your approach to food and not only will
your favorite jeans fit, but you will have made peace with a huge part of
your life, because we do have to eat to live!  But I think it is more fun to
find a way to live to eat!
First, you must let go of the solutions (diets) that worked in the past.
It is always tempting to harken back to past soutions to present problems,
but if you are finding yourself  repeating the same problem, now is the time
for a new and permanent solution.  The operative word is NOW.  Make
the commitment to start today, especially when it comes to changing
eating habits.  Don’t make the mistake of procrastinating and eating all
the forbidden foods today and gaining a pound or two, because I guarantee
you won’t feel any more motivated to start tomorrow.  You will only feel
worse about the situation because you will be and feel heavier.  The goal is
to be and feel lighter, so let’s get started now.  The nice thing about this
plan is that there are NO forbidden foods.  How exciting is that?
Enough rambling – let’s get started!

1.  Throw away your bathroom scales!  Yes, I am giving you permission
to toss them out the door or window, or better yet give them away.  Stop
measuring yourself, stop measuring your food and just start eating the
foods you love in a way that makes you feel in control.  I will get to the how,
don’t worry.

2.  Pick a pair of your favorite jeans or pants and use them as your guide to
becoming the size you want to be.  Now instead of weighing yourself, try on
the jeans and if they fit and they are the size you desire to be, you are eating
in balance.  Just keep doing what you are doing and remember to try on those
jeans every couple of days or so to let you know if you are on the right eating
path!
If your jeans are snug or you can’t even pull them over your ankles, don’t
despair.  There is hope and it starts right at this moment!  You are going to
make a shift in the way you eat.  You will not deny yourself any of your
favorite foods, so don’t make a mad dash to the pantry and start getting in
a last minute “before the diet begins” snack fix.  You won’t enjoy what you
are eating and then you will feel guilty and heavy and the negative cycle
begins again.  Instead, make a firm commitment to not put anything in
your mouth outside of a “meal”, which leads to step 3.  Make a “pact” with
yourself to stop eating out of the pantry.  We’ve all done it or do it, so no
need to be hard on yourself, just gradually stop going to the pantry and
grabbing the chips or cookies and eating while standing.  It just does not
seem to register in your brain that you have eaten something if you stand
and eat.  If you are having a hard time breaking the snacking habit, have
a certain time each day, say in the afternoon where you go to the fridge and
pull out a bowl of fresh cherries or a box of raspberries or even do the vegetable
thing and sit down to a huge bowl of raw carrots, celery, broccoli, cherry tomatoes
and have a field day, eat as much as you want.  This will actually be very good for
you as we need the vitamins, minerals, and fiber, and the caloric content will
low.  So, make a date with yourself everyday and eat the fruits and vegetables,
but make sure to gradually shift from eating out of the fridge to sitting at the table
or at least sitting down with a plate or bowl instead of a sack! 

3.  Begin right now planning in your mind what you would like to eat at
your next meal.  Don’t go with the “shoulds”!  Think of what sounds really
good to you and find a way to prepare it, purchase it, or even more fun
go out and eat it!  I tend to do all three in the course of a week.  I love to
cook and go out to eat, but there are many good choices of prepared foods
at the grocery these days, so don’t waste time if cooking is not your thing.
But do think about what you would like and go to the store and buy it and
leave off all of the extras.  You will notice that your budget will be streamlined
as well when you buy only what you need, then use what you buy!
Now, once you have decided what you are going to eat, plan on eating a
whole portion, that is, prepare your plate with a generous serving and do
eat the whole thing!  This is very OK to do.  You will feel a sense of wholeness
as well as fullness.  Enjoy every bite.  Clean your plate.  Then stop and put
a parenthesis,  if you will,  around your meal time.  If it was something you
enjoyed, then it will be even easier to wait until the next mealtime to eat
again.  However, if it was not as satisfying, do not keep eating, instead have
the mindset that “no worries, I will have exactly what I want at my next meal.”
You must commit to zipping your lips until the next meal.  Just stop eating,
and yes that quick little bite of chips or candy out of a candy dish does count.
You will be amazed to see what a difference it makes just to stop putting those
extra bites here and there in your mouth.  I almost think that if you just made
that one change and ate what you wanted at a mealtime, only, you would have
no problem fitting into your favorite jeans or any of your favorite clothes.
So remember to eat only at a mealtime!

4.  Eat only what you crave!  Do not waste calories on foods you do not want
or like.  I don’t mean to compromise your health by eating only potato chips
if that is the only food you like, but if you are craving a good bowl of pasta and
you are not fitting into your clothes, then eat the bowl of pasta, a good size bowl
and eat every bite!  But leave off the salad with the heavy dressing and the basket
of bread and butter!  The point is to satisfy your craving and leave off the “should”
food or the foods you won’t really miss.  If I go to my favorite sandwich place
because I am craving a “caprese” sandwich on good french bread and I am served
a bag of chips with it, then I eat the whole sandwich and leave off the chips
because they are just extra and I don’t mind leaving them off.  I would rather save
my calories for foods that I do want, such as having a piece of chocolate in the
evening!  It is really important that you feel satisfied with the food you eat or it
will lead to mindless snacking at some point in the day to try and fill that “hole”.

5.  Get moving!  This is essential to being the size you want to be.  Instead of
obsessing about a goal weight, pick the size you want to be and then start
moving.  Just go outside and walk if no other  form of movement comes to mind. 
Notice I did not say go to the gym, because I have seen people go to the gym and
not really move!  If you love going to the gym or at least don’t mind it, then by all
means go, but make sure to do something that gets you moving.  Lifting weights
is surely good for your muscles, but it doesn’t get you moving.  You need to feel
your energy moving, because any time we become stagnant, negative energy gets
invited into our lives.  So movement is not only good for our bodies it is supremely
good for keeping positive energy flowing in our lives!  And positive energy leads
to positive thoughts and feelings which “attract” all kinds of positive experiences.
And who does not want that?

6.  Finally to the last step which will lead you to being the size you desire and are
meant to be!  Keep the small changes you are making in your eating habits to
yourself!  This is an important step because in our enthusiasm for doing something
positive, we naturally want to share this with others and surprisingly our enthusiasm
might be met with a form of skepticism or criticism.  Yes, even from your best friend.
Not taking it personally needs to be your first response if this is your experience,
but you will find that keeping your small changes or big changes to yourself will
ensure that your success is not diluted or polluted! 
When you have made the positive changes an integral part of your being and daily
life, then and only then begin sharing with others how to eat and how to be!!!
Many wishes for your success and enjoyment of your new lifestyle!