The Best Diet Is No Diet: How to Lose Weight Without Dieting

Diets are big business. Diet food is big business. Slimming products are big business. If we are going to talk about diets, you need to understand first and foremost that there is a ton of money to be made from the people who are desperate to lose weight and searching for answers. It is this very desperation which the makers of diets, knowledge and slimming products prey on.

In fact, the term "dieting" has become so distorted it's hardly recognisable from the very first patients in the 1800's whose doctors recommended dieting for the overweight condition they found themselves in.

If you have ever thought slimming products were the answer, you were being scammed. If you think the machines shown on infomercials are the answer, you are being scammed. If you think that counting calories is the answer, you are being scammed. If you think that deciding whether to spend your daily points on a slice of chocolate cake or a piece of lean sirloin is the key to losing weight successfully, you may just spend your entire life on earth being scammed.

How about the cookie diet? The cabbage soup diet? Fat free diets? Carb-free, protein free diets? How much longer will you allow them to scam you? The key to understanding what I am trying to say, is that you must never, ever believe that a diet program is going to change you, that it's going to change the way you relate to food. And this leads to the point of the article: the overweight problem is not about counting calories, or depriving yourself. The real problem is the way you relate to food.

Diet programs never seem to ever focus on this aspect; they only ever concentrate on what goes into your mouth. But if you have every been on a diet, you know that you may lose weight initially, but more often than not, all the weight you lost climbs right back on. Why? Because the root cause has not been addressed, and after a while, you fall off the wagon, put everything you lost back on, and most dieters have said they put on even more weight afterwards. This really should start telling you something. I am inclined to believe that most diet programs are designed to keep you coming back, or they are created by the 5% of the population who actually do manage to stick to a diet and lose the weight. It is these people who are able to give the raving testimonies of diet programs and slimming products. Do you believe me yet? For your sake, I sincerely hope so.

Let's get to the root of the overweight and obesity problem: if you are overweight, your lifestyle needs to change. The way you relate to food needs to change. You are relying on food to satisfy an emptiness inside you. Change the way you think about food, add some self-discipline to the mix and your life will forever be changed. You will lose weight without thinking about it. You will lose weight without feeling deprived. You will lose weight because you will eat less and exercise, and these two components are all you need to lose weight permanently.

I do however, understand that because it's a huge change, some guidance may be necessary:

1. As I have already mentioned, losing weight permanently is NOT about what you eat. It's about what's eating you.

2. To succeed, you must focus only on root causes, never on symptoms: why are you overweight in the first place?

3. Dieting does not work: clinical weight loss research has identified 12 specific things people do that have consistently been shown to lead to safe and lasting weight loss. Yet dieting is not even on the list! Nor are diet drugs, metabolizer pills, calorie counting, exercise machines, self-starvation, lo-cal foods, or weight reduction surgery.

4. Self-deprivation ALWAYS backfires.

5. Willpower has nothing to do with weight loss! Willpower is useless as a weight loss tool because it puts you at war with your own "hidden agenda," which is a product of unconscious motivations that mere willpower can never hope to control.

6. Food - any food - must stop being a reward or used for entertainment.

7. To succeed, you MUST involve your body, mind, and spirit: we are not just body, but body, mind, and spirit. As, alien as it may be to our thinking, the spiritual aspect of our existence is actually the most potent of the three, and the true source of our power to make change. Unless all three aspects of your being are involved and aligned toward your goal, lasting weight loss will almost certainly elude you. You need to seek God your Creator to help you, as He knows the true reason you are overweight and why you have not yet succeeded in achieving your goal. Those who neglect his vital step will more than likely find themselves forever searching for the "best diet".

8. The emptiness inside that you seek to fill with food, is actually a yearning for God. If you fill the emptiness with the things of God, you won't rely so much on food.

9. Set a realistic time frame: you didn't gain the weight overnight, and you can't healthfully lose it that way, either.

10. Become self-disciplined. This is probably the hardest step that needs to be conquered - how to dish up smaller portions, and exercising regularly.

11. The body needs exercise. If you don't exercise you may not lose weight at all.

For more guidance on losing weight without dieting, and to change the way you relate to food so that you can lose weight for good, please visit http://www.get-thin-for-good.com.

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How To Diet: Overcome The Freshman Fifteen

BySue Bristol

The term "freshman fifteen" is applied to the notion that first year college students often gain as much as 15 pounds of weight during their first year. Research studies have been in disagreement as to whether this is true or whether it is an "urban rumor".

While some study findings report that while the weight of some incoming students is the same by the end of their freshman year, others conclude that the freshman year "may" lead to weight and fat gain. Well, duh-uh!

Let's make two assumptions and reach our own conclusion:

1. You are a freshman college student.

2. You eat more food than you require for the healthy maintenance of your body.

Conclusion: You will gain weight.

There! We've done our own research study and have come to a valid and sure conclusion. The key as to whether or not you gain weight is dependent upon one factor...the number of calories you consume, and the number of calories your body uses.

Let's say you want to avoid weight gain. Here's what you do:

- Ask your doctor or the school nurse how many calories you should eat per day to maintain your health and weight.

He/she will most likely give you information regarding the USDA 2010 nutritional guidelines called "MyPlate".

- Follow those guidelines for your daily meal planning to ensure that your nutritional "foundation" is strong and that you are controlling the size of your portions.

- Don't skip meals. The temptation to binge at the next meal is hard to overcome.

- Eliminate, right now, all sugar-sweetened drinks: soda, iced tea, coffee, energy drinks. Drink water or skim milk.

- Sugar is lethal to weight control.One can of sugar-sweetened soda per day can indeed cause a 15 pound weight gain in one year.

- Don't eat while watching TV, using the computer, telephone, play station, or while studying.

This practice is referred to as "mindless" eating.

- When you eat, focus on the food...period.

- Don't eat unless you are truly engaged in the process of eating.

- When you snack, choose nutritious foods that are low in calories, fat (especially saturated fat), and sodium.

- Opt for fruit and vegetable chunks, a tablespoon of peanut butter on a couple of crackers, reduced fat cheese, yogurt, or nuts.

(Skip the banana Twinkies and Dwight Yoakam's Macaroni Mouth Poppers).

Above all, kids, do not obsess about your weight. For the rest of your life, weight will go up and down to one extent or another.

Your weight is not who you are. You are a valuable and loved person.

Focus on the things that are good about you...and there are many: a good student, a good friend, a hard worker, a special daughter, a considerate roommate, a friendly person with a good heart, a helper of those in need...or whatever.

The fact is, you are worthwhile and you need to learn to be your own best friend. Do what you can to manage your weight but don't throw yourself under the bus in the process.

You can beat the "Freshman 15".

Here's the "Secret Weight Loss Diet" that virtually EVERY successful dieter uses
(Whether or not they are even aware of it!)

"Click Here" to get your Free e-book, which will give you the "Weight Loss Secret"
http://www.how-to-loseweight-101.com/index1.html

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

How To Diet: Show How You Love Your Child

BySue Bristol

Our children, and their happiness and health, are typically very high in priority in our lives. We make the best choices in their behalf that we can. We think about how to approach the cost of the education, we take out life insurance for ourselves...just in case.

But it seems that when it comes to the principles of good nutrition, they're thrown under the bus right along with us. Why is that?

For the most part, the problem is that we don't know basic nutrition any better than they do. We can't teach what we don't know. So,they end up learning by example...our example, which is not always good.

So, what is a nutritional approach to weight management that we can institute for ourselves...and teach to our children? (Caveat: If you or your child is ill, always seek guidance from your doctor).

Let's look at some basics:

- Be up-front about the problem and the need to fix it. Explain to your children that faulty ways of eating have compromised all of your health and that life-long weight management is not an unreachable goal.

- Set the example for your family by modifying eating habits for yourself and for them. In other words, set your family on a new course.

- Reduce portion sizes! Statistics show that we are eating two, or even three, times the amount of food we should be eating.

- Lest you precipitate a riot, start by reducing serving sizes by a tablespoon (or more. for the heartier among you).

- Cut out all sugar-sweetened beverages. They are "empty calories"; that is, devoid of any nutritional value.

- Get rid of sugar-sweetened sodas, iced teas, punches, "health" drinks, coffees. (If they're not there, your kids can't drink them). We don't need extra sugar in our lives.

- Speaking of sugar... begin to read package labels. Avoid (or minimize) items that include sugar, especially as one of the first ingredients. (Some of the common sugars include: corn syrup, honey, lactose, fructose, cane sugar, molasses, malt syrup, dextran, dextrose.)

- And, speaking of labels, watch the fat. Multiply the total calories listed on the label by 25% (that would be 0.25). The answer will tell you the maximum amount of calories that should come from fat. (It will give a number which identifies "calories from fat").

- Check the label for serving size. The amount of calories listed are for what the manufacturer is calling a serving size. Don't assume the packaged cookie, if intended for one person, is indeed only 100 calories.

- Provide readily-available healthful snacks. Seldom do we, or our children, eat because we are legitimately hungry. We eat because "it's time to eat" or because we are accustomed to eating all the time.

- Have chunks of fruits and vegetables cleaned and ready to eat. If it's in front of them...they'll eat it (especially when they see there is no junk food anywhere to be found).

Let's teach our children to eat correctly.

Here's the "Secret Weight Loss Diet" that virtually EVERY successful dieter uses
(Whether or not they are even aware of it!)

"Click Here" to get your Free e-book, which will give you the "Weight Loss Secret"
http://www.how-to-loseweight-101.com/index1.html

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert