Why I Wrote the Book

I've been asked why I wrote my book Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management. I spent over 20 years studying and treating eating disorders. I saw many women completely recover from their eating disorder and go on to be normal eating individuals. I realized for some time that, in our day and age, it's not just people with diagnosable eating disorders that are preoccupied with weight, size and appearance; that have unrealistic body images; that have mistaken ideas about what is the best way to be fit and lean; and that are obsessed with dieting. If my methods had been so successful with the extremes of eating disorders, they could be doing some good to the average person out there. As a psychologist, I knew how the human mind thinks and I understood that the typical diets that people are expected to follow are incompatible with the way people think, resulting in failure time after time. I wanted, not only to help people realize that their failures at dieting were not their fault, but rather the fault of the methods used which make the mind resist. I also wanted to show people how to easily set things up so that their efforts to manage their weight would not be resisted by their brain. Instead, the brain would be their ally and help them succeed finally.

My second goal was to write a book which would be concise-explain complicated concepts in simple ways. I wanted a book that someone could read in a day but that would contain all the information someone would need to be successful at managing their weight for a lifetime. From the feedback I'm getting, I may have accomplished my goal.

Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management

Check out the website:

www.fatmatters.com

Holiday Challenge

When working with someone with an eating disorder or weight issues during the holidays I would often give my patient a challenge. "For the first time, in a long time, put weight at the bottom of your list of priorities for the holidays." By this, I mean make each decision during the holidays based on what will make the holidays most enjoyable rather than things that will produce stress such as being harried, worrying about appearance and weight, and having things go perfectly. The objective should be to be calm, relaxed and have a good time. Just try it during the holidays. Take everything one step-at-a-time. Forget about how you think others go about their holidays-what would make you savor yours better?

The interesting thing about the challenge has been that the people that take it find out that things don't get as out of control as they expected with weight, eating or anything else.

I got into a habit many years ago of asking myself as each holiday season approaches, "What can I do this year to make these holidays less stressful?" I've tried many things during the years which I have incorporated year after year. The holidays have become so much more enjoyable that it has become harder to find more things that will make them better.

Try it, you'll like it.

Holiday Resolutions

It's almost that time of the year again when people think they should set New Year's resolutions. Somehow we've been led to believe that if we set resolutions, that will be enough to effect change. The most common resolutions have to do with losing weight. Almost all these resolutions are never realized. At best, a few people may start a diet only to drop it at some point and end up making the same resolution the following year.

It's time to face the facts. Weight loss resolutions don't work. If you wish to lose weight, it would work better to make resolutions that:

1. aren't specifically about losing weight.

2. have to do with other behaviors that will lead to losing fat such as becoming more active, eating more nutritious food, going out to eat less, taking more time to relax, thinking more positively, and being more self-accepting.

3. are based on gradual, small changes in these behaviors. People are more successful making behavior changes when they focus on small, rather than big, steps.

So, don't continue to do something that has never worked-it's time to take a different road to get to where you want to be.

The Holidays

Many people approach the holidays with dread for many reasons but particularly when it comes to issues of eating and weight. The holidays are supposed to be joyous and should be enjoyed. The least enjoyable way to approach the holidays is with stress and fear-fear that you'll eat too much or gain weight. It just so happens that the more uptight you are, the more likely that you will eat more than you intend. Relax, don't expect perfection and don't beat yourself up if you eat more than you wanted. You will finish the holidays the best way possible if you do the following:

• Relax and focus on enjoying and savoring the experience.



• Be physically active each day in some way. Walk, jog, play tennis, go up and down the steps-just move.



• Don't skip meals-it will only make you hungrier and less able to control your eating later. Besides eating more often increases your metabolism which will burn more of the calories you eat.



• Focus on eating nutritiously during the day when not at parties or events so that your brain won't be urging you to eat as much. Yes, the brain gives us signals when we are lacking in some nutrition but we don't always interpret them right.



• Don't arrive at an event hungry. If you must, eat before the event so you're not hungry and will be more naturally in control.



• Don't set unrealistic goals during the holidays ("I'm not eating anything at the party." "I'm only going to eat one meal a day during the holidays." "I'm not having any sweets."). Keep your goals small, realistic and focused more on activity level, nutrition, and not letting yourself go hungry, rather than on actual weight. You will be more successful.



• Finally, don't feel guilty. Managing a lean and healthy weight should be a lifetime issue not one just for the holidays. If you really want to keep struggling with weight and food all your life just get uptight about it, set unrealistic goals, be sedentary, and beat yourself up about it.

New Book Available!

My new book, Mind Over Fat Matters: Conquering Psychological Barriers to Weight Management, is now available for sale. Just check out the website for more information: http://www.fatmatters.com/

Who are the experts on how to be thin?

You know those people who have always been thin and have never gone a diet? They are out there and nobody seems to notice them other than on the occasional time when someone says they hate someone because they can eat what they want but don't get fat. We notice overweight people more and, who do we usually talk to about dieting and food? It's those people who diet and have problems with their weight. These people are constantly sharing dieting information, as well as what they consider to be their successes and failures, as if the person they are talking to is the expert on losing weight.

Little do they know that it's those people who have always been thin and never diet that are the experts on being thin. Why is that, you may ask? Well, if you just look at the facts, it becomes clear. Dieters go on diet after diet, lose weight, only to regain it and go on another diet. Whatever the thin person is doing is keeping them thin. So instead of talking to the dieter, we should be talking to chronically thin people and picking their brain about what they do.

I've done just that for over 30 years since I started studying and researching the area of weight management, fitness, obesity and eating disorders. If you take this information and compare it to what science has discovered about how the body gains and loses fat, it all becomes clear as day. Stay tuned and I'll show you.

Why Dont' Diets Work?

This is a question that will take several entries to answer. For a diet to work it has to not only accomplish the goal of weight loss but the weight should not be regained. Most consider a diet to have been successful if the person has lost weight. Almost any diet will produce weight loss. But statistics have shown that over 90 percent of the people who go on diets regain their weight-with many of these regaining more weight than they lost. Is this success? If you've been on diet after diet, you have to consider that those diets didn't work. The marketplace would not be inundated with diets and diet products if diets worked. For some reason, the more unusual and illogical a diet is, the more people are attracted to it as the possible panacea. This is why each year at least one more fad diet or diet product comes out on the market. People tend to think, "Wow, this sounds easy and powerful. I haven't tried this before. How much? Where do I sign up?" It's a money maker, plain and simple. These companies aren't caring about helping you be successful with your weight. They make more money if you don't succeed because you'll continue to try their next expensive weight loss method. Have you ever noticed that diet ads for "quick weight loss" aids like pills say something like, "Along with diet and exercise....?" It's the diet and exercise part that really causes the weight loss. Why don't diets work? I'll tell you. (to be continued)

Why do most diets fail?

...because most diets are incompatible with how we, as humans, psychologically function best.

What is a diet?

A diet is any food plan which stipulates what foods you should and shouldn't eat and/or how much you should or shouldn't eat. Some diets give you menus to follow. Some tell you how to combine foods. Many list specific foods that are not allowed on the diet. Some will even tell you what time of the day is appropriate to eat certain foods. A diet typically has little to no flexibility.