Lost on the Road to Permanent Weight Loss?

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When you are full, but you decide to eat one more fork full... you think, "how can that hurt?" Right?

When you are full and you decide that one more serving won't matter that much, you can always work it off later...

When you are full, and you have eaten more than you should, so you vow to not eat so much tomorrow to make up for it...

...When these thoughts automatically pop into your head you have a persistent weight problem.


It is not the food you put into your mouth that causes weight loss problems. It is the excuses you feed into your brain.

You look for justification to eat the way you do -- excuses you feed yourself, excuses you feed to others.

You could be looking for the opposite -- you could be finding reasons to turn away that extra fork of food. You could be firm and deny yourself that extra serving. You could really monitor yourself and not overeat.

But you don't. You remain overweight because you feed yourself a steady diet of excuses.

So, you have a choice, should you eat like you want and have excuses ready? Or should you lose weight and keep it off permanently? That is the stark reality you face to achieve permanent weight loss.

Food excuses are the daily diet that feeds you all day long.
They guide your day in the same way that you have a map in your head to get around the city. So, when that internal food-voice goes silent, you get lost. You don't know what to do. You don't know which way to turn, where to stop, where to go full speed ahead.

What are you supposed to tell yourself when there is silence in your mind? Do you know what to replace the excuses with? This is when it is crucial to know how to lose weight healthily.

Because if you are going to lose weight, and stop making excuses to yourself, you have to replace the excuses with weight loss ideas that work. Ideas that, when put into action, create the permanent weight loss you seek.

When you don't have accurate, science-based information about successful weight loss, you will lose less weight than you should. And you'll gain back the weight that you did lose, plus some.

Once you regain the weight you lost, you'll get discouraged, blame your weight regain on your shortcomings and failings. And because your weight loss efforts didn't work, you'll abandon them, and you'll go back to telling yourselves lies about why it is OK to eat more than you should,

But at least, you'll not be lost -- the internal food-voice will be back. You'll still have the long list of excuses to start using again. And you'll be firmly back on the road to weight gain.

Comforting. Right?

VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2009 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.

The Best Weight Loss Method for Holiday Overeating...

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Here is the best weight loss method for holiday overeating...

Everyone sort of goes off-diet during a holiday weekend, especially the 3-4 day long weekend type of holidays that pop-up too infrequently on the calendar.

Even when you are not on a "diet" diet, but just trying to eat sensibly, holidays are a huge invitation to allow a lot of off-menu foods onto your menu.

Do you know the #1 strategy used by most people to compensate for over-eating during the holidays?
-- Not eating breakfast, or skipping other meals in preparation for the holiday. Most people usually skip 2-3 meals during the holidays, or cut back on the appetizers. The idea is to "save" some calories now to make up for the extra ones you know you will be eating later.

-- Does it work? Nope. It just sets you up for binge eating later in the day, which adds a lot more calories to your body than the ones you "saved."

Want to know the #2 thing people do to handle the extra calories of the holidays?
-- Promising themselves they will skip some meals AFTER the holidays to make up for it.

--Does it work? Actually, these promises are almost always broken before they get started.

And the #3 thing people use to handle holiday culinary excesses:
-- Just eat whatever, and worry about it later.

-- Does it work? Can't really call this one a strategy, but a lot of people prefer it.

The only proven strategy to handle weight loss for holiday over-eating?
If you don't put it on you won't have to take it off.

OK, I know that was not what you were wanting or expecting. But, you know it is true.

Desiring, even planning to overeat, or eating the wrong foods during the holidays, is a great old cherished tradition. It is also one where a weekend can set back your weight loss goals for a month or more.

Let's say you were losing a healthy 2 pounds a week. If you are like most people, you'll gain 3-7 pounds over a 3-day weekend holiday.

Thus, you didn't get your 2 pounds of loss for the week, PLUS, you added 6 pounds. So, the total change in your weight is 2+6 = 8. You just set your weight loss back 8 pounds -- a month. Is 3 days of eating wrong really worth losing an entire month's worth of renewed weight loss efforts?

If you indulge in any form of the #1, #2, or #3 strategies for weight loss Or have your own special form of suspending sensibilities during a long holiday weekend, then you might want to consider a different approach...

Would you seriously consider changing your relationship to food?
Is overeating really a requirement to enjoy a great weekend?

Is eating the wrong foods worth the extra pain and renewed efforts it requires for true weight loss?

While holidays involve having fun with family and friends and having lots of new, luscious foods available, do you have to think in terms of "denial" when you see the vast buffet? Just because all that yummy food is calling out to you by name, and saying, "eat me, eat me, have an extra helping of me," doesn't mean you have to actually do it.

It is really possible to ignore all the loud voices clamoring for you to consume what you know you shouldn't.

Isn't it possible to take a small portion of each food you "really" want to try, and savor them in small quantities?

Isn't it possible think of the buffet spread as a chance to taste new and favorite foods, instead of an invitation to overeat?

You will feel great, and in control of your life, if at the end of the holiday weekend, you know you didn't gain anything. Or better yet, you lose 2 pounds. If you've never experienced that sense of weight loss victory, you're really missing something special. You will achieve a sense of personal satisfaction that can really rev up your weight loss motivation for weeks on end.

That result is the best win-win: Weight loss now, plus renewed weight loss motivation for the future. It is a real confidence builder. You really ought to try it.

Remember, the only proven strategy to handle weight loss for holiday over-eating?
If you don't put it on you won't have to take it off.


VP Programs Development, ScaleDown for Life
VP Education, GoZonkers Inc.
Founder, CelebrateLifeNutrition.com
Curb Your Appetite – Stop Your Cravings
©2009 Laura Gontchar. All Rights Reserved.