Weight Loss - It's in Your Head

When you truly consider the weight-loss process, the battle waged is mostly in your mind. “Should I eat the corn muffin with butter or would it be better for me to have margarine or better yet, have jelly? What am I doing eating this muffin anyway? It’s so caloric and filled with saturated fat. I’m such a pig. I have absolutely zero willpower.” It’s no wonder you’ll eat that muffin with the butter and slather jelly on top to quiet that negative self-talk.

What you need more than a diet is a way to shift those negative self-defeating thoughts to more adaptive, positive self-statements. As with most things worth doing, this requires a bit of practice. First, become aware when you’re using a negative statement, then determine what about that thought is faulty and finally, replace it with a self-defense response or coping thought. In the corn muffin example, instead of listening to “I’m such a pig” which clearly mislabels who you are, respond with “Pigs are animals and I am human. I don’t have to be perfect.”

Many people cannot change their eating habits until they change their thoughts about food, eating and drinking. By shedding “distorted” thoughts and replacing them with productive ones, eating habits can be changed. It is possible to rid yourself from many self-critical thoughts, but like any ingrained habit, it takes vigor and vigilance to change. Here are some other thinking distortions to challenge:

Shoulds. Should statements are more about other people’s values, not ones chosen by the person who wants to lose weight. Additionally, should statements reflect an attempt by the dieter to motivate herself without really believing in the value. Better to determine what works for you. “I will eat up to two Hershey kisses daily and thoroughly enjoy them.”

All-or-Nothing. This kind of reasoning is the foundation for perfectionism. An all-or-nothing individual views the world as black or white. Since there is no allowance for gray areas, the behavior is either perfect or a failure. “I’ve ruined my diet by eating all that pizza. I can’t stay on a diet and I’ll just always be fat.” Maybe the problem does not arise from the behavior… maybe the problem is with the diet that does not allow for pizza. “I do not want to give pizza up for the rest of my life, so what I need is a way to include pizza in my diet without feeling like a failure. Let me try having a salad (dressing on the side) before the pizza to take the edge off my hunger.”

Good Foods/ Bad Foods. If the truth be told, foods do not misbehave. Foods are not good or bad. While it is true that some foods have more nutrients or are more fiber-dense than others, all foods can be enjoyed. How we think about food colors what we eat and how much we eat. If a food is labeled as bad (such as fries), then for many individuals that food is taboo. When one eventually succumbs to eating the forbidden, French fries, bingeing may result. Rather than continue with dichotomous thinking of good food/bad food, shift to allow space for all foods you like without judgement. Instead of “I ate those fries which are so bad for me” to “I really enjoyed that small portion of fries. They really satisfied me.”

Body Distortions. Rather than dwelling on how fat or thin you think your body is, it is extremely helpful to view your body in terms of what it can do for you. For example, when you look in the mirror, instead of zooming in on your stomach which “looks five months pregnant, although your last baby was nine years ago” tell yourself “my body has given life” or “my body enables me to go where I want to and allows me to have fun.”

The conversations that are going on inside your head cannot be stopped. However, what you can do is to be aware of negative self-talk and understand that it has little to do with actual reality. When you believe this, you can respond to the critical voice with a more objective, coping thought. Although negative thoughts may not be stopped entirely, they can be quieted by listening to your compassionate, caring voice. In much the same way you would sympathize and listen to a close friend, listen to yourself. Be your own best friend and chances are you’ll have greater weight loss success.

Helene Haber

Holistic Nutrition Coach

Helene Haber, HHC is a board certified health counselor. She designs personalized wellness solutions for women of all ages looking to enhance their lives, get their bodies back in shape and their health back on track. Email: TopCatHelene@aol.com.

http://www.integrativenutrition.com/graduates/HHaber.aspx

The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman : Relief at last for PMS, mood swings, fatigue, hair loss, adult acne, unwanted hair, female pain, migraine, weight gain, ... all the problems of perimenopause

The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman : Relief at last for PMS, mood swings, fatigue, hair loss, adult acne, unwanted hair, female pain, migraine, weight gain, ... all the problems of perimenopause According to Geoffrey Redmond, M.D., a majority of the 42 million American women between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five suffer from vulnerability to their own hormones. Appearance, emotions -- and even sex drive -- may be affected. Symptoms include thinning hair, persistent acne, mood swings, low energy, loss of pleasure in sex, weight gain, irregular periods, and pain. While the media has emphasized the problems of menopause, Dr. Redmond explains that all too many women experience hormonal miseries even in their thirties. Lab tests are often normal because the problem is not the hormones themselves but how a woman's body reacts to them. Healthy, active women suddenly find that once quiescent hormones have taken over control of their lives. Because their problems are often dismissed as trivial, women who are hormonally vulnerable are frequently thwarted in their quest for help. Too often they are brushed off with remarks such as, "Your tests are normal; there's nothing wrong with you." This is tragic because, as Dr. Redmond demonstrates, hormonal balance can nearly always be restored with the treatments he details, which include individualized use of prescription medications, herbal supplements, lifestyle changes, and even spiritual practices. Many women have heard that testosterone can help sex drive, but most have not been warned about the damage that careless testosterone therapy can cause on skin and hair.

In this book, Dr. Redmond, an internationally recognized authority on testosterone in women, explains the only safe ways to use testosterone. With informative sidebars, quizzes, and personal stories of women who have overcome hormone vulnerability, this helpful book will empower you to find treatments for your hormone problems that are tailored to fit your own body, biochemistry, symptoms, and lifestyle.
Customer Review: every woman MUST read this book!!
Having read the book, Hormonally Vulnerable Women, and a number of other lesser, yet respected books, it quickly becomes clear who has the upper hand of insight and education when it comes to hair loss.

I met with Dr. Redmond, an endocrinologist, in NYC for my hair loss. I am glad that I did. He is easy to talk with, caring, concerned, responsive and dedicated to treating female
hair loss. I never once felt demeaned, ignored nor rushed. All of this counts to a great extent in todays world of medicine where the disease becomes the patient.

Not only was this my direct experience, I followed his plan and within a few short weeks my hair loss subsided.

For anyone who is unable to successfully treat their HL, has been to too many doctors to mention, spent countless dollars on topical treatments, tired out loved ones with constant complaining and is tired of the madness - you should buy this book!

Customer Review: A book that really gives good info about hormones
Dr. Redmond's book is one of the best I've read on the subject of women's hormones. Especially at menopause, women's hormones go haywire and cause all kinds of health problems. Dr. Redmond's knowledge gave me new resourses to try and I can't recommend this book enough for women going through the change and for all women who want to learn more about how they can help themselves feel better by understanding what their hormones are doing to them and why.

Eat to Live : The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss

Eat to Live : The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss When Mehmet Oz, Dean Ornish, or any of New York's leading doctors have a patient whose life depends on losing weight, they call on Joel Fuhrman, M.D. In EAT TO LIVE, Dr. Fuhrman offers his healthy, effective, and scientifically proven plan for shedding radical amounts of weight quickly, and keeping it off.Losing weight under Dr. Fuhrman's plan is not about will power, it is about knowledge. The key to this revolutionary diet is the idea of nutrient density, as expressed by the simple formula, Health = Nutrients/Calories. When the ratio of nutrients to calories is high, fat melts away and health is restored. Losing 20 pounds in two to three weeks is just the beginning. The more high-nutrient food Dr. Fuhrman's patients consume, the more they are satisfied with fewer calories, and the less they crave fat and high-calorie foods. Designed for people who must lose 50 pounds or more in a hurry, EAT TO LIVE works for every dieter, even those who want to lose as little as 10 pounds quickly. No willpower required-just knowledge!
Customer Review: Our responsability
As a nurse I had to take care of lots of clients that thought that their health was not their responsability. That is why they would end up in the hospital. This book brings back the word that most people don?t like to hear: responsability. You are responsable for your body, for your health, for your life and for your death. Don't think that lots of money will pay someone to do that for you. Every act brings a consequence. The wrong food that you put in your mouth today will be the pain you feel in your body in the future. The obesity hight rates in America just confirms that no food production factory, company or technology in this World is wiser than Nature about offering the best Nutrition.
This is the best book about Nutrition that I have ever read!
Customer Review: If This Is How I 'Eat To Live,' Then Kill Me Now
Weight loss is such a touchy subject in this country which is why we Americans think we need to try diet after diet thinking somehow we are missing something about health and nutrition. As obesity continues to grow into a bigger and bigger problem (quite literally, in fact!), we are being simultaneously inundated with books featuring diet programs designed to help shed the pounds.

Eat To Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman is another one of the thousands of weight loss plans out there on bookshelves today. But will it work for you?

As someone who has lost nearly 200 pounds, I understand the desperate feeling that people have when it comes to the idea of losing weight forever. You feel so hopeless and helpless thinking you will be stuck being fat for the rest of your life. It's a sickening feeling that can haunt you as you cry out for help in every direction to see if anyone will throw you a float to keep you from drowning in the sea of obesity. Is anyone listening?!?!

While I fully support the idea that people find a nutritional approach that works for them, apply it exactly as it is outlined by the author of that program, and then implement it for the rest of their lives, I cannot help but urge people to beware of the Eat To Live diet plan because it certainly doesn't seem to have your health in mind. After reading through this diet book, the only conclusion I can draw is that Dr. Fuhrman is yet another stealth vegetarian who is attempting to spread his anti-meat agenda to the whole world by disguising it as a healthy "nutrient-dense" way of eating. Don't you just wish people would be honest about what they are doing instead of resorting to such pretenses?

Don't get me wrong, you CAN probably lose weight by applying the principles of this book just like you will very likely lose weight on virtually any diet plan out there. But where the Eat To Live diet breaks down is the fact that it is just another one of those low-fat, low-calorie, portion-controlled diet that hasn't worked for so many of us already despite being highly recommended by our government and health officials for the past three decades! Why are they STILL promoting low-fat despite the fact that obesity is getting worse? That sounds like the classic definition of insanity if you ask me!

Dr. Fuhrman describes his Eat To Live principles as "revolutionary" because they will bring about "fast and sustained weight loss" to the tune of "20 lbs or more in 6 weeks." WOW, that's quite a claim. And I have no doubt that the weight loss can and will happen if people follow this low-fat, mostly vegetarian plan. But then what? How do you keep that weight off forever? Do you keep on eating rabbit food for the rest of your life? Is that what you want and expect from a healthy eating plan?

Well, not me! When I weighed over 400 pounds, I never really thought much about food except to stuff it in my mouth as fast as I could so the next bite of high-sugar, carb-loaded food would be able to get in there. It's pathetic to think about how I used to eat, but too many people have chosen to eat to pleasure themselves with food which leads to obesity, disease and even death. Thankfully I have now found a healthy eating approach that helped me lose weight, improve my health and avoid certain death. I most certainly eat to live a long and healthy life because I'm livin' la vida low-carb.

However, I'll give you just one guess to figure out which nutritional approach Dr. Fuhrman chooses to put in his crosshairs in his Eat To Livebook.

Low-fat? No.

Low-calorie? Nope.

Portion control? Uh uh.

The one diet plan that he describes as the "dangerous weight loss scheme" is none other than low-carb.

The Atkins diet, Zone diet, and Protein Power diet are all specifically named by Dr. Fuhrman in a chapter called "Are You Dying To Lose Weight?" In that chapter, he criticizes these programs as anti-establishment and giving people false hope about finding a way to lose weight because they include too many delicious foods containing higher amounts of fat than he would recommend. Awww, is somebody jealous that he can't eat this way, too? Poor baby!

Regarding the Atkins diet, Dr. Fuhrman claims it is leading to higher rates of cancer and other diseases despite the weight loss because followers avoid eating fruits and vegetables. Does this man even know what he's talking about? Apparently not since you get to eat LOTS of fruits and vegetables as well as other nutrient-dense foods on Atkins. What a dope!

Next he targets Dr. Barry Sears' The Zone diet calling it "the danger zone" because Dr. Fuhrman thinks Dr. Sears puts too much emphasis on how carbohydrates are leading to obesity rather than fat. In a word, Dr. Fuhrman -- WRONG! Americans ARE eating too many carbs in the form of sugar, white flour, processed foods, and starchy foods. This overconsumption of unhealthy foods is making obesity much worse than it needs to be and I think Dr. Sears has nailed this problem. Anyone who denies this obvious contributor to the obesity problem is apparently too blinded by their own agenda. Is that you, Dr. Fuhrman?

To his credit, Dr. Fuhrman also criticizes Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, and Jenny Craig for not being low enough in fat to make a real difference in weight loss although they offer smaller portions than what the Standard American Diet (SAD) entails. He said Americans have become way too accustomed to having the foods they want to eat and then still expect to lose weight. He describes this expectation as unreasonable and concluded that people should start eating more vegetables, beans and fresh fruits immediately while eliminating virtually everything else from their diet.

"Any other program is an insult to your intelligence," Dr. Fuhrman boasts.

Oh really! I think it is insulting to MY intelligence to have you lecture me about what is the right diet plan for me to follow, Dr. Fuhrman. I tried eating like you prescribed in Eat To Live and it just about drove me crazy in 1999. Sure, I lost weight and lots of it, too (170 pounds in fact!), but most people can only keep up that way of eating for just so long before they get so incredibly frustrated with it that they finally throw their hands up in the air and give up. I was too hungry, irritable, and experience such wild mood swings to notice I was skinnier. Hmmm, low-fat weight loss or sanity? I'll choose sanity!

That's why the low-carb lifestyle has been so effective for people like me who can't stand being hungry when we are losing weight like we did on those thousands of low-fat diets we have been on. Eating lots of healthy greens, fresh foods, antioxidant-rich berries, protein-packed nuts, and even delicious cuts of meat not only helps us with weight loss, but also keeps the weight off forever (2 years and counting for me!) while experiencing miraculous improvements in our health. Low-carb was a godsend to me and nobody will ever convince me otherwise.

Can Dr. Furhman's diet plan work for you? Perhaps. But if this was the way I would have to Eat To Live for the rest of my life, then I say kill me now to put me out of my misery! The good news is there are better ways than this.

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