Losing weight is big business isn’t it? I watched a Channel 4 series called Eat Well, which hooked people up with different diets to help them to lose weight. These diets varied from a two week quick fix to a four months regime. Nearly all of them had a gimmick; such as the grapefruit diet, which tells you to eat a grapefruit before you eat your meals. I actually tried this diet many years ago at a time when I didn't like grapefruits but it's amazing what you can learn to love! Unfortunately - it didn't work! Another diet suggested was where you have to drink coffee before your meal. This was a none starter for me as I have tried on many occasions to drink coffee but I just can't get to like it. There was one where you drank vinegar. Ugh! I'm sorry no matter what I weighed I couldn't do this one! And one where you could only eat at certain times of the day. They had obviously done the research and there was a doctor, a dietician and a cook to help the volunteers. However what was interesting was the small print for many of these diets. This told them to cut down the calorie content of their food intake, to stop eating processed food and to eat more fruit and vegetables! I mean it is not rocket science to predict that you would lose weight this way even without the gimmicks! One diet was called the fast food diet, which again said that you could eat only fast food or processed food. That’s right- you were allowed to eat fast food every day and processed food to your heart's content or should that be your stomach’s content? The man who tried this diet did actually lose weight! However again there was the hidden agenda. The instructions told him to cut down the number of calories he could eat each day. Cutting down calories is a traditional and successful way to lose weight, so too are eating smaller portions and cutting out snacks, which were all suggested. I have spent a great deal of my life on a diet of some kind. I have tried gimmicky ones or the newest one that is out. I have tried meal replacements and still remember the horrific one where I had to eat nine (yes you read that correctly!) nine hard boiled eggs on the first day and then cut down to three a day for the duration of the diet. To say that I was egg bound was an understatement!! I found the F-plan diet and attending weight watchers to be helpful in my quest to lose weight but through all of these, I have discovered that the true way to lose weight all starts in the mind – yeah that’s right in the mind. You see, losing weight is hard! You need to be strong willed, have determination and be consistent; so your brain has to be agreeable. Once it is then you can start. Once my brain is engaged I have found that I CAN say no to temptations. I CAN eat smaller portions I CAN pile on the vegetables and even try new ones that I haven’t eaten before, as well as including more fruit in my meal options. I have bought smaller dinner plates so that the food portion looks bigger but have yet to try the red plate idea, which is one of the newest fads on offer. With my brain in gear the stones and lbs (sorry I’m showing my age) have fallen off and up to now I have lost just under 2 stones. I feel so much better, I have dropped down two dress sizes! Adding a regular amount of exercise into the equation has also been a successful way to keep those extra pounds from creeping back on! Remember dieting is hard! But if you eat less and more healthily, as well as consistently you can do it! Thought for the day: Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose!
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