Far too often a minor slip propels a dieter to misery. The guilt from a slip makes a person susceptible to more slips and can ultimately lead to loss of all control. This is a gloomy picture, but good news is around the corner! There are ways to turn the tables.

Maintenance of weight loss may be the greatest challenge facing a dieter. Losing weight is difficult enough, but keeping it off ranks up there in difficulty with winning a lottery and finding a compassionate auditor from the Internal Revenue Services. Most dieters have lost and regained weight many times, so something must be done to interrupt these cycles. The trick is to prevent slips from occurring and to respond constructively when they do occur.

Every dieter makes mistakes. Some bounce back and use the slip as a signal to increase control. It is common, however, for the slip to cause a negative emotional reaction […]

The principle of using alternative activities is simple. When you get the urge, do something else. If you use urges as a signal for positive activity, eating will become less rewarding and the old associations between urges and eating will diminish. When you see food, think about food or feel hungry because you are lonely, eating is simply a habit created by an association. Let’s make new associations.

When you recognize urges, think of an activity that is incompatible with eating. For instance, typing a letter and jumping rope are incompatible – both cannot be done at once unless you are “Rubber” man. If you were addicted to typing and agreed to jump rope each time you got the urge to type, the strength of your addiction would fade.

The same approach can work with eating. One cannot play the tuba and eat, so tuba practice would be a good alternative to eating. You might […]

Self-rewards come in all shapes, sizes and prices; from five-and-dime-store trinkets to ritzy luxuries. Match rewards to accomplishments; giving yourself free or inexpensive presents for small triumphs and more expensive items for major league victories. Equally important, keep the gifts coming to motivate success.

Start by listing 20 rewards – you will be amazed at how quickly the list grows. Or consider the following suggestions:

Small Change Rewards (to celebrate the small accomplishments in your life, such as getting your income taxes done on time or completing a course or having a good first week on your diet):

–          Meet a friend on a Saturday morning for a cappuccino

–          Sit somewhere quiet enough to hear the birds sing

–          Make a list of everything you have to do today and put it all off until tomorrow

–          Buy a plant for your bedside table

–          Wander through a field of wildflowers

–          […]

MY WORST ENEMY: THE SCALE

By Dr. Maurice Larocque, M.D.

Everyone carrying around a few extra pounds has the same uncompromising adversary: “THE SCALE”.

It seems harmless enough, lying there in the corner of the bathroom, but it’s always watchfully waiting. From the moment you wake up and jump (so to speak) out of bed, it’s ready to pounce. Once you have entered its force field, there’s no getting away; it keeps pulling at you until you finally break down and climb on. The verdict is swift and irrefutable: GUILTY!

No judicial system in any democracy would tolerate such a judgment with no chance of defence. Such judicial abuse cried out for an appeal to the human rights commission.

You’d gotten up in good spirits, now you’re down for the day. As you wash, you stare at your face; a mask of guilt stares back. You may never eat again. At the very […]