Stop Dieting, Change Your Habits Instead

At 5'3", 108 pounds, most women automatically assume I don't have to watch my weight.  Internally, they believe I can eat whatever I want, and I will still be small.  While I do naturally have a small frame, nothing could be further than the truth.  The truth is that I work hard at maintaining my health and my body.  I like food just as much as the next person, and I have a terrible sweet tooth!!  Some days I don't feel like exercising; it's just another boring monotonous routine to go through.

I have a handful of clients that want to lose weight, and so the conversation normally centers around dieting.  Personally, I do not believe in diets.  Although some women have had success with them, I think it is much easier to change your lifestyle habits instead.  Diets, depending on the one you're on, make a woman feel deprived.  While everyone else around her is enjoying good food, she feels left out and unable to enjoy the wonderful tastes and smells of delicious food.  Typically what happens is, after too much deprivation, she caves in and "blows her diet".  The guilt sets in, and the cycle begins.

So how do we lose weight or maintain our weight if we don't diet?  Start working on changing your habits a little bit at a time.  Don't try to make drastic changes all at once because that rarely works.  Pick one small habit you can develop and work on that for 21 days - that's how long it takes to adopt a new habit.  So here are some small habits you can begin implementing today.

1. Cut your portions in half.  Eat a half a sandwich, or half the mashed potatoes.
2. Don't skip the dessert.  Pick small, lower calorie desserts like fudgsicles, 3 or 4 hershey's kisses, or 5 or 6 vanilla wafers.  (Ladies, we can't give up chocolate)
3. Pick lower fat and healthier foods.  Try ground turkey instead of ground beef, or 2% cheese, instead of full fat cheese.
4. Don't eat past 6:00 PM.  Prepare and eat dinners earlier.
5. After dinner, brush your teeth so you're not tempted to eat again.
6. If you dine out and have a big meal, eat only 2 meals that day.
7. Instead of being bored with exercise, pick something fun that exercises your body.  That's what I did when I joined Tae Kwon Do.
8. Start a walk and talk club with your friends.  You'll be so busy enjoying good conversation with your friends, you won't even know you're walking and exercising your body.
9. Don't like eating a bunch of plain fruit?  Throw the fruit into a blender with yogurt or soy protein powder and make a delicious smoothie.  I've had fruits I would never eat if I didn't blend them up.
10. Avoid high calorie drinks like juice, wine, beer and soda pop.  Stick to low calorie options instead.

Okay, pick a habit from these ten, or create one on your own.  Tell me.  What are you going to work on?

I am no expert on weight loss or anything else that pertains to nutrition, but Dr. Roger Gould, founder of the Shrink Yourself program is.  If emotional eating, binge eating or yo-yo diets have been a problem for you, it's worth it to check out his website.