Get it? Got it. Good!

Changing the way you eat can help you eat less and not feel deprived.

It takes 15 minutes for your brain to get the message you have food in your stomach. Eating slowly will help you feel satisfied when you've eaten the right amount of food for you. You will feel full sooner and therefore eat less.

Here are some tips:
Chew each mouthful 20-30 times. This takes time and allows you to savor each bite.

Using smaller plates helps to moderate portions so they don't appear too small. Use your salad plates or even purchase a beautiful, playful or extravagant small plate just for you.

Serving food from the kitchen instead of at the table can help you be less tempted to eat more.

Drinking at least eight glasses of water type beverages each day will help you feel full, possibly eat less and benefit you in other ways. I love tea. There are so many wonderful flavors. You'd be surprised.

Instead of food snacks, chew gum. It gives you a nice taste, freshens your breath, and it's always fun to blow bubbles!

Pouring food from large packages into smaller ones and keeping them slightly further out of reach can prevent overeating. Consider single serving sizes.

Find foods and snacks with lots of items per serving. One serving of Hershey's chocolate chips = 30 chips vs. 3 Hershey's Kisses, or my favorite, 2 pieces of Licorice and if you let it get hard it takes even longer to eat! All for just about the same amount of calories.

It's all about retraining your mind and your body. We can do anything we put our minds to!

Think Thin

Losing weight is the easy part. Keeping it off is where the real challenge begins.
You're off the "diet", you're starting to splurge again. Your new found, regular exercise routine is still going strong so you're feeling pretty good. Then it's Thanksgiving and Christmas and work/life gets crazy and two months of holiday eating, stress and little exercise and you've gained 10 lbs. How do you prevent this?

In addition to diet and exercise, behavioral changes need to be made. You need to "Think Thin". Or in Star Wars terms, "Use The Force". Techniques such as problem solving, involving social support, goal setting and stimulus control are essential tools for weight loss and especially maintenance.

We all encounter problems in our lives. Situations that prevent us from living our lives the way we want to. Navigating through these periods with foresight and a plan can bring you through less weathered and weary. Consider of list of possible barriers or set backs. Think of a few ways to address these.

Social support - gotcha covered. That's what this blog is for. Feel free to expand your network as far as you need. I'm not the jealous type.

We talked about goals. Knowing where you're going and how far you've come.

Avoid a chain reaction. Learn what social or environmental cues encourage undesirable eating or health decisions. If you know what triggers your backslides you can do several things. Separate the association of eating from the cue. (ie...Eating in front of the TV). Avoid or eliminate the cue. (Don't buy problem foods, or buy them but put them out of reach.) Changing the environment can also be helpful. (Get together with friends for mini-golf instead of the bar or BBQ.)
Triggers and consequences: 80% of our behavior is controlled by consequences which either strengthen or weaken behavior. Retrain your self to think and act in the positive. Your new behaviors will change your frame of reference and encourage new or forgotten strengths and abilities.

Another important component of weight loss is self-monitoring of eating and exercise behaviors. There is consistent evidence that individuals who self-monitor these behaviors are more successful at weight loss than those who are inconsistent with self-monitoring. Write it down. You can be as vague or precise as you want.

When you "Think Thin" you change the behaviors that are keeping you "fat" and start to live the new lifestyle you have chosen for yourself. There is life after a diet!

Stages of Change

Research has shown changes in our behavior follows a set path. There are 5 stages of readiness.
Precontemplation (I won't or I can't in the next 6 months.)
Contemplation (I may in the next 6 months)
Preparation (I will in the next month)
Action (I am doing it now)
Maintenance (I've been doing it for the last 6 months)

The following is a short quiz used by WellCoaches to determine how ready you are to change a behavior. With regards to eating you are most likely in the action phase, but be as specific as possible. Our up-coming topic will be physical activity. Think about your answers for both topics, or any other changes you'd like to make.

1. The goal or behavior I want to work on is:
(Goals should be S.M.A.R.T. = Specific, Measurable, Active, Reasonable and Tangible.)
Lets start with 3 month goals. In 3 months I will....

2. My reason for wanting to accomplish this goal/change this behavior are:

3. The obstacles standing in the way of my goal/changing this behavior are:

4. The efforts I made toward my goal/changing this behavior in the last week are:

5. My goal for next week with respect to this goal/behavior is:
(The big picture is scoring a run, each week we get closer to first, second, third and home base)

6. My readiness to change to reach this goal/behavior is, I won't do it, I can't do it, I may do it, I will do it, I am doing it, I am still doing it.

Take some time to think about these. Only do it if you want to. I know its a lot to ask. I will be gone until next Tuesday, if you want to do it, have your answers by then. Also let me know if you would rather e-mail me. I do feel the comments can be helpful to everyone, but if you feel inhibited it's not worth it.

Four Letter Word

"D-I-E-T is a four letter word."

That being said. I don't care what method you choose to lose the weight. So far we have the South Beach Diet (SBD) and Weight Watchers (WW) Any other takers for another method?
(SBD reminds me of Beavis and Butt Head - "Pull my finger, Heh Heh!" MTV's site has some clips, I couldn't find one of them saying "Silent But Deadly", but this show still makes me laugh, such twisted humor.)

I am personally all for this natural supplement called FucoThin. My hubby took it for two months and did lose weight. He travels for work and we didn't address the other issues, but only taking this and doing nothing else he lost 8lbs.

I haven't tried this, but did the research on their website. (As long as you can over look the fact that they used the same people with different names and locations. ) IntelliTrim They will pay you $10 for every lb. you lose. The product is $40/month plus shipping. Cheaper for a 6 month supply up front. So essentially you pay them then they pay you back. One of their other supplements was recommended by a Cardiologist (browse his blog sometime) I have worked with and really respect, and all their products are pharmaceutical grade, which means what they say is in there is in there. The main ingredient is CLA which is also beneficial for Heart Disease prevention. (Ahem, Homecky).

There are many ways to lose weight. You might agree it's actually quite easy. Keeping it off is the hard part. What ever you do, be sure you can make changes that are permanent. This takes time. I hope through all this we will find those things that need changing and change them for good. Who's with me?!