Help with Losing Weight

Losing Weight without Losing Your Mind

Monday is the designated "DIET DAY" because Monday follows Sunday and Sunday is "eat every carb in the world" day. Since Monday promises such harsh extremes, Sunday calls for a "last supper", which is by definition a license to eat what ever you want with wreck-less abandon.

My idea of a perfect Sunday "last supper" is a large bowl of pasta with an entire Sara Lee frozen cheese cake, eaten in bed while watching "The Devil Wears Prada" (which I quickly mute when they say that size 8 is the new 14).

Suddenly, Monday is here and its time to buckle-down. The morning that I would typically begin with a croissant, coffee and good conversation is now starting in silence with oatmeal and a slice of banana both of which must be weighed to ensure proper portion control.

Monday night pulls around and I find myself breaking out a Tupper-wear container of sliced tomatoes at happy hour while all my friends down fried calamari with cilantro marinara. I think "Hey, no big deal, I get to put salt on my tomatoes, tomatoes are good, natures candy….". Everyone is having a great time, exchanging laughs & joked but between the sound of my obsessive thoughts and tomato chewing I've missed the joke. As if things couldn't get worse, the waiter brings out guacamole, its more than I can take and I snap, deciding that one more last supper wont hurt.

Sound familiar? When we set our sights on losing weight sometimes the overwhelming dos & don'ts, the eats & don't eats can be so blinding that we lose sight of our life.

It's important that the parameters of your chosen plan of be conducive to living, otherwise what's the point? There is a great quote from an old movie "How to Marry a Millionaire". I think Lauren Bacall said it: "Most women spend more time picking out a pair of shoes than they do a husband". Well, the same rings true for picking out a diet. If you're in shape but have sucked all the joy out of your life in the process of getting there, you will be one sad, lonely (but fit) pup.

So, before you get carried away with obsession, remember why you're doing this in the first place. What is the experience you hope to get from being fitter, thinner, stronger, toned or healthy? Get specific in your thoughts: Do you want to be able practice t-ball with your son? Wear a Brazilian bikini to the beach? Have sex with the lights on for once? Pinpointing this experience will help you maintain sight of the bigger picture and stay on track.