Do you Overeat or Over-Anything?

Whenever I think about dieting, I get all excited about trying something new and not extreme.  I hate "dieting" and I prefer just to eat healthy food without having to over-think it (calories, carbs, how often, how much, etc.)  That is why I love this scripture verse by Saint Paul so much - it is so sensible and true.


"Everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible for me - but I will not be mastered by anything."  1 Cor. 6:12

Are you mastered by sugar, chocolate, over-exercising, over-working, over-anything?  I try to remember this verse when I think I "have" to have what I crave, or what I "have" to do.  The fact is not everything is good for me.  And I don't want this craving to master me. Try meditating on this verse when you feel you have to go to the kitchen and get that late-night snack....or have to check your e:mail or be on the computer.

The Flat Belly Diet

As a life and wellness coach, I get all sorts of requests from people who want to lose weight about which diet works the best.  My answer is always, "The best diet is the one that works for you."  Different diets suit different personality types and different ways of learning. 

In her book, The Four Day Win, Martha Beck says that people have different needs for determining a diet/fitness program to follow, namely structure and information.  In Chapter 11 entitled "Eat Whatever the Hell You Want," she has a little quiz to find out which type you are (Apprentice, VIP, Scholar, or Explorer) and then gives some examples of diets that fit your type.  I happen to be an Explorer, low need for information or structure.  I recommend checking this out and finding out what type you most closely fit.

Anyway, I am reading Martha's book, but right now I feel I need a little extra boost to lose a few pounds, especially around my middle.  So I have turned to The Flat Belly Diet by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass and endorsed by Prevention magazine.  I have read about this diet many times in Prevention and it always appealed to me, because it allows natural peanut butter and other MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids-the-good for-you-fats, such as nuts, seeds, oils, avocados, olives and dark chocolate.)  But I never tried it.  But now seemed like a good time - it basically is a 1600 calorie Mediterranean diet, not hard to follow and since I started a few days ago, I haven't been hungry.  You can read about it here http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/flat-belly-diet.  I bought the book and the handy pocket guide.

Are You A Diet Survivor?

"If you have been on more than one diet, lost and regained the weight, and are becoming aware that the failure is not your fault, you are a diet survivor.  The term diet survivor encourages people to get off the diet roller coaster and get on the non-diet bandwagon of living fully and joyfully in one's body through the life-affirming action of feeding oneself based on internal cues of hunger and satiety."  from The Diet Survivor's Handbook, by Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel.

Check out this book - it will change the way you think about dieting.....

http://www.amazon.com/The-Diet-Survivors-Handbook-Acceptance/dp/1402205449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371169132&sr=8-1&keywords=the+diet+survivor%27s+handbook

The Prayer Diet by Matthew Anderson, D. Min.

I came across this little book that I had bought a while back and started reading it again.  It's not a religious book nor a preachy book, but one that makes a lot of sense to me.  No extreme food plans to remember.  Talks about the 4 essential factors of meaningful weight loss- one of which is not included in most diet books:  spirituality, mental and emotional issues, and the physical body.  The author put an article about this diet out on ediets.com years ago and had such a huge response that he turned it into a book.  Sensible, yet compelling.  Just a simple request for help.  He suggests praying this prayer 3 times a day before meals and more if you want.  Here is the prayer:

Dear LORD,
I surrender my body and my weight loss to you.
I ask that you remove all excess and unnecessary weight from my body.
Return my body to its most healthy and balanced state.
Give me eating habits that support my health and life energy.
And finally, teach me to love my body and to care for it from this day forth.  Amen.

Try it out and let me know what results you get.