The Slimming Pool: Dieting Myths & Scams Exposed

	Bits & Bites: News You Can Chew On
Weight Loss Newsletter & Daily Bites: Weight Loss Tips Using EFT & NLP

My Before/After Weight Loss Pictures

Learn EFT for Weight Loss

Fitness, Dieting,
Weight Loss Links

Archives:
January 2003
May 2003
June 2003
September 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007

The Slimming Pool, Weight Loss Blog - Atom Feed

Blogarama

The Slimming Pool Weight Loss Blog: Hey, I was Eating That!

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Eating What You Want

If you have a particular food craving, you should have that food. Not three other things to make the feeling go away, but that exact food. If you cannot have that exact food, then catalog it for later, and have something similar. For instance, if you want something crunchy and salty, is it the salt or the crunch, or both? Think about it. Would crunchy vegetables give you the same "mouth feel" or does it need to be salty? If what you want isn't readily available, can you go get some?

If you expect to only want what is "good for you" you're setting yourself up to fail. You'll obviously want other things. Just today I wanted nuts, badly. So I ate nuts, plenty of nuts. Handfuls of nuts. Far more than I'd normally eat if I were in my natural state but this was a craving, and sometimes a craving needs to be satisfied. So I visited the nut jar several times during the day. So how do I feel now? Great. Satisfied. Excellent. I ate the nuts, I'm happy.

Nuts to you. Give it a go and let me know what happens.

Posted by OneMoreBite-Weightloss on Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Monday, March 15, 2004

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

One issue that pops up time and again for my clients (and me too) is that of the "comfort zone." How many of you have once been at your goal weight but then found yourself slowly creeping back up? The odd thing about those situations is that you know what you are doing differently, perhaps not exercising consistently anymore, or starting to eat nighttime snacks more often, or ...?

Those little habits and patterns are persistent buggers and unless you keep at it, even though you think they are gone, they may come back like the zombies in "Night of the Living Dead." Hundreds of them holding your favorite foods in their outstretched hands, begging you to eat me, eat me!

Ah, but there is something you can do to zap the zombies: just be persistent. Whenever you are making a habit change the struggle isn't so much between good and evil as between comfort and discomfort. At first, change, no matter how small, creates discomfort. Try putting on your pants the other leg first today - you'll see what I mean.

Try eating with the wrong hand, or driving a new route to work. It takes real effort to jump off our usual path, and even if you tried to drive a new route, day after day, one day while off in a daydream, you'd take the old, familiar route without even realizing it, until suddenly, "Oh, my gosh, how did I get here?" LOL

I think a disciplined approach to EFT and NLP can be helpful. By that I mean nothing more stringent than each morning when you first arise, a quick round of EFT on any issues from the day before that might have bothered you, just to shake off any lingering "stuff" so you can tackle the new day fresh. "Even though I didn't like the way that clerk looked at me, I deeply and completely accept myself."

Then again in the evening, while getting in bed, or even while brushing your teeth, a quick round on anything that happened that day that might have been bothersome, "Even though I got angry in traffic today, I deeply and completely accept myself."

I think the EFT is very helpful on those little daily stressors - the annoyances, the "stuff" that builds up and causes us to want to stuff down the bad feelings with food or alcohol as the case may be. When you use it on everything, even the seemingly insignificant things, it will handle those issues that most matter.

So much of our issues are beneath the surface, and rather than spending a decade in therapy, why not just start tapping away the trouble, one bite at a time.

Posted by OneMoreBite-Weightloss on Monday, March 15, 2004

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Dieting: Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

That pesky thing called life. It has a way of fouling up the best laid plans, doesn't it? First you decide you're going to start keeping your car cleaner, thinking, "I know, I'll wash it every Saturday morning." Great. You have a plan. Saturday comes along and someone calls inviting you to go golfing. "I was going to wash the car, but I can do it later this afternoon," and off you go. Maybe you do wash the car later that afternoon...

Next week Saturday comes along and someone invited you camping so you're in the woods, thinking, "Oh, well, can't wash the car from here, can I?"

Next week, you've forgotten all about your car washing plan, so even though you're not busy you're thinking, "I don't really FEEL like washing the car right now. I'll do it later," and so it goes.

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." -- John Lennon

I've seen it happen in my own life, time and again, as soon as I make a plan, something foils it. I join the gym, and get the flu. My car breaks down the first night of a new class. When the ground is dry it doesn't rain, and as soon as you wash the car, it does. This isn't meant to set us up with a pessimistic outlook but just to point out why persistence in the face of obstacles is what separates the haves from the have nots.

It's not what happens but what you DO with what happens that matters.

The best approach is one-day-at-a-time, or even lesser intervals depending on what it is. With smoking for instance, it can be one half-hour at a time, and with food or eating, it can be one meal at a time, one hunger at a time, or whatever works for you.

For me, if I say I won't do something anymore, it never lasts, but if I wake up in the morning and decide for that day, and only that day, that I will do something or follow through with something, then it does happen. There's a real rush of accomplishment when you wake up and realize that yesterday you did follow-through. You accomplished what you set out to do. And that's when it's easy to decide your intention for that day (or that hour).

Let the success build, and let the lapses pass. It takes practice to get proficient, so just plan to keep at it. Small lapses aren't failures, they are only lapses, and you then decided for the next time period. You will find that you are following through more often than not, as time goes by. Doing this allows you to pre-plan when you know you'll not stick to your eating plan, and thus, makes it okay. When you give yourself permission it's amazing how much less you'll feel like overdoing it.

What about when you decide and something comes up unexpectedly? For instance, you decided you're going to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's after work at 6:00 PM. This works great on Monday and Wednesday but Friday someone asks you to join them after work for a beer or dinner. Maybe that cute co-worker you've had your eye on.

What do you do? Do you say, "No, thanks, I have to work out," and risk never getting to know that person, or "No, I already have plans," and sound like a jerk, or "Maybe some other time," and you know there'll never be another time, or "Yes, that sounds great," and then you berate yourself for being a wimp and not following through with your workout plan. Either way you're not going to feel good about your decision, are you? You're setting yourself up to fail.

A better plan: First, before you decide what you want to do, think it through completely. This is part of the "Creating a Compelling Outcome" process (taught in my 8-week course and used in private sessions as well). When you decide what you'd like to do you must also consider everything else that will be affected, and whether your plan is workable in the real world.

If you thought about it before-hand you may have realized that things would often come up Friday evenings, so you decided to work out on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, or some other schedule. Thinking about what might interfere is why many people do their working out in the early morning hours. Working out in the morning virtually ensures nothing else will come up. No one invites you out for 6:00 AM except maybe your running partner!

If you want to get up early, think it through. Are you a night person? Early morning hours probably won't work for you, but some other time will. Do you have a spouse who'd complain loudly? Consider them as well, but don't let others wishes keep you from following through, just consider others, and any objections they may have. Then you can figure out in advance how you could counter those objections. It's basically a way to look at your plans from all the angles, figure out the danger zones, decide in advance on strategies to keep you on track.

Secondly, once in awhile you won't be able to keep to your plan. That's okay. Holidays interfere with gym hours. I've been annoyed when the gym was closed on Christmas Day!

If you're making changes in your eating habits, do the same thing. I've done this successfully with many eating habits such as my old "Once a week burgers and fries habit" which is now down to seldom or a couple of times a year. I did this by taking my four times a month burgers and fries habit and cutting it first back to three times a month. Then twice a month, then it was easy enough to just stop. Once I broke the regular cycle, it was easy.

I never did go to once a month. Even if you associate your eating with your best times, you can still make changes successfully when you realize that not everybody's life revolves around food - many things do, special occasions, etc., but not everything.

Basic Steps for Creating a Compelling Outcome:

1. Decide what you want

2. What else will happen if you achieve this?

3. Will anyone else be affected?

4. What resources do you already have that will help you achieve this, i.e. time, equipment, money, support?

4. Do you need any other resources to achieve this such as money, time, etc?

5. Is achieving this within your ability and control?

6. Will anyone else object?

7. What is the first step toward achieving this now?

These are basically the types of questions to ask yourself. Choose an outcome, go through the above questions and if you find you cannot answer them to your satisfaction, go back and change the outcome, then go through the questions again. Do this as many times as is necessary until you've found an outcome you know you can achieve, and then you will achieve it.

Remember too, you're not setting up a perfectionist situation, but a plan you can live with and work with. Choose one small thing to change, one habit, one event. Achieving small wins daily builds to enormous successes, and life goes on. Enjoy every moment of it.

Then, when those special situations arise, you'll know what to do, because you've already planned ahead, and even if you abandon your plan, for a vacation perhaps, you just get right back on track when you return feeling refreshed and excited to get started again. Relaxing like this on a vacation many find they eat a lot, play a lot and any weight they gain is lost within days of their return.

My ideas are meant to help you generate some of your own. More ideas to come. Keep those cards and letters coming too! I love your input.

Posted by OneMoreBite-Weightloss on Thursday, March 11, 2004

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Downsizing McDonalds - Phasing Out Super Size

Alas, it is fact. McDonalds has announced it's phasing out the option to "Super Size." Stating it has, "nothing to do with that [film] whatsoever," referring of course to the soon-to-be-released independent film Super Size Me about Michael Spurlock's 30-day odyssey of eating nothing but McDonalds.

The Super Size phenomena was sheer marketing brilliance. Who wouldn't take the larger size for mere pennies more? I did. It seemed almost foolish not to, yet the additional cost to our wallets, and the additional size added to our hips and waistlines never entered the decision process. Until now. Now, we're starting to notice.

McDonalds claims that the move Super Size Me is about, "Spurlock's decision to act irresponsibly by eating 5,000 calories a day." Excuse me, but nearly everyone eats 5,000 calories a day. You may not think you do, but if you eat at restaurants or fast food places, add it to what else you eat that day and you're likely easily eating 5,000 calories a day. It's not hard to do.

Don't believe me? Track your food intake for a month and see. At first you'll be careful to eat quality foods, because you're writing it down and all, but soon you'll drift back into your usual eating habits, and if you can maintain the discipline to write it down, then you'll be shocked by how much you really eat - I can almost guarantee it. The opposite side to that coin are those who barely eat anything, trying to stay under 1500 calories, yet cannot seem to lose weight. They've upset their metabolism to the point that their body is hanging on ferociously to every ounce of fat, despite the low calorie intake, or because of it, depending on how you look at it.

Check my Software, Tools & Gadgets page for software for tracking calories, if you dare! I use a simple program called Food & Exercise Diary for Windows. Any tool works, including a small notebook, if you just do it. Write it down.

It's a proven fact - if you feed yourself a healthy balance of foods, including protein, carbs and fats, get decent rest, and sprinkle in some physical activity (dance, breath, move), then your body will melt into it's natural size. And yes, it could take a year to get your body to that healthy weight if you've got 50 or more pounds to lose. So what? Get over wishing you were already there and take the first step on the journey to getting there. Take it one day at a time, one bite at a time. If you lost five pounds, but never regained it, wouldn't that be a good thing? Take it five pounds at a time.

You'll also find that most who starve themselves all day, tend to stuff themselves all night, and it balances out to that 5,000 calories a day I mentioned above. If you don't believe me, find out for yourself. Write down what you eat for the next 30 days - I challenge you.

So let's give thanks for the wisdom of McDonalds to phase out Super Size. Just say yes to quality foods at decent prices - and speaking of decent prices, what's up with all our jobs moving overseas yet we aren't seeing any price cutting in relation to the enormous corporate price savings? In fact, we keep hearing about more jobs being cut. Since tax benefits are meant to reward corporations for creating jobs, I'd say it's time to phase out those benefits if the work is being taken elsewhere. What do you say? Are American's corporations greedy? Are they killing our economy? You decide and remember it's an election year. Time to be heard - get involved - start with a plan for increased health this year.

Posted by OneMoreBite-Weightloss on Wednesday, March 03, 2004

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

EFT Useful for More Than Just Weight Loss

The other day I had a sudden memory when a wave of upset, fear, dread, all the feelings associated with that long ago event came up. I found myself suddenly sitting with a rapidly beating heart and a heaviness that hadn't been there only a moment before. I felt quite upset, ready to break into tears, so I quickly started tapping on the PR (psychological reversal) point - the karate chop area of my hand, and said, "Even though this memory still upsets me, I deeply and completely accept and forgive myself." I just kept saying it, as I was in a public place and didn't want to suddenly break down in tears. I then did the regular sequence, around the face and body, repeating, "This memory," over and over, and saying, "I'm okay, it's okay."

It stemmed from a time long ago when I'd unexpectedly been late and I hadn't called my little boy who was home alone. Not thinking of how upset he'd be, I'd just had some fun with friends and came home about three hours late. To a 9-year old that's trauma, and when I arrived home to a tear stained face with a concerned neighbor, well writing about it now still brings up upset, so excuse me while I go do another round of tapping...

Just now, as writing this, I noticed the feeling of tears rising in my eyes, which told me, I wasn't finished with this issue. The other day I felt like I was done with it. This just shows how some persistence is necessary. If you thought an issue was resolved, but find yourself becoming upset over it again, just do some more EFT. Until you reach a point where you can have a memory with no physiological response, no tears, no heavy breathing, no tension, no response at all physically -- until you reach that point, just continue doing more EFT. Eventually you will reach the point where you can think of the memory, even talk about it, but without the familiar "bad feelings." When you reach that point you've released the emotional attachment. That pathway has been broken.

I continued with "Even though that memory still upsets me, I deeply and completely accept myself," and as I tap I tend to just talk to myself so I was saying, "I didn't want to upset him," "I never thought," and "I want to be a good mother." It's more the memory of a baby's sad face that upsets me - I can hardly watch a movie without crying my eyes out if they show a sad child; I have such strong empathy for children.

Anyway, I'm better now. The anxiety is gone. I feel fine. That's the beauty of EFT, and if you are using it for weight loss, be sure to use it for every stressful event that arises whether it be in the moment, or a memory. Especially use it on the memories that still bother you from the time you were shoved down in the playground and the other kids laughed because you cried, till the time your mother forget to pick you up and you thought you'd been abandoned (this happened to me, perhaps that's why I felt so awful doing it to my own son). These events color our present world and have a very large influence on what we do and don't do to nurture ourselves. Whether you think they are related isn't important - just use EFT on the stresses in your life and you'll find pounds melting away.

You'll find instructions for using EFT for weight loss here, and additional resources here.

Posted by OneMoreBite-Weightloss on Tuesday, March 02, 2004


		Kathryn Martyn Smith, M.NLP Body Mind Therapy, Weight Loss Coach 210 NW 78th Street Vancouver, Washington 98665 360-695-3184

Latest Skinny Posts

Crazy Exercise Gadget Treadmill Bike

Now You Can Eat the Menu

Forget Toys, Now Recalling Chocolate

Shape Back Issues Online

Now Food You Don't Eat Can Hurt the Planet

100 Calorie Snack Packs

Taking Advice from Unknown Experts

Miniature Food Done Right

Now You Can Eat Bread While You Lose Weight

EFT for Fear of Bridges