By Doris Wild Helmering
A four-step process to help you reach your weight-loss goals.
The Brain-Belly Connection
"This year I'm going to stay on my diet and lose weight." How many years have you made this promise to yourself, only to find you've fallen off the weight-loss bandwagon?
According to Dianne Hales, coauthor of the new book Think Thin, Be Thin: 101 Psychological Ways to Lose Weight (Broadway, 2004), the reasons for blowing your diet are plenty. Favorite excuses include, "I work hard, I deserve a good meal," "Why should I diet when no one else seems to be worrying about what they're eating?" and "I'll never be thin anyway."
"I've used those excuses and plenty of variations," says Mary Dill, a social worker in Atlanta. "Every Monday I'd go on a diet. Sometimes I'd last for several days, sometimes a week. But then I'd be off the diet and into the potato chips. I took care of my emotional needs with food. If I was feeling lonely or had a disagreement with one of my children, I'd grab the peanut butter jar and dig in. Food was my salvation."
"Most overeating is not about the belly but the brain," says Hales. "The true key to weight loss and a healthy body is changing the neuro-landscape of the brain. Learn to harness your thoughts and you'll change the way you behave. And you will lose weight."
Before Dill goes to a party, she says she prepares herself for battle because she knows attitude is everything. "I tell myself, 'It's only one party. I can get through it without overeating.' I also limit myself to no more than six snacks, which might include a drink, three shrimps, a piece of cheese, and a brownie. I use the acronym 'HALT' on and off throughout the day, which reminds me, 'Don't get too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely, or too Tired.'"
When Dill needs an emotional fix, instead of turning to food she calls a friend, talks to her husband, reads, writes in her journal, takes a walk, or prays. "I take heart in knowing that I'm not alone in my struggle with food," she says.
Carol Powers of St. Louis once wore a size 24. She never weighed herself or exercised, and claims she never denied herself "anything" when it came to food. But she has now gotten on the weight-loss wagon. Each night after the David Letterman show she calls to leave a message on her therapist's answering machine. She reports calorie intake and the minutes she spent exercising. "It makes me accountable," says Powers. "If I didn't have to call and report, I know I'd be cheating."
"I used to think about food and what I was going to eat," she says. "Now I think about what it's going to do to me. I've lost almost 50 pounds -- and I'm determined to continue to lose.
"Last week I told my therapist that I feel so thin. She said that I wasn't. And that thinking I was thin wasn't helpful at this point in time. We had a good laugh and made a pact that a year from now I will be thin."
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