Weight loss is about the journey, not the destination
“I wish people understood that weight loss and weight maintenance behaviours are two sides of the same coin. Too many people seem to want to shed kilos quickly as possible without really trying to change their eating and lifestyle behaviours for the long term; they figure they’ll deal with the weight maintenance later on. When people say they are ‘going on’ a diet, it implies that – at some point – they’ll be ‘going off’ their diet. I always tell people that when you are changing your habits in order to lose weight, you’re just practicing for weight maintenance. I want them to focus on the behavioural changes much more than their goal weight.”
– Susan Bowerman, dietitian
You should probably keep a food journal
“I wish people understood the value of keeping really accurate food diaries. I encourage my patients to not only keep a diary, but to also write down ahead of time what they plan to eat and when they plan to exercise. This encourages them to stick to the plan. I also encourage people to use the diary as a tool to record their hunger level before and after eating, as well as their mood. The feedback from a well-kept food diary is invaluable. People learn if they are eating for emotional reasons rather than hunger, and they can also see how often they eat until they are more than comfortably full.”
– Susan Bowerman
Fix underlying emotional issues without food
“When you manage your emotions instead of pushing them down and following them with a food chaser, you save a whole bunch of kilojoules. Figure out what’s really eating you, so to speak, and deal with that rather than depending on a sugar bomb to soothe your soul. When you face your issues, you no longer need to stuff your face. This gives you back the control you desire.”
– Renée Jones, counsellor and author of What’s Really Eating You?: Overcome the Triggers of Comfort Eating