Weight Loss Success Journey NOT Paved with Diet Soda

Diet soda is not the fantastic beverage for weight loss success that many (especially the makers) would like you to believe. I've said it before. I'll say it again. For most* people it does no good, and for many it causes harm. Because it has zero, or close to zero, calories many people drink it without thinking about all the chemicals they are putting in their bodies. And again because it has few calories people seem to think it is actually good for them--or at least won't make them fat!

Study after study is showing that these thoughts are wrong. This is marketing at its worst. It is on a par with marketing cigarettes as cool while knowing they cause lung cancer.

Think diet soda will make you thin? Then why are so many people who drink it obese? And they didn't just start drinking it...many of them have been drinking it for YEARS...all the while packing on more pounds.

Diet soda is not the answer.

According to a new article posted on Yahoo, more and more people are coming forward to admit they are addicted to diet soda.

Whether diet soda is technically an "addiction" or really a habit is still under debate.

Addiction definition from Wikipedia:

Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and/or psychological dependence on psychoactive substances (for example alcohol, tobacco, heroin, caffeine and other drugs) which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain. Broadly, addiction is defined as the continued use of a mood altering addictive substance or behaviours despite adverse consequences.

Drinking as little as one diet soda a day is linked to a variety of "adverse consequences" including Heart Attack and Stroke, Kidney Trouble, Preterm Deliver, and yes, Weight Gain

The article continues:

Wouldn’t it be ironic if instead of helping you lose weight, diet sodas had the opposite effect? A study at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio found that compared to those who drank no diet sodas, study participants who did had a 70 percent greater increase in waist circumference; worse, drinking two or more diet sodas daily led to ballooning waist circumference that was 500 percent greater than those who drank none.

For years I've been advising against diet sodas for people on a health journey and for those who want to have weight loss success, I am not the only one. The 'Eat This, Not That' guy David Zinczenko wrote an article "The Truth About Diet Soda" back in December 2008.

Don't think you have to be "perfect" to have weight loss success. Focus on being HEALTHY first and you will achieve the right weight without damaging your body and healthy in the long-run by following some low calorie diet plan that includes unhealthy choices.
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*I say "most" because I there are few rules that can be applied to literally every person on the planet, but in all honesty I have not seen a single report that diet soda is helpful to anyone. However, there may be a person who is diabetic for example who for whatever reason cannot give up soda 100% and therefore chooses a diet soda. I still do not buy into the soda being "good" for them, or not causing them harm, but the choice is certainly theirs to make.

Avoiding Emotional Eating Doesn't Mean Avoiding Treats

Many people believe that to have weight loss success we must forgo all treats. I disagree with this tactic of creating a list of foods that are off-limits. In my experience, it just doesn't work.

Some people respond to my assertion that to have permanent success we must have no forbidden foods that if certain foods are not taboo then it is okay to eat them all the time.

Of course we must eat foods that nourish our bodies...that is the primary purpose of food after all. But the truth is, most of us with weight challenges did not get to be significantly overweight because of eating to nourish our bodies!

We use food for much more than fuel for our bodies. We use food for pleasure and social reasons as well as using food for emotional reasons.

It is crucial for us to distinguish between these 3 types of eating.

Social eating is when food is part of another experience, such as Thanksgiving, birthdays, or enjoying a night out with friends. Social eating may be eating something because it is expected like birthday cake, and it may include overindulging to the extreme--like when we have to unzip our pants or take a nap after Thanksgiving's feast. With social eating, we may not actually be conscious of just how much food we are consuming, because we are more focused on the social aspect.

Pleasure eating may also have a social element to it, the key difference is that when we eat for pleasure, the focus is on the food. It may be sharing the food, sharing the experience, but the food is still in the forefront. For example, you may be having dinner with a friend (or friends) and decide you want to have dessert...and you are sharing the dessert because you want the flavor, but not the full serving...you enjoy each bite as it fills your mouth with flavor. You may eat more than you "need" (let's face it, our bodies don't "need" dessert) but because it is savored and the focus is on tasting and feeling good, you rarely will get to the button-popping stage when eating for pleasure.

Emotional eating on the other hand (can you have an "other hand" with 3 examples?) can be unconscious, like social eating, or very conscious, but rarely is it pleasurable. It may start with a thought of how good something tastes, but more often it starts as a pull...a knee-jerk reaction to a thought, feeling or event. Sometimes we are not even aware of the preceding element! We may be sad or angry, or even happy, and we are reaching for food to soothe us, to bring us to a more mellow place. And if we continue this pattern then we will need more and more food to achieve that mellow place--largely because it doesn't solve the problem, it just masks the pain temporarily.

When we go on a diet, we are not dealing with our emotional eating...and we put our favorite foods on a forbidden foods list. This sets us up for a huge negative cycle of deprivation then binge, then guilt. Now we have even more emotions to run from so we eat more, not less! This is why diets do not work.

The secret to weight loss success is to be conscious about our eating and to enjoy our treats--to have some pleasure eating events. This gives our inner child the opportunity to have treats and not feel deprived, while breaking the habits of grabbing food to soothe our inner beast.

Here's how it went in practice for me this weekend: I was feeling quite emotional, for lots of different reasons, some hormonal and some stress related, and so I was craving carbs can specifically chocolate. I had to go to the grocery store and I knew that with all these cravings it could be a dangerous run, so before I went I made sure I had a snack before hand to keep things at bay. Even still, lots of old thoughts went through my head as I entered the parking lot and walked through the store...I can buy these cookies and eat them in the car, or I can buy this and eat some and hide the rest, or...on and on. I know that whenever those sorts of thoughts of eating massive quantities of food and/or eating and hiding the evidence comes up that is a flag that the desire to eat is strictly emotional.

I was able to remind myself that I want and desire a healthy body and that eating in that way would not solve whatever was going on, and that I would address the issue when I got home. That is a big victory--being conscious about my choices--but it is just the first step.

Once home I tried to determine what was bothering me. I talked about it, I meditated on it, I cried, I tried working through it and ignoring it (this rarely works, but I still try!) I walked...it just didn't seem to be helping. I ate healthy foods and made sure my blood sugar was even, which helped, but still I had a HUGE desire to eat. I slept on it, I worked more. I finally felt the urge to turn on some music and cook a big healthy meal, play and dance to the music. So I left my desk and did just that and when I was done I finally felt at peace with myself and the desire to stuff my face was gone!

Big lesson--we can't also push through, sometimes we have to listen to our heart and let it direct us to what will help us feel better...and we have to let that voice come through, which takes love, gentleness, and practice.

Later (much later) I wanted a little something sweet...I didn't have anything in the house that sounded right (I actually had ice cream in the house but that wasn't sounding right) so I made a dark chocolate sauce and we dipped strawberries in the sauce. We had a small portion and really, really, really enjoyed the tastes and sharing the experience.

Because this eating was pleasure eating it wasn't "necessary" for my body, but it felt great for my soul and so I don't feel the need to beat myself up over it. In fact, I celebrate it as a success--a sign of true weight loss success--the ability to enjoy a small portion of delicious food, because food can and should be a source of pleasure for us.

Life and Loss: Does Our Weight Really Matter?

As I ponder the loss of a dear friend this week thoughts race across my mind and heart. Adding to the jumble was the news of the death of a fabulous local sculptor. The two losses combined and helped forge my feelings and thoughts on where our weight rates in the grand scheme of things.

I suppose the answer could be "not at all," but in truth, that is not accurate...

While the number on the scale is not important in and of itself, the idea or concept behind that number does indeed have some merit...if only as a measure of where we are relative to where we want to be.

My friend Faye moved away a couple of years ago due to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. We pledged visits that never came to pass and so Faye has not seen much of my physical transformation. She would be pleased at the result, not because of any aesthetic or societal reasons...although she was truly a Southern Lady and of quite a delicate build...but because she recognized that our physical body reflects the condition of our mind as well as her desire for ideal health for all her loved ones.

It would be easy for me to drown my sorrows in gallons of ice cream...and indeed I lifted a pint last night...but thankfully, the demon of food addiction seems to be tamed and I have awoken today quite satisfied and not needing, nor wanting, to start my day with sugar just because I ended yesterday that way. Not so long ago I would not have been able to say that.

The point behind today's ramble is that I recognize the purpose of life is to live it. Our weight only matters in how it allows us to, or prevents us from, living it to the best of our abilities.

When I was over 300 pounds I was so addicted to food that it consumed my life as much as I consumed it! It colored my world, invading my thoughts, affecting my vision both literally and figuratively.

Now that I am of "normal" weight and I am free of that prison I can see that other things can still keep me from living my best life if I allow it to happen. Whether it is watching television, working too hard, worrying about other people and not paying attention to myself...if these things keep me from experiencing joy and contributing to the best of my ability then these are not health activities either.

Just like we must eat to live, we must also make money to pay the bills and we must take care of our homes and our families. For many of us, we have pushed our own lives and feelings aside...or down...with food...smothering our fears with gravy, drowning our sadness with hot fudge, burying our worries with chips...

We deserve to break this cycle and emerge from the prison that we have created and learn to express our feelings and live our lives...which is more than paying bills and tending to others. First and foremost we must take care of ourselves...until we do that, we will not be able to give the greatest gift we can to our friends, our children, our spouses, our communities...and that gift is US.

Each of us is unique and that is a good thing. Let us remember to let our unique light shine in the world. No one else can glow in the same way we can...and we do not serve the world by trying to be just like another. So, let us lose weight not because we "should"...but because we truly desire to be our best selves and because we know we deserve to be healthy and energetic...

Don't worry about the number on the scale. Decide "where you want to go"...in other words, what do you want to be able to accomplish in this life that perhaps you cannot do right now because of your weight and health?

• Decide who you want to be
  
• Focus on that goal and become that person on the inside.
• See yourself doing those things you dream about.
• Take small steps to achieve that dream every day.
• If you fall short some days, remember that is just part of the journey.

Love yourself through this process and you will succeed. You will lose weight if that is your goal...and you will be able to keep it off. Like me, you may toss back a pint now and again, and realize that you can do it and not have it result in a week or month or year long binge.

To your healthy, energetic, slender body--you deserve it!

Is Your Weight Loss Success Hindered by Junk Food Addiction?

I heard for years that it takes will power to lose weight. My mother was an advocate of the "Push yourself away from the table hungry" diet...talk about needing will power!!!

I hear over and over people who say they can't lose weight because they just don't have the will power. Some people joke that they have "will power" it is "won't power" they need. Well, losing weight is not a matter of will power (or won't power, either.)

Trying to make losing weight a matter of will power puts the person who is making the effort into a power-LESS position instead of a power-FULL one. It implies that we are weak when diets fail us...and they DO fail us!

Food is a drug...it is probably the most commonly used and abused drug there is. It is legal, easy to get, relatively inexpensive, and comparatively a socially acceptable drug. But drug it is.

I've joked in the past about being a "chocoholic" and we've all known people who say they are addicted to sugar...

Put the jokes aside! Sugar can be addictive...not just a bad habit that can be broken by sheer will power. A new study suggests that junk food may actually be as addictive as cocaine or heroine!

The study was conducted at Scripps Research Institute. Researchers gave rats unlimited high-fat, high-calorie foods that we would call "junk food"...items readily available at the corner store or gas station. The rats became compulsive overeaters, and became obese, just as people do. What the scientists showed was the rats' brains became less and less responsive to the pleasure received from the junk food...so the rats had to eat more of it for the same thrill.

The rats used their foot to get the good. When the scientists gave the rats a slight shock to that foot, the rats still went for it.

Both the need to eat more for the same pleasure, and eating despite the shock, are indicators of addiction.

In addition, after having had unlimited amounts of junk food for 40 days, the junk food was replaced with a nutritious food. With no junk food available to them, the rats chose to starve rather than eat the healthy food provided.

"Not only did we find that the animals' brain reward circuits became less responsive as they continued to overeat and become obese, but that decrease in responsiveness was similar to what our laboratory has seen previously in rats as they become addicted to cocaine or heroin."
--Paul Kenny, associate professor of molecular therapeutics

So eating junk food can be addictive...but that doesn't mean that it is impossible to lose weight. It does mean that "will power" is not the answer.

Be gentle with yourself when/if you are drawn to eat junk food...beating yourself up for your addiction is not going to serve you...you will have lots of opportunities to eat junk food--it is all around you. So don't expect to be "perfect" in your eating. Make small changes gradually rather than trying to go "cold turkey"

Have other plans for handling the situations when you want to eat...to help break the cycle.

And since our pleasure centers may be a bit depressed, we must give ourselves other rewards...stimulate the pleasure center in our brain through means other than food.

We can have weight loss success, by changing our mindset. We have to first believe we can lose weight and also that we deserve to lose weight. This is the beginning to losing weight, permanently, safely, and naturally.

You Used To Be Fat?

I'm visiting my mom right now and one of things we do together is go to the pool in her community. There is a small group of women who informally gather and do some water exercises together. It is a really nice group, beautiful location...a lot of fun.

When I was visiting last year Mom mentioned that I used to teach water aerobics, so they asked me if I would teach them a few "new tricks"...so I did.

This visit, for some reason my mom said "You haven't commented on how much weight Laurie has lost"...and I reminded her that it really hasn't been that much since my last visit (the majority of my weight loss was prior to that visit.)

So one of the ladies asked how much weight I've lost. When I replied 125 pounds they were blown away. "I never would have guessed you were fat before," "Your mother is so slender," "You used to be fat?" were the sorts of comments that arose.

I know that some of the reaction was compounded because they knew I used to be a competitive swimmer and coach. It isn't expected that athletes are fat...we see the pictures of Olympic swimmers and they are all so trim. Well, of course I wasn't of that caliber...and I stopped swimming competitively at 18, so there was a lot of years between then and now to gain even more weight. And truth is, you don't have to be slim to teach swimming--or even water aerobics!

Still, the reaction surprised me at first. Then I remembered having that reaction when I met other people who had lost significant amounts of weight. It is as if we expect to see some telltale sign on their forehead "I USED TO BE FAT." I wonder where we get that notion.

Maybe it is because we think of fat as being part of the person...kind of like eye color! When a person loses a lot of weight they look like a different person--but they don't look like a formerly fat person!

When you lose weight gradually then your mind and body are able to keep in sync...so your skin tightens up, your walk adjusts, you become this new person. For most of us there is no physical evidence of our fat past. I actually find it hard to believe that I was that fat person too. It is like another lifetime ago.

I never had that mental experience when I was dieting. Then I would yo-yo 20+ pounds (then 50!) and so I never felt like a healthy person. I always identified as someone who struggled with weight and dieting. I always felt fat...even when I was on the bottom part of the yo-yo.

I believe that is the main reason I was still fat. I never believed I could be otherwise. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is changing your mindset. You have to believe you can do it--that you deserve health. Once you believe those two things then you truly can lose weight and not have to worry about counting calories!

Dump Your Clump

I heard this phrase from Carrie Wilkerson, The Barefoot Executive, at a conference I attended. She was referring to how important it is to move around and meet new people at events...don’t just hang out with the people you came with or met the first day.

Well, this may also be something you have to face when you lose weight. If you have been treating food like a drug and abusing it then you may have to disengage from people who were part of that lifestyle.

I believe for most of us, it can be different with food than other drugs. It can be harder or easier...depending on how you choose to look at it!

It is possible to never have alcohol or narcotics or cigarettes again. You can cut them out of your life completely. Can’t do that with food! So there will be temptations and opportunities to overindulge every day.

This is why you HAVE to change your mind first. If you don’t, then you will have to struggle the rest of your life with the inner demons. I’d rather change my thinking and get those demons gone or at least corralled a bit and make it easier on myself later.

But here’s the deal...if you have “friends” that the only reason you socialize with them is because they are eating buddies...you know what I mean...you only get together over food, or you only talk about food or dieting with them...then you might need to drop those relationships, at least temporarily.

If the relationship is deeper than that and it can evolve—fantastic! But put your health, your life first! If you find one of your “friends” is always tempting you with food then maybe they aren’t your friend, really. Realize they have their own issues to deal with and you deal with yours and let them handle themselves.

When you really come from a place of wanting health (as opposed to getting to a certain size or weight) it will be a lot easier to not be tempted by food even when it is right in front of you. I like having the power to make choices about what I eat and if I want to have chocolate or ice cream or pizza I can have it. I am also now fine with being with my friends and family and choosing to not have these things.

When I was trying to diet that wasn’t the case. I was coming from a deprivation place then. I “couldn’t” have certain foods and therefore they were more appealing. The draw of the forbidden! That is one of the reasons I know it is important to allow myself to eat any food. I just know that I am best serving my health when I make conscious choices about what I am eating.

So if I am with friends and they are having a beer or chips (or chips and beer) they will offer it to me...I don’t want them to try to “help” me by not offering...and I have the freedom to say no or yes. Sometimes I will partake and other times I won’t...either way I think about it and determine what I really want at the moment. Do I really want the beer? Or do I want something wet and to enjoy the company of good friends?

Food Addiction: Cured or In Recovery?

Hi. My name is Laurie. I'm an ice cream-aholic.

Food has always been my 'drug of choice'. Specifically ice cream. Even more specifically, chocolate ice cream...or just about any ice cream with chocolate in it.

The higher the fat content the better.

I could literally eat several quarts at a sitting.

Of course I would then wonder why I had a headache!!!

It is a wonder I'm not diabetic or have cholesterol through the roof.

That has all changed now...I actually bought a pint (one!) of ice cream on Sunday because it sounded good. Then I forgot I even had it in the house!

On Wednesday night I decided to have some. I voluntarily stopped part way through because I was done! It no longer was satisfying or tasting good, so I put it back...

If you notice I said I put it back, that means that I was eating right out of the container, I had not dished it out. That had been my method of portion control before. Dish some out. And go back for more. Again. and Again. Or not--sometimes I just ate right out of the quart container.

I am excited at the prospect that I have a normal relationship with food!

I know that it is important to keep my awareness up and not slip into bad habits--but this is a very good day...

Maybe I'll celebrate! Rocky Road, anyone (I'm joking!)