wishful-thinking statement would be, ‘I am aiming to go from a size 16 to a size 8 by the summer’. A reality-based statement would be, ‘I will make the necessary changes to enable me to lose one pound a week for the next 20 weeks’. Changes happen one step at a time.
If you think about losing four dress sizes, the task can seem overwhelming. But it looks decidedly manageable when you break it down into the steps of losing one or two pounds a week. Steady progress through well-chosen, realistic stages produces lasting results in the end. But you have to know what those steps are before you set out.
Step 6: Be Accountable for Your Actions or Nonactions
As they progress towards their goal, people tend to con themselves and think, ‘That little bit won’t hurt’ or ‘It’s raining, I’ll go for my walk later’. Some people find it helpful to share their plan with a trusted friend to whom they have to report their progress periodically. The thought that someone is checking up on them might prevent a tempting situation from turning into a binge. If you think this will work for you, then go for it.
Personally, I usually advise people not to confide in others, mainly to avoid the sort of remarks people feel obliged to trot out whenever anyone is on a diet, such as ‘Why? You don’t need to lose weight’ or ‘Oh, come on, try a bit of this, it’s not fattening’. It is nobody’s business when you put on weight and nobody’s business when you lose it.
Step 7: Lose the ‘Diet’ Mentality
If everyone stopped talking about eating, weight and body shape all the time, it might cease to be such an important and debilitating issue in our lives. We might also find many more interesting things to talk about. So how about:
That last point is extremely important. I understand that you want to be different from the way you are now. I also know that, ironically, accepting yourself as you are is a prerequisite for changing. This means accepting your body in its current shape and not putting yourself down all the time. Hating the way you look sends you scurrying to the fridge. Possibly your self-hatred is the factor most responsible for keeping you fat.
Get ready to programme yourself for success.
Conversation with Client
C: How can I get rid of cellulite?
Me: You can’t.
C: Is that it?
Me: Is that what?
C: The end of the conversation?
Me: What do you want me to say? Have you tried to get rid of cellulite?
C: Are you kidding?! I’ve tried everything. I’ve rubbed in creams, lotions, radioactive mud and seaweed extract. I’ve had pads strapped to my thighs with electric currents going through them. I’ve been wrapped in tight bandages and enveloped in hot wax. My bum has been squished between rollers and I’ve even had electrodes put in under the skin into the actual fat…
Me: Ouch! What does that do?
C: An electric current passes between each pair of positive/negative needles and it’s meant to make the fat cells fight each other.
Me: And do what? Jump out and run away? Oh please! How did that work for you?
C: It didn’t.
Me: Then get real. You cannot break down fat from the outside. It has to go through the process of lipolysis within your body to be turned into a form that can be used as energy. Look, you are eating sensibly, you’re losing weight, your legs are getting toned from all the exercise, so just relax and enjoy life.
C: But the cellulite is still there.
Me: Then learn to love it—because it sure loves you. Why else would it stay with you all this time? Because it’s very attached to you, that’s why!
C: Smartarse!
Conversation with Client
C: I have always believed in taking extra vitamins and minerals to ensure I get a balanced diet. Am I right?
Me: Most people who take vitamins do so as a protection against various ailments, but vitamin pills do not ‘cure’ anything. Neither does not taking them make you susceptible to illness. Vitamins are components of food and are found in plants and animals. If you are eating food from all the main food groups, you shouldn’t need to take anything extra. On the other hand, some of the food we buy is so adulterated and processed that much of the vitamin content is lost.
C: Is that a No?
Me: That depends. What are you taking?
C: I take calcium for my bones, magnesium, vitamins E and C, gelatin for my brittle nails, vitamin B6 for premenstrual thingy, garlic pills, that stuff that improves your memory—what’s it called?—um – anyway, I take iron in case I’m anaemic, aloe vera, lecithin to break down my fat…
Me: Hang on a minute. You take lecithin to what?
C: Really! You’re a diet counsellor – you should know this! I want to get thinner and I read that lecithin breaks down fat.
Me: Oh it does indeed, but only in the food that you eat as an aid to digestion, not the fat already encasing your thighs. Lecithin is an emulsifier. It breaks down the fat you eat into tiny droplets and carries them in the blood to the tissues that need it. It doesn’t obligingly break it down and shunt it out of your body! Anyway, your body makes all the lecithin you need and if you take extra, your body will simply make less.
C: How disappointing. But surely everybody needs extra vitamin D because there is so little
