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Channels: Health - Weight Loss
Tags: weight loss - feel good - diet - dont work - weight
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On Diet Talk & Persistence
Views: 1,025Added: Thu. May 28, 2009 5:35pm
Posted in: Weight Loss
When I signed on to my home on Growing Bolder today, I saw this quote and knew the GB folks were talking to me.
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Calvin Coolidge
First, I live 10 minutes from where Calvin Coolidge was born. Second, I've spent the last 20+ years trying to convince folks that weight loss diets generally create more problems than they solve.
On the face of it, it may look like I've had some success. Lots more folks are talking "diets don't work" than they used to. One hugely popular weight loss diet even advertises that it's not a diet. They're not stupid.
But the truth is that diet thinking has become insidious, and diet talk the norm.
So while risking sounding like a broken record, I wrote again this week on my blog A Weight Lifted about how diet talk can work against us. An article on msnbc.com reviewed a couple of studies that sorta prove my case. If you're interested, check it out at http://www.fitwoman.com/blog/2009/05/diet-talk-how-words-work-against-us.html.
Marsha Hudnall
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Posted 10:15am June 2nd, 2009Hi, Katy,
Yes, we've often said that weight loss is relatively easy. It's keeping it off that's the challenge.
And I think that's where the issue of how diet talk really comes into play. If we're always in diet mode, we never learn how to eat and live free of food thoughts and weight worries. Eventually, that catches up with most of us, and takes us where we don't want to go.
Congratulations on your focus on healthy eating! I talk about "eating in a way that makes me feel great." That even takes out the negativity that has grown up around the word 'healthy.' Sad, but there is a significant negative reaction among many folks to that word.
Katy
GB Staff
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Posted 9:59am June 2nd, 2009Marsha,
As a person who has lost a significant amount of weight and now struggles with maintenance, I really appreciate this post! I find that instead of considering myself on a diet, I need to say that I am a "healthy eater." I try and watch calories and portion sizes, but if I'm always thinking about food, I feel a bit obsessive!
Marsha Hudnall
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Posted 5:41pm May 28th, 2009BTW, I'm not taking credit for all the folks who are talking out against diets. There's a huge wave of people who recognize they don't work. But must give credit to my 87-year-old mother-in-law who was one of the first. She said it in 1973, and started our healthy weight loss retreat for women that teaches how to eat, not starve, how to enjoy moving their bodies, and how to feel good and feel good about themselves regardless of their size.