Are you thinking about the holidays already?  Does that thinking also include how you’re going to avoid putting on the 5-10 pounds that sneaks up on you each year during this season?  If so, now might be the best possible time to start a new eating plan.

When I lost my weight two years ago, we started the first of November.  By Thanksgiving our results had already been so excellent and we were feeling so much better than we had before starting our eating program, that we sailed through the holidays without even a temptation to eat the goodies and candies that came our way.  We just regifted them and passed them along.  If you’re even thinking about it, let me encourage you to make the step and go forward.  Before the holidays is the perfect time to get started.

Some pointers I’ve learned along the way to losing weight permanently:

1. Don’t do the latest fad diet.  They don’t really work and even if you do lose the weight you haven’t changed anything about your eating patterns and it will come right back and usually with a few more pounds to boot.
2. The people that lose weight the best and keep it off the longest attend a meeting of some sort.  We all need encouragement, accountability and support.  There are many groups such as Weight Watchers, Prism Weight Loss, and others that can help you go through the process.  It’s always easier to do something with others than all alone.  There are many good weight loss programs, but the successful ones use this principle in their plan.
3. The weight loss programs that work the best and help you keep the weight off the longest will all require the same thing… that you measure your portions, keep track of what you are eating, excercise and change the types of food that you put in your body.  Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you but there’s no magic pill.  Once you get over the fact that you need to do this, it really is very easy.  The benefit of having to weigh, measure and plan is that it becomes a part of your routine.  Americans especially have absolulely no idea what a proper serving of food is — it’s definitely NOT what the restaurant serves you!
4. Simply changing the quality of the food that you are eating, such as changing out brown rice for white, 100% whole wheat for white bread, eating more fruits and vegetables and eliminating sugars can actually make it easy to take your weight off and keep it off permanently.  Good food satisfies your cravings, bad food kicks them into high gear.
5. (UPDATE: I thought to add this one later)  Find someone who has succeeded and kept their weight off and ask them how they did it.  When I wasn’t serious yet about losing weight I formulated a lot of spontaneous plans on how I was going to lose weight — the problem was that none of them were based on any knowledge that had led to success.  I was guessing at things rather than finding out what worked and what didn’t work and why.  I was following pop culture, rumor and the latest easy fix program.  The problem with easy fixes are that they are neither easy or fix anything!

If you’re like me, the first brownie leads to the tenth.  The first cookie or piece of pie never satisfies it just makes me crave more and more and more.  If that’s the case for you too, it’s so much easier to avoid the first bite than to resist the second, third, fourth… well, you get the picture.

I lost 63 pounds in less than a year participating in the Prism Weight Loss Program.  Their web address is www.pwlp.com if your’e interested.  Miss Stacey, in response to her health crisis earlier this year has also worked through the same program and has lost to date over 50 pounds!!!  Way to go Stacey!!!!!!  But what I love feeling the most isn’t "skinny" it’s ‘healthy."  No more yucky, I ate too much and am miserable feelings.  No more guilt for being out of control.  No more having my mind consumed with thoughts of food all day long.  If I can do it, you can too!  Happy Holidays.

THE PROVERB OF THE DAY: Prov 4:10-12 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.  I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. NIV