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When You Want to Lose Weight and Your Relationships are

Change is hard for everyone. It’s human nature to want to stay where you are, to protect yourself and to preserve the status quo. In making deep and permanent lifestyle changes that affect your weight, you’ll encounter lots of “voices.”

First, there are the little voices in your head that say change isn’t necessary. Coaches call these voices “gremlins” and some of the things they might say are “I should be loved just as I am,” “Why should my weight matter?” or “I’m not as fat (or out-of-shape) as so-n-so.”

In addition to these little gremlin voices, there may also be some big voices! These are the people around you who also want to preserve the status quo.

Maybe your husband or wife doesn’t want to see you lose weight and then regain it again, like you’ve done in the past. Perhaps they hate to see the disappointment and sadness you feel when that happens. And they just might like to have chocolate cake in the house at all times too.

Your best friend might love having a binge-buddy or just someone who likes to eat as much as she does and she fears losing that companionship. I was waiting to be seated at a restaurant recently and there were two women standing in front of me. As the hostess approached, one of them turned to the other and said, “Let’s decide right now, are we dieting today or not?” Obviously, whatever they decided, they were more comfortable taking the same approach to lunch rather than following their own needs.

Perhaps your sister likes to control others. She gets her jollies by watching other people pig out. This is a dynamic I’ve witnessed in a lot of relationships when one person is thin but addicted to dieting and the other person is overweight. One of the ways the thin person stays motivated is to push food on others and (negatively) feel good because she’s NOT eating. This is the person who brings elaborate and high caloric dishes to the potluck and then sits in the corner with a few veggies on a plate and can’t take her eyes off people eating too much food!

No matter what the relationship might be, if you are trying to change your eating habits, your fitness lifestyle, or simply cut back on certain foods for health reasons, odds are you will encounter some relationship difficulties along with way.

Here are some things to watch out for:

1. Do you throw your efforts away when they aren’t met with excitement from friends or family?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard things like “I was doing fine until Susi showed up with donuts.” Remember, Susi doesn’t control the pathway from your hand to your mouth. YOU are in charge of that.

2. Are you attuned to subtle sabotage?

Subtle sabotage often appears just when your weight loss starts to show, usually around the 10-pound mark. You go shopping with a friend and she suddenly wants to visit the cookie shack. You’re at a family dinner and your mother keeps passing dishes of food to you every two minutes. Your wife backs out of a commitment to go to the gym, citing something vague like “I just don’t feel like it.” Chances are your weight loss is showing.

Be aware. These people may have some personal investment in your being overweight! It’s like the potluck diva who never eats, they may negatively feel better about themselves if you are heavier than they are. Or they may be unhappy about their weight and feel powerless to change. Misery loves company but you don’t want to be miserable any more!

3. Are you strong enough to eat differently in group situations?

You’re having dinner with a group of friends. Everyone is ordering burgers and cheese fries. Are you focused enough to order grilled chicken and veggies? Do you feel too out-of-place?

Group situations will appear at work as well as with family and friends. Be prepared to deal with them. You might start by not following the crowd with a more sympathetic (or higher esteem!) group. Look for subtle saboteurs here too. There may be a coworker who’ll chide you “Are you dieting again?” but there’s also the friend who doesn’t say a word but eyes your plate with a nasty expression on her face.

The bottom line for all relationship issues that surround food and eating is that you are going to encounter them. And you’re going to have to deal with them.

As a coach, I help my clients deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis. I’m often asked, “Will my friendships change?” To this, I say, “Yes, they will ALL change. The good ones will change for the better, the not-so-good ones will go away and you will build new ones that are healthier and more positive.”

Think about it. If all you have in common with a friend is that you socialize around eating, do you really have that much in common? Shopaholics encounter this too. If they have a change in income level and can’t shop for a while, their shopping buddies disappear! Well, there wasn’t a whole of deep connection or support happening anyway.

You may not have a whole lot of control over other people’s reaction to your personal change. But you can support yourself fully. Be open and honest about what you’re trying to do. Stay motivated no matter what. Never take on negative vibes from anyone else. Keep your goals in mind at all times. In short, be strong!

The longer you work on changing negative habits, the more successful you will be. It’s a persistence game. And, as you stay true to your goals over a substantial period of time, others will see that you are serious and either support you or… go away!

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How to manage Bland Diet

What is a bland diet? It is a diet specially set to treat certain gastrointestinal or stomach problems such as heartburns, ulcers and gas.

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An answer to a question, what is a bland diet, is that it is a simple treatment for people suffering from any one or more gastrointestinal disorders such as chronic gastritis, ulcer, esophagitis and dyspepsia.

Bland diet is a dietary regimen for people suffering from stomach disorders. Hence, it is quite understood that ingredients of a bland diet are soft food items, which are easy to digest with a capacity to keep the acidity to low levels. Questions about diet may be asked to your physicians and he/she can suggest the diet or recommend a dietician to do it.

Diet medical questions may include the queries about the food stuffs to eat and food stuffs to avoid during the time while a person experien ces any gastrointestinal disorders. However, before a dietician could decide the bland diet for a person, he/she needs to seek answers to several medical questions related to the person such as any food allergies or irritations associated with any food items and emotions medical questions of people.

Bland Diet:

The diet prescribed as a bland diet will include food items that are easy to digest and low in fiber and acid contents. Even giving up alcohol and smoking is advised while patient is on bland diet. Also a patient is advised to have 4 to 6 light meals after regular interval to avoid heavy and large meals.

Chewing food properly and eating slowly helps in the digestion of the food. Adequate sleep, avoiding smoking and controlling anxiety are supportive treatments for the standard treatment of the problem.

Allowed Food Items:

• Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, yogurt with low-fats and other dairy products are easily digested and hence, can be included as a part of bland diet. However, there is no restriction on ice-creams and one may consume even ice creams during bland diet, but it should not have any product such as nuts that are not allowed in bland diet.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed to a bland dieter. However, while carrot, squash, green peas are good to eat in a bland diet, broccoli, onions and green peeper should be avoided as it forms gas. In fruits, oranges, grapefruits, and bananas are allowed.

• Proteins
Protein requirement of the body, while on a bland diet should be met with soy products and meat. Fried chicken and greasy hamburgers are not allowed to be consumed, while grilled and baked chicken is allowed.
Low-fat peanut butter and eggs are also efficient to meet the body’s protein requirement in a bland diet.

• Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are contained in whole grain breads, pasta, oatmeal, corn flakes, white rice and sweet potatoes. All these food items are allowed.

Bland diet is designed for treating certain medical circumstances such as gastrointestinal problems. Hence, to answer what is a bland diet, we can say that this is a diet that aims at improving the digestion with the help of a timed-routine diet and soft to digest food items. Once the problem is controlled patients can return to their normal diet.

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Get Slim With Atkins Diet Plan

The Atkins’ diet has been a craze for a couple of decades. Here’s how you can gain from it.

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All of you who are reading this article right now have definitely been on a diet at some point or the other of your lives. The battle of the bulge is an ongoing problem and we are always on the lookout for various means to win this war.

Along with exercise, our diet and nutrition also plays an important role in reducing our weight. Hence, this obsession persists in all of us to undertake some form of dieting. But going on a diet is definitely not an easy thing. What to eat and what to stay away from is always a perennial problem.

One of my friends told me that she ate the normal menu which she cooked for the family, but her weight loss recipe is “portion control.” This is a really simple diet plan. In this plan, you cut down on the portion of food you consume. For example, if you usually have two pieces of toast for breakfast, you should eat only one piece. If you normally eat two cups of rice for lunch, cut it down to one cup. In this way, you are automatically reducing your calorie intake by half.

Another popular method of dieting is to stop all intake of fatty foods and sugar. In this diet, you cut down on your oil, butter and ghee intake which automatically reduces your fat deposits.

While I was leafing through a magazine, I read about one of our Hollywood celebrities following the Atkins’ diet. This immediately aroused my curiosity about the diet. Though I have heard about the diet many times, I had no inside knowledge about it. So, I immediately set to work on it and found out certain basic facts’ about the Atkins diet which I want to share with my readers.

The Atkins’ diet made its first appearance in 1972 and was invented by its namesake, Dr Atkins. According to him, this method enables us to lose weight by inducing a change in metabolism. Our body burns both fat and carbohydrates to provide energy. If we reduce the intake of carbohydrates significantly, our body starts burning only fat to provide energy. This method is called “lipolysis”, which in turn induces ketosis. In ketosis, our body burns fat as fuel. Atkins also felt that ketosis will affect insulin production which will result in less fat being formed. And, once your body enters ketosis, your cravings for carbohydrates will reduce significantly which, in turn, will reduce your body weight.

The major difference between Atkins’ diet and other types of diet is that, while most diets restrict calorie, intake, the Atkins’ plan encourages us to eat more. While most of the diets recommend low fat, high carbohydrate intake, Atkins’ does just the opposite. Instead of carbohydrate and sugar, this diet wants us to consume plenty of fat and protein.

The core principle of the Atkins’ diet is that, by limiting carbohydrates, our body is forced to burn its stored fat, rather than carbs for fuel.

The Atkins’ diet has a four carbohydrates stage plan induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. With the help of these four stages, you can reduce as well as maintain your weight throughout your life.

Induction – phase 1: This phase lasts for two weeks, by the end of which you can obtain significant results. Another point is that, in this diet plan you can begin at any of the phase. But it is recommended to start with induction. As you cut back on your carbohydrates significantly in this phase, you will jump start your weight loss programme. In this phase, only 20 gm of carbohydrates are allowed and hence your weight loss is significant. As you drastically cut down on carbohydrates your body shifts into high gear and starts burning fat. This takes about 48 hours to occur and you may feel hungry and irritated for the first three-four days. But don’t worry, as soon as your fat starts getting converted to fuel, you will feel fit as a fiddle. Induction will strengthen your immune system and also improve our long-term health.

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase 2: In this phase, the weight loss pace slows down as you add nutrient-rich carbohydrates to your diet. During this period, you will boost your body’s ability to burn fats as well as understand your body better. You will find the right amount of carbohydrates which you can consume and still lose weight. Your body will also prepare itself for permanent weight management. The amount of carbohydrates which you can eat is increased to 25 gm per day for the first week and increased in five gm instalment for the next few weeks. If your weight loss is significant, you can increase your carbohydrate intake. A person has to be on OWL till he or she is within three-five kg of their goal weight.

Pre-maintenance – (phase 3): Pre-maintenance is a practice run for lifetime maintenance. In this phase, you are fast approaching your target. As long as you continue to lose weight, you can increase your weekly allotment of carbohydrates by another 10 gm. You will be in this phase till you reach your goal and stay on it for one month. The ultimate goal here is to achieve a state of balance called Atkins’ Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE). The ACE is your individual level of carbohydrate intake wherein you neither gain nor lose weight.

Lifetime maintenance phase 4: In this phase, you have to focus on your individual ACE and strive to stay within two kg of your ideal weight for the rest of your life. By following a sensible eating plan, you gain energy, better health and confidence in yourself.

By following these four phases, you not only achieve your dream weight but are also able to maintain it throughout your life. You can learn more about this diet by reading the book, Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. But, as with any other diet, this plan also has its pros and cons. The good point is that this diet recommends exercise as a vital part of the weight loss programme. Another point to be noted is that you cannot start on carbohydrates after you lose weight as this will result in your gaining back all that you have lost.

Medical experts advise that people who have gout, kidney problems, diabetes or are pregnant women should not follow this diet plan. As this diet is very stringent, do consult your doctor/dietician for proper advice.

Your dietician will provide you with a proper menu chart as to what should be eaten, in what quantities, etc, based on your eating habits and general lifestyle.

Happy dieting and hoping to see slimmer and fitter readers.

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