Book review: Thin Commandments Diet You've got to read this.
 

Book Review:
Thin Commandments Diet The 10 No-Fail Strategies For Permanent Weight Loss. By Stephen Gullo, Ph.D.


This is a great book! It doesn’t start with the diet part of losing weight. It starts with strategies, how to prepare yourself to lose weight.

I’ve only finished the first 4 chapters but I wanted to share a couple points that I think really apply to me, maybe it will shed some light for other people too:


Calories are only half of the weightloss equation...welcome to the other half.

Strategy is stronger then willpower
Think historically not calorically
The problem may be in the food, not in you
Structure gives control
Separate mood from food
Take control of your favorite foods
Slips should teach you, not defeat you
Stop feeling deprived
Treat your calories like dollars
Losing weight is half the job; keeping it off is the other half

The F-Q Principle (page 29-30 chapter 2 thinking historically not calorically)
One of the hallmarks of a trigger food is that at the beginning of a diet, you usually give it up, out of an intuitive feeling that it will impede your weight control. But once you’ve lost an amount of weight that pleases you, you feel it’s “safe” to go back to it. At first you are very focused on not abusing that food. You’ll only eat one cookie or a single bread stick and walk away from the rest. But, it’s the beginning of the road backward, although you seldom realize it. If you are thinking calorically, the logic of going back to your old ways proves almost irresistible in the coming days: you had a cookie and didn’t put on any weight so why not do it again? and again? I call it the F-Q principle because once the frequency starts to increase, invariably the quantity will increase as well, until it reaches the amount it was before. And you will gain back all the weight you lost before. Thinking calorically, there is nothing wrong with eating a cookie. Yet this behavior is a bridge back to a pattern of behavior that may be marked by a long history of over eating proving once again that history comes before calories.

Pg 63 (chapter 4: Structure gives control)
“E.A.T.” The Expanding Appetite Theorum: Appetite expands to consume the amount of food presented. At an all you can eat buffet you eat more then a place where the chef places your food on a plate. If you buy the largest box of popcorn at the movies, you’ll eat more popcorn then if you had bought the smallest.

The more precisely structured your food is, the less likely you are to overeat it. Examples: 1 serving of potato if baked is one potato, but you don’t know where to stop if they are mashed. Fresh fruit-if you have a bowl of cut up fruit in the fridge you tend to eat more then if you ate a whole apple or orange. People eat with their eyes as much as they eat with there mouths. The larger serving available the more you will eat.

Many people are Unophobic. Do you feel deprived if you see 1 lonely piece of anything on your plate? A slice of bread or an egg. Do you instantly cheer up if your food has a mate? Cut your serving in half!

(I thought this was funny, because I do think that eggs need to come in 2's and bread does seem lonely if there is only 1, I just thought I was silly :lol: )

Sarahyu, what a great post! I see myself in these ..specially think historically not calorically.. I also "suffer" from what I call "portion distortion". What I think is 1 serving could feed a family of 5.

Thanks for sharing!

I have the same disorder....think there is a 12 step program for it? :?: :lol:

Me 2, who ever says that a container of cool whip is 32 servings obviously has not seen my servings. And jello pudding-how can a small box be 4 servings, yes I know that it's 2 cups of milk but hey, it's milk right? Can't be bad.

Everyone elses 1/2 cup of icecream is a tennis ball size, when I make mine, it's more like a softball size or is it a bigger? I have to really keep an eye on portion sizes because I'm a fast eater and finish what's on my plate before I realize I'm full.

It's amazing the things we learn about ourselves, and it all helps us to be better in control of what we eat. Yeah!

Sarah

I read it 2wks ago-learned a lot of intersting stuff. Like the Neuropeptide Y link-how it can trigger cravings for foods you don't even like-how when you eat when very hungry it can imprint a future craving for this food. ANd I like the way he stresses the importance of food history-how a single cookie may be 70 cal to one person but can lead to 5,000 cal to another.

I also liked the discussion of "boxing in" certain foods (only eating them at predertermind times/events) and "boxing out" others-agreeing to sacrifice certain trigger foods in the name of good health and a healthy weight. He explains that it's best to see it as a liberation rather than a sacrifice bc once you decide that is a red light food you no longer find yourself debating and justifying eating it.

I also like the discussion on the thermogenic affects of certain foods-the only turn off was the emphasis on those dang Scandanavian Crackers :dizzy: And it's not really focused on whole foods as much as low-fat foods.

Yes, those stupid crackers. Can they really be that good? It's just a cracker! I've never even seen them in the store. :lol:

I haven't gotten to the diet part of it yet.

Sarah

Sarah,

I've heard a lot about this book, and will be very interested to hear what you think of it when you have finished it.

I'd like to know if it "fits" with SBD, mainly because I've tried everything out there, and SBD seems to be the best plan for me. I dont want to read something new that doesnt fit and start off doing something different again. :dizzy:

It sounds very interesting so far.

Please keep us updated!

I am getting this book..so interesting, thanks for sharing this info...I relate! ARghhh, unfortunately.

From the SB angle the actual eating plan DOES focus on ways to stay full and not trigger sugar cravings like having protein for breakfast and a protein snack between 3:00-4:00pm etc... but he does rate a list of the "best" diet-friendly foods-all processed. So the actual eating plan would be closer to Phase 2 or 3. Still, the rest of the book was the best part-lots of NEW info (which is pretty hard to find these days) And I really feel like it can help anyone regardless of what WOE they're doing-in fact he mentions that many of his clients follow South Beach, WW, Jenny Craig etc...

I think the first half of the book is helpful no matter what eating plan you use. It's all about strategies, how to change what we've been doing in the past so we can have permenant weight loss this time. LIke I mentioned earlier, he doesn't even start on his diet until the last 1/3 of the book and then a lot of it is recipes. From what I've scanned it looks like it's basically phase 2 of SBD, maybe with a few different things.

I'm basically going to continue with SBD and incorporate some of his ideas about staying on tract. They are so good.

I never recommend books unless I absolutely love them, this is a definate "You have to read this book if you are struggling with the cycle of weight loss and regaining!" Check your local library. That's where I got my copy. I never buy books when I can borrow them. I am taking extensive notes, I find that I retain a lot more when I take notes.

Sarah

Strategy is stronger then willpower.

When food is concerned we often act like children, wanting our way no matter what, blocking out the negative consequences; focusing on a few minutes worth of taste that fills the mouth and lingers for a short while, while completely denying the obvious and discomforting costs.

Foods are not free; you have to wear them for years to come. You can’t eat it all and still be thin.

This scale reviews basic skills and attitudes that you should be maintaining as part of your healthy life way of thin. With it you can track changes in your control skills and thinking in much the same way a diabetic tracks blood sugar. These questions reflect the actions of those who succeed at weight control.


New Scale for dieting Ask your self these questions once a week:

1. Am I going more then 3-4 hours without eating?
2. Am I failing to plan? Letting supplies of healthy foods run out? Going into food situations hungry? Failing to prepare for high-risk food situations and failing to carry a snack?
3. Am I avoiding foods I have a long history of abusing?
4. Am I keeping my moods out of my foods? Am I not eating out of boredom or anger and am I reminding myself in stressful situations that “this is not about food”?
5. Am I keeping problem foods out of the house or out of sight?
6. Am I avoiding high-risk situations (reading dessert menus, looking at the dessert cart, dining in restaurants buffet or family style service)?
7. Am I maintaining finger control? Avoiding mindless nibbling?
8. Am I eating too much of the right foods on my plan?
9. Am I watching for the hidden calories that stop weight loss, salad dressings, butter, oil, sauces and side dishes?
10. Am I reminding myself that this is not about deprivation but doing what works for a happier, healthier life?

Keep a food diary.
Those that maintain a written record of what they’re eating each day lose more weight and do significantly better at keeping it off then those who don’t.

Write down everything you eat, including nibbles. To help identify your patterns, circle your errors: foods that you may have eaten in excessive amounts, foods not on your eating plan, foods with hidden calories.

Think historically not just calorically

Think about your food history-what are your eating patterns?

What are your trigger foods? Your comfort foods? What will you over indulge on a regular basis?

What are the trigger behaviors? Some people are “finishers” (clean plate club) or a nibbler at parties, do you skip meals, food shop after work, wait so long to eat that you arrive at a restaurant staring and you demolish the bread basket before you even order?

What are your trigger times? Most often it’s later afternoon, evenings while waiting for dinner and weekend afternoon at home.

The problem maybe in your food not in you

Neuorpeptide Y: The missing link in craving control
Your response to food is primarily in your own hands. A classic example of how your behavior influences the control of appetite and the success of your diet is the case of neuorpeptide Y.

Have you ever notices that if you’ve gone a number of hours without eating, skipped meals or just eaten too little, by a certain part of the day, usually the late afternoon, your appetite starts to rev up? Well, so does almost everybody else’s.

Why is that? Studies suggest that this clockwork craving may be caused by surging levels of a protein neuorpeptide Y, which may contribute to a “stimulatory effect on food intake, particularly carbohydrate ingestion.”

“If the body has been deprived of sufficient calories during the day, the levels of metabolic regulator neuorpeptide Y will rise once one starts eating. This leads to greater cravings for food, especially carbohydrates…At this point, it’s hard to resist the body’s chemical signal to consume. You turn into an eating automaton, without being aware of it. If you think you’re an intelligent, responsible person, it’s spooky how little control you have over this.”

Neuorpeptide Y is so powerful that it imprints whatever you eat on an empty stomach on your brains craving control center. And these foods, especially simple carbs like sweets, refined flour products and baked goods-deactivate your appetite control mechanism and may ignite increased cravings for more and more even though you intend to “have just a little.”

It’s very critical to understand the interaction of all these processes, which combines to make so many people feel like they lack willpower to fight their seemingly insatiable appetite. When the truth is if you have gone beyond a few hours without eating, then having a cookie, that cookie, instead of satisfying you, becomes a turbocharged appetite stimulant causing you to over eat.


If you sleep too little, you could eat too much. Sleep deprivation is known to jump-start your appetite, particularly carbohydrate cravings. Studies have shown both in animals and humans that being deprived of sleep increased both appetites and food consumption.

Structure gives control:

What all diets have in common is structure. They all achieve weight loss because they give you a blueprint for eating. So why do the vast majority of people who lose weight on diets fail to maintain that weight loss?
When dieters are taught to focus exclusively on calories and carbs, they don’t see anything wrong with fiddling with the structure of their diets. They are led to believe that all that really matters is the “calorie budget”. My client Paula was doing beautifully on her diet until she went back to skipping breakfast because that was her history since childhood. She began “making up” the calories with pizza for lunch. Similarly Sandra eliminated her mid afternoon snack, figuring she’s “lay away” those 200 calories and “spend” them on a dessert after dinner. Ed started his diet by studying low calorie menu plans and prepared all his meals at home. Three weeks later, when he’d lost enough weight to wear his tennis shorts without embarrassment, he went back to eating at his favorite all-you-can-eat restaurant, figuring he could just as easily find low-calorie foods for his plate so it wouldn’t be a problem.

The standard diets actually encourage people to play around with the diet, yet they fail to teach you the right strategies to keep you from returning to out-of-control eating. They don’t help you see the critical connection between structure and weight control.

What is structure?
The timing and frequency of your meals. Do you have established times to eat and do you stick with them? Do you wait until hungry? Do you skip meals? Do you eat quickly?

The type of meal you eat. Is it a real meal or a quick snack in place of a meal? Is it adequate to carry your through the day?

How your home food shopping gets done.
Time of the day and what is bought?

The ways your meals are served- Buffet or family style? Individually plated? Standing up?

Your eating structure is either a bridge to control or it promotes failure in weight loss. People with weight problems are most often people who have no structure in the critical areas of eating behavior.

Structure is the craving killer.
“The Four S’s”: Seeing, Smelling, Stress and StarvationAlmost all cravings come from the Four S’s. They throw a lethal curve at your ability to control what you eat. We are powerfully guided by our senses. Marketing people do everything in their power to keep the food in front of your eyes and if they can get you to smell the food when you are hungry, that’s even better.

By giving yourself a solid structure of frequent meals and snacks everyday, you protect yourself against the siren songs of the Four S’s. It’s simply a physiological fact that if you go too long without eating, your blood sugar falls and you are more prone to feel stressed and irritable. You may not be aware that you are setting yourself up to be overcome by cravings since your mind is preoccupied with the activities of the day. But as soon as you encounter the sight or smell of a food you like, it will have an impact on your appetite that is a thousand times more powerful then if you encountered those same foods on a full stomach. Your chances of being selective about what you eat and the amount you eat now are almost nonexistent.

When you wait until you feel hungry before you eat, you jump-start the production of neuorpeptide Y which can lead to uncontrollable cravings. And once this happens it’s like losing the brake on your appetite and you become an eating automaton.



Do you want me to stop? I'm only up to chapter 4. This is such great stuff. I've recognized so many things that I do myself. It's really helped motivate me to change what I'm doing in my life now.

Sarah

Sarah, you are a gem! Thank you for giving so much of your time to share your lessons learned and information from this book. I know I am just one of many that are very grateful :grouphug:

Weekends tend to be my problem times, I can do pretty well through the week but once I lose the structure of work and not being allowed to eat at my desk, boredom sets in and the horrible munchies attack. I can go through quite a bit of food while I'm watching TV.

This Saturday morning, after I finished my running class and getting the groceries, I sat down in front of the tv. Slowly and quietly the insidiuos muchines starting taking ahold of me and I was wondering the kitchen cabinets wondering what I could munch on. I thought about what I had read last week and decided to figure out what was triggering this munchy attack.... And then it dawned on me... The 4 S's. I was watching cooking shows on PBS. I was seeing all that food being prepared and listening to them talk about how good it smelled and tasted. I turned off the tv and found something else to do with my hands for the afternoon and didn't eat anywhere near the amount of food I usually go through on a weekend. Yeah for learning!

Sarah

Way 2 go Sarah on using the tools of the knowledge you've gained! :bravo:

We were bottling our wines at the winery yesterday and they always have a yummy buffet with all these wonderful foods. I put on a small plate only those foods that I felt were OP...and controlled my portion size :) I passed by the cake ....only to be confronted with a bowl full of nuts. Nuts are my biggest trigger food...so I thought about them historically-- and how I have "abused" them ... and I passed them up...(now they did try to call out to me in their little siren song... but I turned a deaf ear!) :lol:

I think I shall award each of us BEACH BADGES for Jobs WELL DONE! :flow1: :flow1:

I want to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" but I'm afraid I'll want to eat a vat of chocolate when I get out. I guess I'll have to make sure I have eaten a full meal before I go and sneak in some healthy veggies sticks to snack on :lol:

Sarah

Sarah- I did have a horrible experience after seeing that movie! I ate up half our OP chocolate peanut butter cookies! EEk! Thanks for sharing, this is great stuff.

Thanks for the great post!

excerpts from Chapter 5-6
 

V. Separate mood from food
Sometimes eating is not about food. The obvious reason that people use food to change their mood is that the food they are abusing tastes food. Almost all mood eaters reach for snacks with a sweet taste or creamy texture or they want crunchy texture that is sweet or salty. These tastes and textures provide mood eaters with immediate satisfaction. Crunching on something may actually relieve pent-up emotions in the same way pummeling a pillow would. And when you keep such snacks around the house eating to spill your emotions becomes more user-friendly and immediate.

Mood eating is a learned behavior, and fortunately anything learned can be unlearned.

For the overwhelming majority, mood eating isn’t about food and it’s not about fine dining. It’s about snacking and grabbing whatever is around your immediate environment that looks interesting.

Mood eating is about immediacy-right now.

Most mood eaters share this common pattern:
It’s almost always
the same food: most often they prefer bite size foods that they can keep popping into their mouths almost independent of whether they are hungry or not.
Same place: most often in the kitchen,
Same time of day: late afternoon, evening.
Same moods: anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment or boredom are the common triggers.
Same people: Mood eaters become stressed by the same people over and over again, parent, spouse, child, boss
Same situations: mood eaters snack because they become stressed by the same situations ove and over again or they’re bored and eating becomes “something interesting to do”
Same quantities of food: Mood eating is almost always about volume. Whether frustrated or bored, a mood doesn’t go away with 1 M&M. As the mood lingers, people want the eating to linger also so they choose snacks with a “long-eating” time like a bag of M&M’s
Same reason: Mood eaters want a treat or comfort from the food. That is why mood eating is almost always done with a food they buy and bring home for themselves; even if they may believe they bought it for others.
If you’re frequently a mood eater, there’s a very good chance that you do it because of the same moods caused by the same people and the same situations that caused you stress before and you do mood eating alone in the same place at the same time of day and with the same food nearly every time. Once you realize your mood eating is totally predictable, you can control it with strategy.
The best place to end mood eating is not in the psychiatrist’s couch. It’s the supermarket. If you know you have a tendency to eat when you are upset, don’t buy snacks you habitually abuse when you are stressed.

The interesting and wonderful thing about ending the pattern of mood eating is that when snacks aren’t immediately available, almost all mood eaters automatically busy themselves with a non-eating activity which disperses their energy. In the end, no matter what the burdens and stresses of your life may be, you can’t eat what’s not there.

When we hit a real crisis, a death or serious illness of a friend or loved one, we don’t eat. It’s actually the day-to-day annoyances, not the profound upsets that prompt mood eaters to reach for their snacks. Almost all mood eating is about simply getting rid of the stressful day or event. It’s about immediately substituting a pleasurable feeling for an unpleasant one. That’s why when the shock of a genuine crisis hits us, it never occurs to us to open up a bag of chips.

Strategies for stress on the horizon
When stress looms—youngest going off to kindergarten, the older brother that spoils every family occasion. One day of stress doesn’t have to become a legacy of fat.

1. Write out what you will eat for that day in advance. Direct your psyche to thinking in terms of these foods only and avoid all others.
2. Plan which snacks you are going to eat and keep all others out of sight.
3. Plan to avoid trouble. Don’t drive down the road that takes you right past your favorite bakery on a day you know you will be stressed out. Take all the change out of your pockets if you know you’ll be passing by vending machines

If you can’t stop it, switch it. Most stress eaters are very open to switching foods that have similar characteristics to the food they abuse, but which aren’t’ as fattening. They will even feel better immediately if they switch to a food that is healthy for them. Go for a crunchy whole grain waffle for cookies, drop the junk food snacks and eat as many raw green beans as you want.

If you stop and reflect, most of the annoyances that prompt you to mood eat are not as important as the harm you do to your body and psyche by perpetuating a cycle of mood eating. You perpetuate a sense of being unable to cope without dependence on food.

Whenever you use strategy, it puts you in control. Strategy empowers you to deal with the agenda of your life. You are no longer reacting as a victim but as a leader in your own life.

Are you a boredom eater?
Once of the surprising things I’ve discovered about boredom eaters is that, unlike mood eaters, the act of snacking is more important to them than what they snack on. While most mood eaters aren’t really happy unless they can munch on their favorite snacks, boredom eaters will eat anything so long as it fills up time and they can easily pick at if from the kitchen counter, refrigerator or cabinets.
Planning is the cure for boredom eating. Doing just about any activity you can think of that’s legal is a better use of your time then boredom eating.
But even the most organized people can end up with unstructured time on their hands. If you are a boredom eater, keep a plate of raw vegetables or single serving bags of popcorn on hand. Especially avoid bringing home the fascinating finger food you see in the market.

VI. Taking control of your favorite foods

Take control of your favorite foods, so they don’t take control of you.

Box in your favorite foods-the strategy will allow you to master your favorite foods, once and for all, may be the most powerful tool you can take from this book.

Whether you include a food in your diet regularly or only on special occasions will depend on the food and your personal history with it.

Limit frequency: only at a specific time, designated days, only in restaurants or when served you at a party.
Limit Availability: Keep tempting foods out of your line of vision at home, avoid eye contact with them in restaurants and other social events. One of the major triggers for wanting something is seeing it and smelling it.
Limit quantity: Buy your favorite foods in single serving sizes, and don’t store it in large quantities.

Boxing in is especially important around the holidays. Weight gain over the holiday season doesn’t come from one feast. The danger is in the foods and the trays of baked goods left out in the office and home in the days before and after the holidays as well as the leftovers. The secret to getting through these events in your life is to box in special meals on the holiday itself or the evening before rather than to randomly eat whatever you see, whenever you see it throughout the season.

Your lifelong success at weight control depends on how well you handle the foods that tempt you the most.

Anything you love that you can truly control can be part of your life forever.

Taking control of a food that doesn’t work for you.
You think about a food more and more often even though you may be eating it regularly.
Your cravings return or increase
You continually renegotiate the terms of the agreement you made with yourself so you can eat the food more often.
When you stop or limit the food you lose eight
You break promises to yourself about how much or how often you’ll consume it.

If you recognize these symptoms, don’t kid yourself. Talking about just a little or just this once is the road back to fat. In such a situation it’s time to admit that a food doesn’t work for you. It’s time to BOX it out of your life.

Boxing out a food is not about deprivation, but liberation.

In choosing to avoid a certain food, you are freeing yourself from constant weight problems, cravings and the unending battle with temptations that wear down your will power.
Getting rid of a food that’s sabotaged you, again and again.
1. Shift your thinking. By making a conscious choice to avoid one food or type of food, you know that you can eat it any time you want, but if you do, you will be depriving yourself of a lifetime of being thin and in control.

2. Set a date that you are going to stop eating it and reward yourself for the decision. Tell yourself you can eat again when you turn 75 or buy yourself a new outfit in a size smaller.

3. Tell yourself: It’s not an option. The human psyche is prone to negotiate boundaries where pleasure is involved, but when it hears an unequivocal “NO!” it becomes surprisingly obedient and respects the line.

4. Remember to think historically. Taste buds don’t care if they get a little bite or many bites, once they’ve reactivated, they’re back in control. After that, eating your trigger foods is like throwing gas on a fire.

5. Avoid eye contact, what you can’t see you won’t crave so much

6. Don’t allow thinking that sabotages you. Don’t tolerate an inner voice that speaks to you about your problem food. Avoid reading about it in recipes, magazines and restaurant reviews.

7. Give up the resentments and thinking, “It’s not fair.” Wayne Dyer counsels that when you are filled with resentments you turn over control of your emotional life. But when you depersonalize an issue, you have no need to feel resentment and you immunize yourself against negativity and doubt. Remember the problem may be in the food and not in you , so it doesn’t work for you unless you want to wear it.

8. Cut of food curiosity. If you’ve given up desserts, don’t visit the dessert table for “just a look” . If pasta is your problem, don’t study the spaghetti and ravioli section in a restaurant menu. You have no reason to give your problem food any role in your life.

9. Make a public announcement about your food choices. If you tell everyone at a party or at your table that you don’t eat a certain food, you commit yourself to not eating it. The power of embarrassment is greater than will power.

10. Try not to buy it for your house or buy a substitute. If you must buy it for family members, select a small supply or substitute with a variety that’s less a problem for you.

11. Reinforce your commitment with the single most powerful statement that supports your resolve: If I don’t begin; I don’t have a problem.

12. Reward yourself, replace the food treat psychology of your childhood with the adult reward system of a new outfit, vacation or something special you want. You deserve rewards and being trim is one of them.

I enjoy a good read. I just requested it from my library. Thanks!

oooh Sarah, I need time to digest all this cuz I feel I few whacks on the head...
thunderstruck by a few of these things...need to process .... but wanted to once again Thank you for taking your time to post this ... still cant express how grateful I am for these pearls... ;) thanx

Sarah thanks so much for sharing this with all of us. :thanks:

I have got to share this with you guys, since I've started applying these stategies to my eating, the scale has started to move downward again after an entire year long plataeu.

I've passed up numerous treats from co-workers that I previous would have eaten because I'd been so good the previous week, working on changing my attitude about the childish food rewards.

And speaking of childish food rewards, Have you seen the Healthy Choice ice cream commercial? The little girl is very sad, and tells her mother that she was picked last for the team so her Mom pulls out the ice cream and gives her a scoop to make her feel better and the little girl keeps adding more to her story to make it more pitiful-it started to rain, she had to stand in a puddle and with each addition line, Mom gives her another scoop of ice cream. After 3 scoops the little girls starts to smile.

When I think about needing a reward for something, I think of that commercial and how silly it is to think that some food will make it all better in the long run.

Has anyone else bought or read the book yet? What do you think? Are you getting tired of me talking about this and about ready to tar and feather me for bringing it back up so often :lol: ?

Sarah

That commercial bugs me. And it's certainly not what I want to teach my son!

I haven't read the book but I certainly appreciate what you have posted here.

I think that is teaching our children, exactly what we are trying to unteach ourselves. Food is not a reward....We need to teach our childrent to be healthy!!

Sarah I to dislike the commercial. I also think it is wonderful that you are sharing all of this from the book with us. I have found it very interesting and when/if my life ever slows down again so I can read I am going to get it and read it myself.

Thanks Sarah you Rock! I have saved a lot of this in my inbox, so that I have access to the info, which I have e-mailed on to some friends and family members. Thanks again, you don't know how many people you have affected by posting this! Thanks

excerpts from chapter 7
 

Chpater VII. Slips should teach you, not defeat you.
"Error control is the essence of weight control. Don’t say “I blew it” if make an eating mistake. Don’t under eat in an attempt to compensate for cheating the previous day. Discover your predictable pattern in eating mistakes. Use binge-busters to end cravings. Don’t go hungry.
Find something to do such as read, knit, to help get your mind off your cravings. Think substitution not deprivation. Put a negative association with the foods that tempt you the most.

Know your pattern and you can predict your behavior. Errors almost always follow a typical pattern. Unlock you REP (Repeating eating pattern)
What type of food?
What type of mood?
What environment?
What people were with you?
What time was it?
No fail strategies to prevent your eating mistakes:
1. Break availability
2. Delay
3. Use binge-busters: sugar blocker gum, halls sugar free mentho-lyptus drops, Listerine breath strips.
4. Don’t go hungry
5. Avoid packaging temptation-pretty packaging temp you into eating.
6. Use blocking behaviors-carry a clutch purse at a party so you can’t carry a plate full of food.
7. Diversion-chose another activity you find absorbing.
8. Talk to yourself in a new way
9. Think substitution, not deprivation.
10. Mental rehearsal-Identify what foods you will find most tempting and rehearse being around it. “I will smell pizza at the door, or smell cookies baking” Then tell yourself, “I doesn’t work for me. I don’t want to wear it.” Then put a negative association with the food-a picture of yourself at your highest weight or imagine the food going to your thighs or butt. "



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Just curious, did anyone else read this book? Several of you said you were going to. What did you think?

Sarah

Sarah, just a bit of a concern. When you post huge pieces from a published work, you could be violating copywright. We sure don't want 3FC sued. It's OK to post a link or small pieces but they should be in quotes and attribute to the work.
It's all good stuff to share but we have to be careful in this day and age! :(

Quick Diet Trick
 

When the munchies start, paint your nails... You can't eat when your nails are wet... And, if you hate having colored nails, just use clear.... It also works with your toes - If you toenails are wet - You can't walk to the fridge:)

Thanks for recommending this book, Sarah. I just ordered a copy for myself and one for a weight loss buddy. I'm looking forward to reading it. While quoting extensively may pose a problem, I hope the publishers will realize how many more books they have sold because of you spreading the word! Thanks!

Heidi, we had a big problem with some quotes a while back so are having to cover out butts.

I am new here.. but I really enjoyed reading your post Sarah... I definitely need to get that book.....India :)

:o Yes I did go a little over board when I posted this. Don't do as I do, do as the mods say, we don't want to get anyone in trouble. I won't be posting anymore, and if needed, I'll delete the big posts. Ruth said it was ok for now just don't do it again.

Here are a website with official excerpts from the author:
http://www.power-surge.com/educate/diet_weight.htm

And this one is a review from WebMD:
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/...000_1000_lb_05

Sarah

Good stuff, Sarah. We don't get in trouble posting that kind of links. Please do continue to post bits and pieces of good stuff though. They are inspiring.

Amen, Sarah, definitely post links and feel free to mention, recommend (or condemn) resources, okay? That helps us all out a lot! We just have to watch that we aren't posting huge direct quotes and violating copyright law. It's really complicated stuff :dizzy: and it's easy to violate that law and get the chicks in trouble. :yikes: I know you would never do that on purpose! :D But don't be afraid to post the links and other info so we can go look it up ourselves. That's awesome! :grouphug: