By Deanna Adler
“It’s a lifestyle not a diet.”
Have you heard those words before? Actually, have you heard them so many times that they don’t even mean much anymore? I know; me, too. When I struggled with a weight problem, I heard this so often that eventually, I just tuned it out. I had failed at “making it a lifestyle” so many times that I didn’t even give it a second thought. It hadn’t worked for me and I wasn’t listening.
Have you ever heard a familiar song on the radio and suddenly realized that you had never really heard the words before? Maybe it meant something totally different than what you had thought? That’s what happened to me with this phrase. I finally tuned in to “It’s a lifestyle, not a diet,” and it’s my hope that slowing down and breaking it down will allow you to apply it to your own life, too.
When it finally made sense, here’s what it allowed me to do:
1) Stop my “DIET” thinking and find a healthy way of eating that I could maintain forever.
- No more drastic measures like cutting whole food groups or following ridiculous food plans. Have you done the cabbage soup or grapefruit diets? Wow! I was left either insatiably craving the villain foods or being so sick of allowable foods that I couldn’t endure anymore. Those plans set me up for failure.
- No more concoctions of pills or other remedies that were just downright unhealthy.
2) Make peace with the fact that I needed to be on food defense forever. Just as an alcoholic needs to have rules around alcohol, I needed rules around food. At first, I didn’t like that one bit. I wanted to eat what everyone else ate and not think about it, but the reality was that I had an unhealthy relationship with food. When I came face to face with what was going on, my obsessive thoughts about food weren’t normal in any way. I had to come to a place of acceptance that my behaviors weren’t just going to go away and I needed to deal with them on an ongoing basis.
3) Get to the bottom of why food was so satisfying and comforting to me in the first place. I can assure you, if you have a weight problem like I had, you’re not there simply because you like food. The problem is that you get too much pleasure from food. Period. You must figure this out and change it.
Writing these things here may sound simplistic but I assure you, they will require time, effort and persistence to resolve.
If you are someone who struggles with extra weight, I encourage you to read this old catchphrase again, “It’s a lifestyle, not a diet.” Slow down and ask yourself what that means to you. Do you believe it? Can it work for you? What does it look like in your life?
Becoming healthy is a complicated effort and I hope you’ll get in touch with me if you have questions, ideas, or a need for support. You can email me at deanna@deannaadler.com.
Remember, the only limit to what is possible is what you choose to believe.
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Deanna Adler is a weight loss coach and motivational speaker who works with women all across the country to battle the weight issues that so many of us face. With a wonderful husband, three great kids and a personal 125 pound weight loss story, she has one hand clutching God and the other wading through the trials of life. Deanna can offer you encouragement, Godly perspective and insight that can help you become free of the chains that have bound you for too long. Visit her website at www.deannaadler.com to read her personal weight loss story and more information about coaching/speaking.
If the current trend continues, by the year 2015, 75% of Americans will be morbidly obese. That means that in the very near future, there will be significantly more people extremely overweight than those who are not. Obesity and obesity-related medical conditions are on the rise and have reached epidemic proportions. What has happened? Why do we have such a problem? 
If you believe everything suggested by the diet industry and the media, the only way to lose weight is to never touch a piece of fruit, a slice of bread, or a bowl of pasta again! Not only is this way of thinking inconvenient, it could also be harmful.