We’re off to see the wizard! The wonderful wizard of food!!. This is a reference to one of the most played classic movies, “The Wizard of Oz”, but it perfectly illustrates the billion-dollar diet and weight loss industry in the United States today. Many people start off on the “yellow brick road” to ultimate wisdom when it comes to losing weight and being healthy. Every diet guru thinks they have the answer to your problems when it comes to eating. The truth is that there is not one book, video, TV talkshow expert or CD that has all the answers. So…after trying every new approach you can think of, most people just say to themselves “I can’t do this!,” or “I was just meant to be big.” If you are familiar with the Wizard of Oz story, you know that all the characters in the movie are wanting and reaching for some quality about themselves that they already had within them the whole time. What they had to learn was how to see that they were already brave, kind, and smart. For me, deep down I knew that all the sugar and heavy types of foods I was eating was not going to get me to the World Triathlon Championships, and I already had the knowledge and tools necessary to eat for success.

One day in February of 2004 I decided to create a plan and just do it! To educate myself on what may work for permanent weight loss I read the Atkins Plan, the South Beach Diet, The Paleo Diet for Athletes and more. What I came up with is this – eat like you are a diabetic to control your rise in blood sugars. This will keep the fat burning mechanisms in your body going strong. Pick the most whole form of the foods you eat with a lot of fruit and vegetables. Limit your intake of fatty meats, high fat dairy products, and highly processed foods. But MOST OF ALL, and for me this is true, you must first totally accept who you are now as OK – a whole, complete person with nothing wrong. All the guilt, blame, and closet eating gets you is more stress, so thus more eating. You ARE beautiful and capable just how you are!! There may be health issues you really “need” to address, but by accepting yourself how you are RIGHT NOW, you can finally have the freedom to choose another way of eating.

The next step is to be aware of what you are actually eating. My natural tendency is to graze all day long and eat whenever I feel like it. Sometimes for hunger, but also for avoiding things I don’t want to do or to escape from the stress of life. Until I started writing down everything I eat I was not aware of the large amount of food I was consuming. After a while I didn’t have to do that anymore, but for at least 6 months I did it almost every day! I would also plan ahead if I was going to a party or wedding. I would bring some sugar-free chocolate in my purse, or just eat before I left for the event.

The third step is to have a certain goal set up in the future. What worked for me was entering a triathlon or running race. Just having a clothing size goal or weight loss goal was not motivating for me. The fact that I wanted to do my very best in the race was the thing I thought about and kept me going on the days when I felt like gorging on unhealthy food. It was also motivating that once I got rid of the refined sugars in my diet I did not feel the large swing in energy I did before. When you eat refined carbohydrates you feel so tired after a few hours, so then you need it again to feel normal again. It’s a cycle that is tough to break, but with a strong commitment it can be done! I am proof of that, as this is the ONLY method of weight loss that has worked for me longer than a few weeks. It’s now been 2 ½ years and I still stick to the main principles of this plan.

The very last step and one that is essential for success is that you believe you can do it! You must be willing to speak positively about yourself and your chance of being successful, or any intention of changing your habits will remain just a thought. For me, praying helped a lot. It helped me believe in myself and put positive thoughts in my head. I also turned to my husband and my friends when I was stressed rather than eating to deal with it. It takes time, planning, and focus to make it work, but you can do it if you just start by expecting the best from yourself. It may be the 50th diet you have attempted, but if you consider that you can eat like this for the rest of your life, it WILL WORK!