They talk about it all the time, they read books on diets and dieting, they buy magazines on dieting and they buy all sorts of dieting paraphernalia over the years. The only thing is …  I thought you were meant to enjoy your hobbies.

Time for a different one?

Posted by Stephen

… or at least the word has, because people associate dieting with feeling unhappy, with how they are looking and feeling and how deprived they are because they can’t eat all the yummy things that got them over weight in the first place.

Apart from it being a bit strange that people miss the things that make them feel so bad it seems a bit daft to hate doing something that will make you feel much better.

All successful dieters loved the results they got and so felt better when they look in the mirror.

When you do anything well you should feel good about it so:

1. Why should dieting be a chore?
2. Why would you want to put it off?
3. If you feel uncomfortable looking and feeling good, what’s going on???

If dieting is not pleasureable then something is going a little wrong

If you are dreading being slim as much as you want it go and listen to yourself as to why.

I recently gave a suit to my dad that no longer fits me. It was an expensive suit but I was too slim to feel good when I wore it, so I was happy to give it to him.

- If I didn’t feel comfortable giving away something I would never need again I would still have a problem.

- If I hesitated to give it to him because I was worried I might need it again I would still have a problem.

I got a lot of pleasure out of giving him the suit.

How much pleasure can you have as you get slim?

Posted by Stephen

Many dieters avoid mirrors because they only see the things they don’t like.

It basically works like this:

1. Our brain tells us what it wants us to pay attention to and deal with

2. We look in the mirror and we see wobbly bits

3. We say “arrrghhhh” or something similar

4. We get annoyed, upset and perhaps motivated to go on a diet

5. We fail another diet because this type of motivation guarantees failure

6. We look back in the mirror, get upset and eat to comfort ourselves

7. Go back to number 1.

If you have joined in one of the free guided sessions or have got the toolkit you will know that this sort of motivation does not work. But that’s not how your brain sees it. It is only trying to help.

Mirrors are what we use to motivate us or see how we are doing but remember we see with our brains and not with our eyes and our brains can easily distort what is really there and can easily lead us in the wrong direction.

So, if that’s the average, that means there are lots of people who think about food for far longer than that. I guess the fact you are reading this means you are above this 87 minutes mark.

Some people have obviously got to be on the other side of the equation and think about food far less. People who don’t have an eating problem simply can’t understand why anyone would think about food so much, but a problem eater is often consumed by it.  Sorry about the pun.

I like research like this because it does highlight what is going on, but the question is what do we do with it? Usually not much, it hits the headlines for while and has its 10 minutes of fame and then we wait for the next headline.

So let’s do something useful with it and use it to help you on your journey. If you are a Toolkit Member here is an Emergency Breakdown audio for you on how to cut this 87 minutes down.

[Content protected for How Many Calories Toolkit members only]

He reported back to me, with some considerable surprise, that the people who he thought really wanted to deal with their weight loss problems didn’t and others who he didn’t think were that committed to making the changes they need to make grasped an opportunity he gave them to really deal with the underlying reasons why they over ate.

You can’t deal with any problem unless you are committed to dealing with every aspect of it. If you leave any stone unturned that will probably be the one that messes everything up.

In terms of your own weight loss and dieting, what don’t you want to deal with?

What aspect of dieting or being slim are you worried about or think you can’t handle?

People who have completed the How Many Calories Travel Guide or attended the How Many Calories Workshop thought the same as you until they were shown that there is a solution but, as always, the first step is to acknowledge what you want to avoid.

It would seem reasonable to get some support and who better than a friend or a relative who is in a similar position to you? Wrong.

The trouble is they won’t be in a similar position. They will have different reasons why they over eat and they will get different results from doing exactly the same diet as you. No one will get the same results even if they do exactly the same thing and that is where the problems usually start.

The differences in success can create all sorts of issues between people.

Sometimes the more successful dieter feels guilty and sabotages themselves so their friend does not feel bad. Other times the less successful dieter feels bad and tries to sabotage their friend! Sometimes it can even turn into a race but of course only one person can win a race.

All successful dieters do it just for themselves and if you are in competition with someone else, or care about someone else’s results, then you are no longer doing it just for you.

But lastly, friends are generally too kind to each other and will let each other off the hook which means they are let off the hook in return if things are not going well. Does this sound like most diet clubs too?

We are very excited
to be launching the

BLOG today!

Through our company Certain Change we’ve been looking for ways to offer an improved service by sharing more of our knowledge and experience to those who are interested.

The How Many Calories blog is focused purely on
helping people with weight and eating issues.

So, what’s it all about?

Sharing useful and practical information on the world of weight management.

Who is it for?

Anyone who struggles with their weight, has a tendency to binge eat, yo-yo diet, over eat or who just wants to lose a few pounds.

BE WARNED! IT IS NOT ANOTHER DIET!

How Many Calories will not:

• tell you what to eat
• tell you how many calories to put in your mouth
• tell you what exercises to do
• recommend any diets or diet companies

The information on How Many Calories is based on thousands of hours working with people with eating problems and weight issues that has shown me what works… and that’s not about what you put in your mouth, but what you’ve got going on in your head.

The How Many Calories approach is the same one I use for any problem and that is all about finding the root of the problem rather than simply treating the symptom – in this case of over eating, bingeing, etc.

To truly succeed you have to get
the right mental attitude in place.

I will be helping you understand and deal with the emotional reasons behind your eating habits, rather than give you stuff that treats the symptom.

The blog starts today!

If you’d like more than just the blog there are more tools and resources on offer, some of it free and some of it paid for:

1) Register: on the Free Stuff page for access to a range of useful articles and audio programmes that will help you get on the right track on your weight management journey.

2) Subscribe: If you want the all singing, all dancing, jam packed, ‘I mean business‘ package then the How Many Calories Toolkit is for you.  Yes, it costs money – £17.95 per month for as long as you choose to subscribe – BUT if you use the raft of material available to you within the Toolkit you will get slim and stay slim.  It’s a simple as that … and how much do you spend on takeaways every month?

Want to know more?

Listen to this short audio: Welcome to How Many Calories

My goal

Whatever you decide to do, my goal is to help A LOT of people so I’d like to ask for your help spreading the word.

If you know anyone … friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbours, children … who need a helping hand resolving their weight problems and eating habits, please let them know about HowManyCalories.co.uk.

Thank you

Stephen