Rigid thinking, or all-or-nothing thinking
is when you think you're either perfect or a failure,
fantastic, or a loser, on a diet or off a diet.

An example of rigid thinking
with regards to our eating behaviors is:
"What the heck, I've ruined it anyway".

This is the thinking that causes us
to throw all caution to the wind,
and choose to eat whatever, whenever,
and however much we like.

While telling ourselves we'll start again,
…maybe even on a new and different diet plan...
later, tomorrow, or perhaps on Monday,
or perhaps at the beginning of next month.

When the winds blow, a willow sways with them,
while an oak remains still
When a powerful wind comes along,
the willow can bend with the wind and survive it,
but the oak cannot bend,
and so if the wind is strong enough, it will break.

When our thoughts are rigid, just like a stiff tree,
we can easily break. "There goes my diet for today"
Contrast that to an open and flexible attitude,
a middle way, a grey area, which is the place
between eating the whole thing or nothing.

This middle way is: "it's not completely ruined".
The best way to keep ourselves from giving up
when we've taken a misstep,
is to draw our awareness to that middle way,
and be flexible in our thinking.
A partial failure is not a total failure.

If I spilled a bit of food onto a favorite dress I was wearing,
taking care of that mishap right away,
as soon as possible, could salvage my dress.

But if I think "Well, it's ruined anyway",
I'm less likely to get the stain out before it sets.
Even with that rigid mindset.
.......with regards to the spilt food misstep,..... 
I'd be unlikely  to react by choosing to immediately
dump the rest of my plate's contents on my dress.

 Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:
1 chicken thigh
salt, pepper, garlic powder, herbs or spices to taste. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking pan with aluminum foil.
Spray nonstick coating on foil.
Place chicken in pan, skin side down
and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and herbs or spices to taste.
Turn chicken skin side up, and add
seasonings to that side. 
Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. 

Makes 1 Serving
1 serving = 

Calories: 160
Net Carbs  1 grams
Protein 21 grams
 

Recently I've been reading several books about
Willpower and Habit, and thinking about those concepts
as they relate to weight-loss and maintenance of weight-loss. 

Information about Habit formation is now a major field of research
in neurology and psychology departments at manyuniversitities and
medical centers, as well as inside corporate labs. 

Computers have greatly increased the ability to analyze data,
and the push to understand how daily habits influence our decisions
is now one of the hottest topics in clinical research. 

Most of us are hardly aware that our habit patterns exist,
but a study from Duke University estimated that habits,
rather than conscious decision-making, shapes 45 percent
of the choices we make every day, and recent discoveries
have begun changing the thinking about dieting, as well as
treatments for anxiety, depression, and addictions. 

Although Habits can be ignored, changed, or replaced,
once the loop in our brains is established, and a habit emerges,
the brain stops fully participating in decision-making. 
So unless one deliberately fights a habit 
- which means finding new cues and rewards -
the old pattern will unfold automatically. 

The book on habit that I'm currently reading is:
"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" (2/28/2012)
by Charles Duhigg.

This morning I posted a new Diet Wisdom video,
What is Food?  
which is located at DietHobby, under DIET WISDOM,  Basics.

Dr. Collins of www.DietHobby.com shares some Basic Concepts of Dieting and Weight-loss.

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

4 packages (32 oz) cream cheese (8 oz packages)
2 cups splenda
5 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray nonstick coating on 9" springform round cake pan.
Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer
Pour into cake pan
Bake for 10 minutes in 375 degree oven.
Reduce heat to 250 degrees and bake an additional hour.
At the end of the hour, remove the cake from the oven
and run a knife around the edge of the pan.
Return cheesecake to warm oven and let it sit until
oven cools..(approximately another hour)
Chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, before serving. 
Cut into 12 pieces. 

Makes 12 Servings
1 serving = 

Calories: 247
Net Carbs  5.7 grams
Protein 7.2 grams