A basic idea is to develop sustainable habit that lead to reaching and maintaining a lower weight. One needs the behavior of consistently eating in a manner that results in one’s food intake totaling the same ...for maintenance.. or less…for weight-loss.. caloric energy than one’s body uses.
This is simple, but not easy.

 There is no one list of “correct” eating habits for everyone.   There are some who need to combine exercise with diet, but there is no magic highway to success.  We all have to find our own way.  We have to find what works for us.

And I have learned that…over time…what works individually may change.

As part of my Dieting Hobby, I read many diet books.
Here's a link to a video I previously posted about that practice.

I also experiment personally with various diets. Here at DietHobby, sometimes I will share information about this in detail, and other times, I will not.

This week I’ve been reading “Weight Loss for Food Lovers” (2008) by George Blair.
After I’ve finished reading it, while I’m still processing the ideas presented, I will probably share some of the concepts that I find interesting, but I don’t plan to do a summary or detailed book review.

My overall goal is NOT to provide a comprehensive review of all the various diets, or even of my all own personal ways of eating. My goal is to share the information that I find interesting along with my thoughts, as they occur, which I find helpful to me in my own maintenance.

 Everything I do here at DietHobby is to help me maintain my weight-loss. Hopefully some of the things I share will also be helpful to others. I welcome questions, ideas, and opinions from readers.  Unless on extremely private issues, I prefer to see them in the Comments section, so that everyone can participate in any discussion, but e-mails are also welcome.  My intention is to respond individually to each one.
Thanks for being here. 

Forgiving ourselves isn’t about forgetting.
It’s about not bringing the offense up to ourselves in negative ways.
Forgiving ourselves is simply letting go
of what we are holding against ourselves
so that we can move on.
It’s important to learn from mistakes.
What good are mistakes if we don’t learn from them?
They are bound to come up again if we don’t correct the problem the first time.
There are some things that are hard to grasp the first time around
and we may not even realize that it is a problem,
but if it comes around over and over again
we should recognize that something is probably wrong somewhere.
Learning and growing is a never-ending process,
so we need to get a clue as soon as possible and save ourselves a lot of aggravation. 

Even though we make mistakes,
It’s important not be too hard on ourselves.
Being human means that we won’t be perfect
….so accept it and move on.
This will make us happier and give our self-esteem a positive break.

  We need to forgive ourselves.
It is okay to ask God and/or others to forgive us,
but it is also important that we forgive ourselves.
Forgiving ourselves gives us freedom from guilt and pain
and it helps us move on with life in a positive way.
Each of us can be our own worst enemy so we need to forgive ourselves
and choose to be happy with our decisions and the rest of our lives.

Each of us needs to follow our own path.
There is a certain path that everyone must take for himself or herself.
Following someone else’s path for our lives can lead us
down a long road full of sorrows.

  I pray for guidance in finding my own path
and believe that my Higher Power is directing me.
When we find ourselves taking a detour,
we need to have the courage to stop, turn around,
and get back on our own true path.

Forgiving ourselves doesn’t let us off the hook,
it doesn’t justify what we have done,
and it isn’t a sign of weakness.
Forgiveness is a choice that takes courage and strength,
and it gives us the opportunity to become an overcomer
rather than remaining a victim of our own scorn.

I like the way I look at a normal weight.
I don’t walk past a mirror or reflective glass
without taking a look and admiring my handiwork.
Most of the time when I look in a mirror, 
my reaction is “Damn, I look good!”

I could offset that paragraph by telling you
about the imperfections my body still carries.
But I’m not going to.
I believe in focusing on the positive.
I’m not going to let the “flaws” negate the positive traits. 
 I love my body just the way it is, the way it was,
and the way it is will be.

I am no longer waiting for perfection that will never arrive
before I decide I can love myself.
If I could give one piece of advice
toward the goal of accepting your body,
it would be to let go of the idea of Perfection.

Let go of the idea that there is something wrong with you.
Let go of the notion that if you could look just a little better,
you would be able to love yourself.
Realize that self acceptance is a choice completely independent
of your physical appearance.
Realize that Perfection does not exist.

It has always been my choice what food I eat and how much.
It has always been my choices that created the shape of my body.
I have to choose to eat the right amount, not too much and not too little.
The hardest part of learning this was admitting to myself
that all the mistakes I had made were choices I made.
It would be really easy to place blame on outside factors,
but that would be false.

 I can’t control the circumstances of my life
or the actions and words of others.
I can only control my reactions.
I accept that many negative things that have gone on in my life
have been due to my own choices. At the same time, I forgive myself.
This comes back to not expecting myself to be perfect.

There is a huge difference between accepting responsibility and placing blame.
Yes, I’ve dealt with some difficult situations in my life in less-than-healthy ways.
But it was not the difficult situations that caused this.
It was my own choices in how I dealt with them.
By saying this I am not saying that everything is my fault.
I am only acknowledging that it is my choice to make changes.

It really is 99% mental.
Is losing weight or maintaining weight loss really difficult?
Yes.

But the actions to take are pretty straight forward.
Eat less. Move more. Everybody knows it.
Deciding to do it, believing you deserve it,
sticking with it… those are the hard parts.
Not because we don’t know how, but because we have
so many mental and emotional barriers in our way.
 We can love ourselves
and still desire to change our body size.
Let’s be mentally kind to ourselves while we deal
with changing the behaviors that determine our body size.

We all make mistakes.
It is simply a part of every life.
This lifestyle change that we are involved in is not easy.
Anything of real value never is.

Success requires hard work, dedication and sacrifice.
It's a lot more than counting calories, fat or carbs.
It means there are days you look in the mirror
and you tell yourself that unless you alter some of your behavior,
you are not going to be the success you hope to be.

 I know, I am there. I am learning,
I am moving forward, even on the days that I feel like giving up.

We live in a world that suggests "magic" and "easy" at every twist and turn.
We have come to believe that if we simply buy a potion or pill,
subscribe to a web-site and buy a video, health and happiness instantly occurs.
But truly, it's very hard work and sometimes it’s hard work I don't enjoy.

A half-cup of plain 0% Fage yogurt
gets me to my goal quicker than several cookies,
but I don't always want the yogurt.
I have to talk myself out of poor choices daily.
But when I make the right choice
I am acknowledging that my goals have value.

I deserve success just as much as anyone else does.
I have to work for it, sacrifice for it.
We are not called to be perfect;
we are called to put forth our best effort every day.
It's not always glamorous.
Most days it's putting one foot in front of the other
and walking the walk.

Here are 4 Core Elements to consider when Setting Goals:

Make sure your goals stand up to the following tests:

Are they realistic, specific and measurable,
and do you have a back-up plan
for when things don't go as expected?

Realistic

The goals you set have to be real in the context of your life.
They cannot be based on some ideal version of your real situation
and more importantly don't base them on some change you are ‘going' to make
that will give you more time. Set your first goals according to what your life looks like right now!
Look for changes that you can insert into your current schedule.
If you are too busy to cook--then don't plan to cook at home every day.
Start by finding healthy calorie controlled prepared foods that don't take a lot of time to prepare.

Specific

Make each goal very specific.
Make sure that both the steps to achieving it and that the results are readily observable
so there is no guesswork or grey in your ability to know what to do.

As an exanple: “Today I will weigh and measure the kind and amounts of food I eat
and immediately enter every bit of it into my computer food journal.”

Measurable

In the example I just gave.
it is easy to measure the extent to which you completed the goal. 

Back-Up Plan

Once you have set out some realistic, specific and measurable goals
you need to set up a second set that mirror these goals but are a little more forgiving.
These are useful when the unexpected happens.

So for example, sometimes the unexpected occurs.
For these occasions, instead of doing nothing
(which feels like failure and can trigger a bigger slide)
simply carefully note the kind and amounts of food eaten,
jot that estimated information down and then enter it in your computer food journal later.

While this is less than ideal it IS still part of "the plan" and thus will have you feeling
psychologically that you succeeded whereas skipping altogether would feel like failure.