I’m not sure about you, but as I slide my shorts on to go to my daughter’s soccer game, I can hear a tiny voice inside mention to lay off the sweets. I recognize this voice and acknowledge it by saying ‘thank you for sharing, but that is not my long term solution.’

Do you have experiences like this? What is your reaction to your tiny voice? Anger, frustration, guilt, hopelessness? Do you still believe - like many of my clients - that you can just eliminate sweets, alcohol, chocolate, ice cream, etc. and you will lose weight? Do you believe that your success is a matter of willpower?

I would like to dispel the following myths:

Myth #1: Restricting Certain Foods Will Cause You To Lose Weight

If everything was a matter of willpower dieters would be thin and happy. If the outcome was determined by just eliminating a certain food in their meals most people would do this and achieve personal success. However, obesity is still at an all time high, and no elimination of one particular food has been found to lose and keep weight off, as the likelihood of depriving oneself indefinitely is small.

Solution: Acknowledge the tiny voice and send it love. Smothering it leads to additional pounds!

Who wouldn’t want another chocolate chip cookie, but the question is, how is this going to affect your weight loss efforts? Have a delicious bite or two, savor the taste and know you can have another bite at another time. It isn’t necessary (or in your best interests) to eat too many of them (or all of them) right now. Share with yourself that you are doing the best you can as of right now. Take one step at a time and look for your successes, not your failures, to inspire and motivate you - one feeding at a time, one day at a time.

Outcome: Moderation - rather than elimination - is the key to one’s weight loss success.

Myth # 2: Dieting is all I know - If I Try Harder I will Succeed

The number one reason people gain weight is DIET DEPRIVATION BACKLASH!

This happens when you decide to go on a diet, and your life is going along just fine. The first six weeks' success is great, the weight is going down, the clothes are fitting nicely. The diet is working for you and all is good until that one day when ‘life’ just gets to be a little overwhelming. You are busy, tired, and you just hit that low point. Willpower is barely there and you ‘feel’ like having some ice cream. You may say to yourself, "I’ve been really good on my diet, I deserve a treat," or there may be no reason at all -- but you are going to have some ice cream.

Well, you start in on the ice cream and the thoughts lead to "I’m not going to have any more of this so I might as well finish it off." Before you know it you are FULL, you have eaten more than you initially intended and consumed excess calories, and all of this leads to feelings of shame, disappointment, failure and sadness. This all started with the thought of dieting to lose weight. What leads to the overconsumption of the very food you were restricting from your diet is 'Backlash Thinking.'

When you are dieting you are creating the very thing you will cause you to overconsume and gain weight. To stop yourself from allowing this, I suggest doing two things:

1. Choose to enjoy the foods you have a tendency to overindulge in; however, put loving boundaries on just how much you are going to have and eat them only when you are hungry.

2. Eat them with a protein and Savor EVERY BITE!

If you do these two things you will find a couple of bites is all you may need. You will then feel YOU are in control - and that is an awesome feeling!

Myth #2: Dieting Harder Is My Only Option To Lose Weight

Outcome: Myth Busted, enjoy those foods with loving care!