New Lifestyle Diet: The Best Liquid Diet

Is it Time to Start Your Diet?

Don't Wait to Start Your Diet

If you are someone who went for years ignoring your weight gain and not doing anything about it, can you think of a reason why it took you so long to attack the issue? Or, in simpler terms, why did you wait so long to do something about your weight problem?

As insensitive or lacking in understanding as this question may seem, this is actually something that my wife asked me a few years ago. Of course, what makes it so funny coming from her is that she is someone who has never had a weight problem and cannot even remotely understand what it’s like to overeat on a continuous basis or use food to handle stress or cravings. Now, what she meant by her inquiry is actually very specific. Allow me to explain:

From the perspective of someone who doesn’t have a weight problem or any eating issues, she treats her own weight as something that needs to be handled from time-to-time. Meaning, if she puts on a few pounds and feels that her clothes are getting tight, she simply cuts back on her eating. So, in viewing the world from her perspective, it’s literally impossible for her to understand how I could have put on 100 pounds over an extended period of time without ever stopping along the way to do something about it. The question really has nothing to do with a single event in my life or a call to action, but it’s more related to why I didn’t stop the insanity along the way. Why did I choose to ignore the problem and allow the weight to build up over time?

And it is this simple question that really allowed me to get to know myself better. It allowed me to come to terms with the understanding that I wasn’t necessarily ignoring the problem, but more that I was ignoring the causes. Meaning, I personally used food to handle stress and to comfort myself. And it wasn’t until I was able to get a grasp on these concepts that I even had a chance at losing the weight and keeping it off. In addition, what makes having these issues truly unique is that as an overweight person, we all literally carry our issues with us. So, when I had reached the point of being 100 pounds overweight, it was my own personal breaking point of knowing that things had become out of control and that I needed to figure out what was going on. In fact, what was truly funny about the process is that I started losing weight without even having a clue as to what was going on in my life to cause me to be overeating so much. But, like two worlds that almost immediately collide, the act of dieting and the need to comfort myself had very little room for one another. So, it was with great pain that I was able to come to terms with my own issues and carry on. However, do not think for a moment that my issues or your issues are so black and white. Meaning, they are often shades of grey, including overeating, comforting ourselves, dealing with unhappiness, and an overall lack or non-existence of exercise. In fact, this question is often the easiest to answer for those that do have identified problems (stress or comfort eating). However, for those that have not come to terms with their own issues yet or truly put on weight because of bad eating habits or a love of food, this question can be incredibly difficult. In many ways, whether you have issues or not, the truth is still the same.

We all put on weight over an extended period of time, watched it happen in the mirror and did nothing about it. To an outsider, it can all seem very crazy. But, to those reading this and having lived this experience, it’s a very real thing and can also be equally confusing with hindsight. But in working through this puzzle, it is also one of the biggest steps forward that you can make towards your own understanding of yourself and long-term success. So, as you can see, in order to start a diet or be successful on a new years diet or resolution, you must first understand yourself.

How to Create Diet Motivation for Yourself

The challenge to being successful when dieting is finding your individual motivation. For me, the diet was all about achieving a goal that has been accomplished by very few people. At one point in my life I had aspirations of playing professional sports, but life seemed to have other plans for me. In fact, after college, I soon found myself in a career, then marriage, then a mortgage. And, to make matters even more complex, I was 100 pounds overweight. Whose life was this? It certainly wasn’t the one I had originally planned. Of course, for the most part, everything was great, but to get things back on course, the weight had to first come off.

First I came to terms with my own sad reality... that I was too old to ever play professional sports. Despite this fact, I could at least treat my diet as my own pro challenge. Sure, it wouldn’t be the same as playing ball in front of 45,000 people, but just like football, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

From my perspective, losing weight is for those that have a fire burning inside of them and a desire to change their life. To no longer accept their circumstances, to stand up, and shout from the roof tops that they want to lose the weight, get fit, and take back their life! Do you have that fire? If so, then go for it!!!

When I started, I didn’t know where the journey would take me, but I had faith in that I was willing to change my life and that when I came out the other side, the results would go far beyond just weight loss. And the fact is, I was right. The results of losing the weight completely changed my life and I’m extremely passionate about others having the same experience. I cannot stress this enough. Take on the challenge of losing weight and simply own it...stick with it and reap the benefits!!

For those of you who might be down or depressed because of your size or feeling like your eating is out of control, try seeing the act of losing weight as a personal test. It’s the moment in time that determines if you have what it takes to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. This is your opportunity to do something that most people cannot do. This is your opportunity to show yourself just how much you can accomplish.

While you have no way of understanding what I’m talking about until you reach your goal weight, please trust me on this...Do whatever you can to reach it!!! The new feeling and outlook that you get on life is something that will change you forever.

Personally, I cannot think of anything that you can possibly eat that can replace all of what I’m talking about. Please take the challenge and continue on the path. I promise you the results will be far greater then you could ever imagine. So, if you are considering starting a diet and looking for the right diet motivation, then don't give it a second thought. Start your liquid diet today and start changing your life.

Develop a New Lifestyle Diet Personality

When I look at my own personalility in terms of dieting and losing weight, I cannot help but see how my previous weight issues and also other issues in life had much to do with my all or nothing personality. While I definitely would not call myself an extremist, I do have a very strong tendency to overdo things.

As you can see, as I lost my weight, this was an incredibly important area of my life that needed to be addressed. Essentially, I had to ask myself why I had a tendency to go overboard with things. And, as you can guess, this same issue also impacted my life in many other areas. I really had to look at all of the behaviors in my life and come to an understanding of why I had to push everything to the limit. Of course, it’s much easier said than done, but it’s an important part of the transition process. And, for me, learning how to find the happy middle ground made an incredible difference in my life, weight loss success, and long-term maintenance.

Remember, in developing your new lifestyle, its not just about losing the weight, but getting at the core issues of why you put it on to begin with. And, for many, the core issues are a direct result of how we decide to live our lives. Notice how I said the word, decide. Everything that we do is a decision. Sure, facing these issues is not easy, but if you decide to make the change, it can be done.

Create Your New Lifestyle Diet Action Plan

The first ingredient towards your new lifestyle starts with having the ability to identify the behaviors that are impacting your eating and your resulting weight. Remember, most people go on a diet, lose the weight and then put the weight back on. Having the ability to lose weight proves that the dieter has the discipline to stick with a diet. Unfortunately regaining the weight also indicates that the dieter was unsuccessful in identifying or resolving underlying issues of eating. As a result, the first and most important personal ingredient addresses the need to identify your own behaviors and begin the process of putting an action plan in place for allowing you to overcome them.

To start this process, take a moment and think about the following 5 questions:

What do you want to change about yourself?

When you think about this question, think in terms of the little things that you do on a daily basis, that have a direct impact on your weight. Some of these things could be the habit of starting your day with a muffin or a donut, skipping breakfast, stopping for fast food on your way to or from work, eating while shopping on your way home from the grocery store, eating unhealthy lunches or dinners, eating the kids’ snacks, having ice cream at night, or finding that your cravings have more control over you, than you have over them. The list goes on and on, and is as diverse and unique as each person. The important things to think about are your own personal behaviors and the things that you would like to get under control. Now, don’t feel bad if you start to think about your own list and the issues seem infinite. I know for myself, when I went through this process, my own personal list was over 50 items long. What matters most right now is taking the time to think about the behaviors that you want to overcome. So, take a moment, pull out a piece of paper and make your own personal list. While doing this might seem a little intimidating, know that the personal behavior list that you are creating is actually the start of your own attack plan for taking back your life and truly creating a new lifestyle.

What are your personal triggers?

While your behavior list may seem long and intimidating, the events or circumstances in our lives that lead to our behaviors are often very similar. Meaning, the majority of people seek comfort in food to handle stress or anxiety. Often, they aren’t hungry at all, but are simply seeking a few moments of caloric solace in their day. For example, whenever I had a stressful meeting at work or got into an argument with my wife, I would immediately find myself reaching out for food. For some, certain people or situations in their lives can trigger a response or a desire to eat. What really matters most is trying to identify various events in your life that you associate with your poor eating behaviors. In doing this, you’ll find that regardless of how big your list of behaviors is, certain events in your life will stand out more and more. And you’ll start to understand yourself a little better.

Is food helping or hurting you?

In examining your own behaviors and the events that cause them, the next step is to examine the consequences that you would like to change. For example, if you are someone who eats because of stress or anxiety, does the food make you feel better? When you get into an argument with a family member, does food help to resolve the stress? Regardless of the behaviors that you are trying to overcome, begin to think about the things that food is providing for you and what it represents to you. For some people, it’s not so much about emotion, but more about situation. Food has become such a huge part of celebrating and being social that it’s hard to enjoy the company of others without having any event surrounded by eating. In examining your own behaviors, think about the consequences of what it is you are trying to overcome.

What are your personal diet goals?

While it’s impossible to overcome all of your behaviors at one time, it’s critical to have goals and an action plan for allowing you to take baby steps along your journey. So, for each of the behaviors that you are trying to overcome, create clear and concise goals for overcoming them. Some examples include:

“I will no longer eat in my car.”

“I will no longer visit the vending machine at work.”

“I will no longer eat fast food.”

“I will no longer eat late at night.”

“I will no longer drink mocha lattes.”

For each one of your behaviors, try and come up with a clear goal. Keep in mind that this is not an easy thing to do. For the first time in your life, you may be admitting to things that you would rather not be thinking about. Write them down on paper. This is a personal exercise just for you and is for your eyes only.

Then, having completed your list of goals, take the time to list out an action plan. For example, when I feel stressed, I will go outside and get some fresh air, instead of visiting the vending machine. When I’m out with friends and we order our mocha lattes, I will order a nonfat latte or have bottled water. Or, since I’ve gotten into the bad habit of eating fast food on my way home each night, I’ll take another way home so that I won’t be tempted. Having this action plan is critical! As you can see, in listing out each of your behaviors, and listing your goals with an action plan for each, you have now given yourself a plan of attack for creating your new lifestyle. So now no matter what situation you face, by taking the time to think about the behaviors that you are trying to overcome and the actions that you will take when faced with them, you now have a working model. Definitely don’t discount the power of having your plan to help in overcoming any challenge that you face.

How will you reward yourself?

This might seem silly, but taking the time to celebrate your small victories along the way is critical. Creating your new lifestyle isn’t just about the score on the scale, but it’s about the little victories along the way and being able to overcome the challenges that you face on a day-to-day basis. Take the time to reward yourself. For example, after you have achieved a small victory, you might reward yourself by ending the day with a bubble bath, taking a moment and smiling in the mirror, or looking over your list and putting a check mark next to the behavior that you were able to overcome. I know for myself, my own personal list was infinite, but with each small success that I had, I always took the time to check off my behavior list and remind myself that I was slowly facing down each of the behaviors in my life that had been holding me back.

Taking the time to identify your behaviors, the events, the consequences, and having clear goals and an action plan will allow you to have the framework for a working plan to take back your life. Then, always reward yourself along the way; it will help to keep the journey fun, and also serve as a reminder that although the ingredients for success are small, each one of them is taking you one step closer to your new lifestyle.

Now is the Best Time to Diet

Just like in the movie Shawshank Redemption, we each have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask the question, do we choose to get busy living, or get busy dying? And if the answer is dying, then we choose to roll over and accept the feelings, discomfort and the isolation of being overweight. But if we choose living, then we choose to move forward and lose the weight and take on the battle. We decide to take back our lives, to fight for our own happiness, and to truly live life to its fullest again. But, the choice belongs to you.

If Not Now, When?

Anyone on a diet knows that the process of being disciplined and learning how to control your eating will test every ounce of strength that you have. It will test your will power, your sense of humor, your discipline, and ultimately—it will test how badly you want to change your life.

Remember, we all started our diets to change our lives, so ultimately, our success or failure comes down to how badly we make this diet the number one priority in our life. For many of us, we find ourselves with a lifetime of putting others’ needs in front of our own. Now is the time to put your needs first. Now is the time to be a little selfish and follow the diet 100%. Sure, it may be uncomfortable for you and those around you, but now is the time for change.

What is really exciting about the process of losing weight is that it presents the unique opportunity to take a stand, face your eating issues head-on, and start living your life to its fullest. I know for me, I put my life on hold for far too long until I found the strength to ask myself the question...If not now, when?

And, for me...The answer was simple. NOW IS THE TIME!!!

So, if you really want to be successful, all you have to do is follow your diet. Not on a part-time basis, not when things are going well, but 100% all of the time. Take this moment and decide that you will have the conviction to go for it and see this diet through until you have reached your goal weight. Promise yourself that now is the time for change and that nothing is going to stop you from achieving this goal.

For me, my diet presented a final opportunity to make up for past starts and stops, an opportunity to really suck it up and do it for real. No more excuses!!

Make the promise to yourself right now that you are not going to let anything stop you from being successful. Own the responsibility of it and create your own destiny!! I know it might sound funny, but if you don’t take control now and make this the time in your life for change, when will you do it?

Are You Ready to Start A Diet?

How to Choose the Best Diet

One of the most confusing things about dieting is determining which diet is the best diet for losing weight. And, unless you have been hiding under a rock, you already know that literally hundreds of different diets exist. In fact, in choosing a diet, the entire process can be extremely overwhelming and stressful. Not only are we faced with the issues of losing the weight and keeping it off, but at the same time, we are required to make a choice on choosing the best path. Obviously, we don’t want to make a mistake, so we then turn to our most trusted sources—family, friends, physicians, television, magazines, and the internet. And, although it might seem obvious, this is where we all make our first mistake.

Fundamentally speaking, what everyone does wrong is to approach weight loss with the goal of getting the weight off. And, in choosing a diet, everything considered revolves around the speed and process of losing the weight. In doing this, the biggest factor for success is ignored. That is, the issues that caused a person to become overweight in the first place. As with most ailments that we face, being overweight is no different: the symptom is treated, but the underlying cause is ignored.

Any diet is really just a tool and a process for losing weight. And, like a carpenter who is starting a job and has to choose the best tool to use, you also have to choose the best diet or program for taking the weight off. In facing this decision, don’t think solely in terms of which diet will help you to lose weight, but focus on your issues and the steps that you must take to overcome them at the same time. So, by the time you reach your goal weight, the new person on the outside has also taken significant steps to make changes on the inside.

In choosing the best diet for you, begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• How much weight do you have to lose?
• Have you put on weight because you haven’t been eating properly?
• Have you put on weight because food has control over?
• Have you started and stopped diets countless times?
• Do you find yourself eating as a result of stress or a need for comfort?
• Do you find yourself eating as a result of sadness or loneliness?
• Do you find yourself eating as a result of social or family pressures?
• Do you find yourself eating as a result of boredom or for entertainment?

Please know that in asking yourself these questions, you may very well not know the answers. In fact, for many of you, this might be the first time in your life that you have been asked to think in this sort of manner.

Whatever your background, there are those who have lifelong issues with food: where food has always controlled them; where food is used as a way of comforting oneself and handling stress; where temptations and cravings are a constant battle. And, there are those who have put on weight over the years because of a change in lifestyle, career, kids, bad eating habits, and overall lack of exercise. And there are those that share traits from both groups. But what matters most is that regardless of the amount of weight you have to lose, the most important thing is your own issues in relation to food and what it is you are trying to correct.

So, in approaching the different diets that are available, you want to consider whether the diets that you are looking at will not only allow you to lose the weight, but more importantly address the very issues that you are trying to overcome.

If you are someone who has simply developed bad eating habits over the years and does not have inherent issues with food, then the chances are that you’ll do well on just about any commercially available weight loss program. However, if you are someone who is trying to overcome lifelong issues with food, then you’ll need to be more selective. You’ll need to find a program that will allow you to step away from food in a safe and healthy manner, lose the weight, and then re-approach the relationship from a healthier perspective. The best diet for doing this is the New Lifestyle Diet - rated the best liquid diet by physicians and weight loss clinics.

Losing the weight is the easy part; coming to terms with your own behaviors and truly addressing and changing them is where the majority of your focus needs to be. But if you are on the wrong diet and are faced with too many choices or foods, losing the weight is going to be nearly impossible. Of course, this all comes down to the individual and being on the best weight loss program.

Ultimately, we all have different backgrounds and challenges to overcome, and when it comes to losing weight, not all diets will address the likes and dislikes of each person. However, what is fantastic is that the challenges are universal and the principles in for overcoming them can work for anyone. So, what matters most for you right now is not how you are going to lose the weight, but more importantly, determining the issues that you want to overcome along the way and to begin the process of creating your new lifestyle.