When Brenda arrived at my office, she looked ready to burst into tears. “What’s wrong?” I asked, as I handed her a box of tissues.
“I’m just not making any progress!” she said. I knew she was right because her scale weight had gone up instead of down the past couple of visits. So I gently pushed her to tell me more about her struggles. [Read more…]
This time of year, it’s easy to get discouraged with your weight-loss efforts.
First, there are lots of holiday events and food temptations. Add to that the stress of travel, baking and buying gifts. [Read more…]
If you’re doing great with your diet and exercise program, you probably don’t need to read this note.
But if you’re struggling, going on and off your diet, you may want to ask a critical question: [Read more…]
We’d like to think we can push through the roadblocks that hit us in life and stay with our weight-loss efforts in spite of them.
But sometimes, it’s just not realistic and we need to allow ourselves a Grace Period. I’ve been reminded of that myself during the past month. [Read more…]
Ahh… vacation. A few years ago, my husband and I spent a week in Eastern Canada enjoying the best vacation we’ve had in years.
We hiked, played tennis, or took long walks every single day. We monitored our food intake by splitting most of our meals and eating dessert only twice during the entire trip. We also browsed through bookstores, drank tea on outdoor patios, and had many long, meaningful conversations. [Read more…]
If you feel like you’ve lost yourself as a result of taking care of others, you may have to make some hard choices around people in your life.
By giving time and energy to yourself as well as to others, you won’t feel as driven to use food as a solution to your own needs. [Read more…]
In the last post, I talked about how Marilyn become a victim of what I call the “people hook.”
Other people and their problems constantly hook her into feeling distraught, worried, and upset. [Read more…]
It seemed that every time Marilyn started a new diet plan, someone around her would have a crisis.
She kept hoping her children would grow up and take care of their own lives. But they didn’t.
And whenever they had problems, Marilyn not only rushed in to help, she ate. [Read more…]
Becky looked discouraged.
As she sank into the chair in my office, she said, “I don’t know what to do. I’m trying so hard to lose weight, but I’m not getting anywhere.
I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Based on how hard I’m trying I should be losing a lot more than I am.” [Read more…]
For my mother’s 80th birthday, my family members tried to think of a practical gift that she would love but that wouldn’t take up much space in her tiny apartment.
Based on an idea from a magazine, we found a small wooden box with a hinged lid and wrote “Memory Box” on the top. [Read more…]