This is a picture of one serving of food from my new cooking video,
Fish in Foil
which is located at DietHobby, under RECIPES,  Mealtime.

For several years, I have been corresponding with a person
who remains mired in obesity primarily due to her inability
to resist the allure of Intuitive Eating.

In her defense of her current Intuitive Eating Program,
she recently said:

"There's some sort of saying I've heard
about how thoughts affect feelings which affect behavior,
and this hypnosis program tries to change thoughts and feelings". 

I believe that positive thoughts can change our feelings (emotions)
and therefore result in a change in our behavior.

However this is a psychological process.
while
Hunger involves a physiological process.

We use the word "feelings" for two different sensations.

feelings can be emotions = psychology
feelings can be body sensations ….. hunger = physiology

This is the basic flaw in the theories of Intuitive Eating.

When I experience the strong feelings that tell me I need to urinate,
I can think positive thoughts, and this can make me feel better emotionally,
however, these thoughts will not change my body's physical sensations
which are associated with the physiological process of urination,
and…ultimately …. my body will follow through with the specific behavior
that my body feels is needed.

Urination is an physical process, over which we have learned
to achieve a measured amount of control,
and when we receive the signals from our body,
we don't have to give in immediately, and
we can choose to temporarily delay the process of elimination.
If we do not choose to delay…we will commit a socially unacceptable act.
and, eventually …no matter what we are thinking… the body will do what it does.

Hunger is also a physical process, over which we have learned
to achieve a measured amount of control.
and when we receive the signals from our body,
we don't have to give in immediately, and
we can consciously choose to delay the process of eating,
and we can consciously choose what foods to use to satisfy that immediate hunger.

However, if an obese, or reduced obese, person eats only in response
to the signals of their body (feelings of hunger)
they will remain fat…
(which some consider a socially unacceptable act)

Because the body has it's own agenda,
It will do everything it can to protect its fat stores.
An obese person's body isn't going to naturally try to become normal weight,
the obese person's body sees it's job is to keep its fat.

All of the positive thinking in the world
will never change the natural inner workings of the body.

We can't fly.
We must urinate.
Hunger signals from an obese, or reduced obese, body
come from the body's perceived need to protect fat ...

                     
I'm always interested in reading new dieting books
about new dieting plans, and unique ways to eat
in order to lose weight or maintain weight-loss.

Here in 2012, with regards to my dieting hobby,
I'm having difficulty finding anything that looks
"new and unique" to me.

I've been doing Google searches,
and searches of new publications at Amazon,
but nothing stands out.

My primary dieting method continues to be
logging all my food into my computer software program,
and counting calories…working to keep my calorie count
lower than my body's energy burn….
The simple measurement for this is …
If I'm gaining weight over time,
then I'm eating more calories than my body burns.

I've studied the issue of metabolism,
and come to the conclusion that any possibility of raising
one's metabolism by what one eats, or how one exercises,
is a crock of ****.

I'm still very interested in the Habit concepts set forth in The No S Diet,
and I continually research and experiment with possibilities
of implementing more Habit concepts in my own dieting life.

The last two years, I learned a great deal about low carb, zero carb,
zero wheat, and Paleo ways of eating.

For a few years before that, I investigated and experimented
with different types of fasting plans,
like QOD, Alternate Day Eating, Eat Stop Eat, Fast 5, etc.

I've spent a lot of time investigating Intuitive eating type diets…
i.e. listening to your body, eating when hungry, stop when full etc;
that "dieting makes you fat" and have come to the conclusion
that this advice is very wrong for people who are obese, or reduced obese,
and in fact, I believe that this type of diet
(which is a diet that is allegedly not a diet)
is the VERY WORST of all the many diet's
I've ever investigated, tried, or experimented with…
INCLUDING things like the cabbage soup diet, human growth hormone,
hypnosis, acupuncture, Beverly hills diet, Cambridge diet,
the cookie diet, slim fast, weight-loss supplements etc, etc, etc..

Of course, during my lifetime, I've also belonged to all of the major
diet clubs and organizations, like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig,
Nutrisystem, TOPS, Overeaters Anonymous and on and on and on..

This year, 2012, I'm not finding any books or clubs or diets
with concepts that are new and unique, or interesting to me,
and right now, I'm finding that kind of sad.

My hobby with dieting is still full-steam-ahead, because I'm
very busy with this DietHobby website, with my DietHobby YouTube channel,
and with the diet forums and other dieting websites that I frequently visit.

Still, right now I'm missing reading about new and interesting concepts,
and experimenting with them.
My current weight-loss maintenance simply invo...

 
This is a picture of one serving of food from my new cooking video,
Oatmeal Banana Muffin
which is located at DietHobby, under RECIPES,  Mini-Meals.

                               

"Perfection is a state of completeness and flawlessness."
While working toward perfection is acceptable,
expecting perfection is counterproductive, and unacceptable.

It is important to understand that perfection is not possible
in the areas of food and eating ...
unless perhaps, one is a devout monk living in total isolation.

Below is an excellent article on Perfection
written by Al Coon.

"Nothing done by humans is ever perfect. Nothing that you do, or that I do is perfect. There is always room for improvement. The belief that perfection is attainable creates a great deal of grief in people's lives. That grief comes in two common forms: 1) the internal perfectionist -- expecting perfection in oneself, and 2) the ever popular external perfectionist -- expecting perfection in others. Both forms of perfectionist can actually destroy lives, leaving wakes of destruction in their paths.

Being an internal perfectionist leads to a viscous circle of self-incrimination, depression and renewed determination to reach the impossible. Each failure leads to more shame and self-loathing. This is not from wishing to be evil or decadent, but from wanting to be perfect.

By striving for perfection, and foolishly expecting to reach it, such a person is doomed to fail before he even begins. It is like trying to sail a boat through a reef with no opening, it is impossible!

Since the internal perfectionist believes that perfection is possible, he only has one possible target for assigning guilt for the failure that was unavoidable. To him it is obvious, that he was not determined enough. He didn't try hard enough. He was no good. After a few cycles of doing this, the seeker of perfection will often find that he evaluates his own importance in the world, his own value, just below the scum that coats the bottom of a stagnant pool.

It is an outrage! Here is a unique and precious human being, who is striving, not to destroy others, or to do evil in the world, but to reach for the stars in search of the highest ideals. And all he gets for his trouble is the lash from a whip he holds with his own mental hands.

How much better off would he be if instead of believing in perfection, he would believe in improvement! Improvement is always possible, for anyone. Since perfection is impossible, that means that we all are imperfect, and therefore we all have room for improvement. Fortunately, the human mind is extremely flexible, and it can be programmed with better habits, which will produce improvement.

Since improvement is always possible, what makes sense for each of us, is to select some area that we would like to improve and then set to work to move in a positive direction for that area. The time to celebrate is when we actually see some improvement.

We should not wait until we reach perfection, or even until we reach a realistic goal before we celebrate. It is the movement in a positive direction that is of value. As long as we are moving, we are improving, and that means we are continually becoming better off than we were. That is worth celebrating!

Compare the difference in the state of mind between the internal...