At the very beginning of a diet
it isn’t too hard to maintain our enthusiasm to lose weight.
We have a tendency to believe that this time we’ll finally do it.
Finally, we’re going to bring our weight under control
and keep the weight off.

In our heads, losing weight is easy.
All that’s needed is to cut out junk food,
Eat less bread and pasta, and more fruits and vegetables,
Use less fats and oils to cook with, and choose the leanest meats.

We don’t really think about the emotional side of eating,
Or how we are going to react when we smell or see food when we’re hungry.
We find enthusiasm for weight-loss when we consider
How much better we’re going to look and feel,
Once we’ve reached our goal weight.

Then, along the way, something happens.
We begin finding it harder and harder to take the time to exercise.
We take a bite of this and that, here and there.
We use the activities and events in our life as an excuse to overeat.

Maintaining the enthusiasm that we have at the beginning
of the weight-loss process is incredibly difficult.
In the beginning, we’re excited about the possibilities.

The first few weeks, people usually log in big weight-loss numbers
as bodies begin to shed water weight.
But after several weeks, the body slows down,
and weight loss sometimes plateaus.
We find the numbers on the scale aren’t dropping as quickly as we’d like.
Even though this is normal,
it still feels frustrating to work so hard
And not see the results that were hoped for.

The Reality is that weight-loss requires hard work and discipline
and a lot of determination. over a long time period.
It isn’t always easy, and at times, it is almost impossible
to stay focused on the task, and the ultimate goal.

This is normal. It’s a process.
It takes time and energy and patience.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep a positive attitude.
We will have good days and bad days
and what’s important,
Is that we don’t get into the habit of having bad days.

If we only had to watch what we ate for a few weeks,
most of us could probably handle it,
but when we have to do it for
days and days, weeks and weeks,
months and months, and then years and years
our inclinations are to just give it up sooner rather than later.

It just seems like too big a hassle,
and so we take a break from our weight-loss plans
until the next time we get the urge to drop a few pounds.

This happens because we simply haven’t sustained
our enthusiasm for the kind of lower-calorie lifestyle
that weight-loss and maintaining weight-loss actually requires.

When weight-loss has plateaued…..
or when in Maintenance, after reaching goal,
is when the Real Challenge happens.
We have to keep reinventing ourselves,
Finding and trying new food plans, new ...

It's important to know what to say "yes" to, 
and what to say "no" to. 
 

Today
I intend to be positive all day long:
follow my current food plan as closely as possible;
do some exercise;
and then....
....except for working to meet those requirements....
I'm going to choose to do exactly whatever I might wish, with my day.  

Each of us has the ability to choose our attitudes.
We can be positive or negative, it's up to us.

When my attitude is positive and upbeat,
it makes my day brighter and more pleasant.

I choose to work toward having a positive attitude.
I will fill my mind with happy, inspiring thoughts,
by reading and watching things that encourage and inspire me.

I will either surround myself with happy, pleasant people,
or choose to spend my time engaged in pleasant activities alone,
and will avoid and ignore negative people who complain and whine,
and choose to wallow in their misery.

A positive attitude will help me succeed with my goals,
and will help me survive the many difficulties
that each of us experiences during our lives.

 
I started DietHobby in February 2011,
so it has now been in existence for 1 year.

Today, I'm taking a step back from the day-to-day involvement,
to look at the big picture, re-assess my progress, and perhaps
make adjustments to the project.

 I began the DietHobby website as an extension of my
diet forum involvement in order to provide a place of my own

that was under my own management and control,
to store my Thoughts about dieting and related subjects,
as it applies to my own Maintenance Progress.

I purchased my own Domain, DietHobby.com.
My web-genius-son wrote the code for this DietHobby website.
He brought it into existence and taught me how to use it.

People can easily learn about me and my dieting history
by reading the About Me page.

I've written frequent articles and stored them in the Archives
for easy accessibility for anyone interested.

I've made many recipe videos and put them in the Recipe section
to easily share them with others.

I've included some personal pictures in the Gallery section,
for those who would like to see my family or my stained glass projects.

I've completed a thorough summary of a best selling diet-book
and placed it in the BookTalk section.

I've organized and provided links to helpful sites,
and relevant videos in the Resources section,
including a Playlist of my Words of Wisdom video series
which is intended to be used as a positive motivational tool.

 DietHobby's companion channel on YouTube
began as a place to store the Recipe videos,
and the 30 second Inspirational videos
that I made for this website.

However, YouTube also has a community of its own
who view videos, make comments,
and subscribe to be notified of future videos.

This YouTube community includes all ages, from children through the elderly.
These are people of different tastes, interests, cultural backgrounds, education,
nationality, religion, race, sex, and political affiliations.

Although the YouTube DietHobby's primary viewers are in the United States,
there are also DietHobby viewers in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany,
the Netherlands, India, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand,
Turkey, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines, as well as other countries.

My web-genius-son suggested that I begin a third video series,
to better address the many needs and interests of the YouTube Community.
This video series is entitled "Ask Grandma", which answers questions from viewers.