Get Hooked on Normal Eating!

The Enjoyable Diet™ 
Normal Eating System

Habit isn't second nature; it's ten times nature. --- Arthur Wellesley, First Duke of Wellington (1769 - 1852)

It isn't what you eat that makes you fat; it's how much. And that's a matter of habit. When you have formed the habit of normal eating, your weight loss will be permanent (maintenance-free). --- Mary Crawford, Weight Loss Coach

No matter how much you eat, you eventually stop. If you want to stop gaining weight, you will have to train yourself to stop eating sooner. You will have to break the habit of overeating. (I define overeating as eating more calories than you need, to weigh what you want to weigh.)

That's all overeating is -- a habit, just like which sleeve or shoe you put on first. But you can break the habit on your own. You can train yourself to stop overeating.

The Normal Eating System described below ("How to Stop Overeating") is based on the Habit Principle: Changing a habit takes 21 days. The NES takes the habit you already have (overeating) and makes it work for you. You don't need drugs, supplements or special foods, and there are no food restrictions.

When you follow the directions, you will stop
overeating and therefore stop gaining weight.

This system takes only 5 minutes to set up. With your doctor's approval, you can safely use it indefinitely -- but you will only need it for 21 days. 

Here's a thought: If you use The NES for at least 21 days before the next big holiday, you won't gain weight while you celebrate.

Caution: Do not begin this program if you are currently dieting. There should be at least two weeks between the end of your current diet and the start of The Normal Eating System.

How to Stop Overeating (5 Steps)

If you are serious about being successful, you must use The Normal Eating System exclusively -- not partly The NES, partly your system, because that simply will not fly. 

Before you start using the system, make sure you will not have any new things going on in your life for at least 21 days. Don't start a new exercise program or a new Vegan program or any other new program. Wait until Day 22 for that. And don't start during travel; wait until you're back home.

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Step #1. Decide how many meals and snacks you'll have daily. Never deliberately skip any of them. And never stockpile food for a massive munch-in at the end of the day or week.

Step #2. Always eat at the same times every day, with no more than an hour's leeway. Every time you eat, you teach your body when to be hungry, so decide when you want to be hungry. For example, if you always lunch at noon -- even if you don't always feel hungry just then -- by Day 22, you will always be hungry for lunch at noon. If you don't want to be hungry at 3 a.m., don't eat at 3 a.m.

Never let more than six waking hours pass without eating or drinking something. At the end of Day 4, your meal and snack times should be carved in stone.

Step #3. Don't change what you eat, unless you want to eliminate a certain type of food from your life forever. You are not trying to wipe out your food preferences; you just want to stop overeating.

Step #4. Every other day, eat exactly half of whatever you usually eat. If you usually have a sandwich and a bowl of soup for lunch, eat half a sandwich and half a bowl of soup. Do the same for all your meals. For snacks, eat half of what you usually have. It's like jogging: workout day = half amount; resting day = full amount.

Start The NES with a half-amount day and alternate it
with a full-amount day. Do this for 21 consecutive days.
Not 19 days, not 20 -- 21. Mark the days on your
calendar, because if you drop the ball at any time,
you must start counting all over again. Period.

No one even has to know you're doing this. If someone says "Let's lunch" on a half-amount day, ask for a rain-check for "Tomorrow, or 3 days or a week from today". Arrange your start so that any major special occasions will fall on a full-amount day. If minor occasions will fall on a half-amount day, honour them the day before.

Step #5. From Day 22 on, every day is a full-amount day. Mission accomplished; you are now 'hooked' on normal eating. You're welcome.

You will notice many positive changes in your hunger habits, in how you feel about food, and -- best of all -- in how you feel about yourself. Write down these changes.

 

Then, Lower Your Set Point

If you followed the instructions above, you are ready for weight loss on The Enjoyable Diet™, because you have just learned how to lower your set point (visit "Links" on sidebar). You just keep on using the NES system, except that you alternate the two calorie allowances I give you (low and high).  

When you reach your goal, you simply drop the low-calorie day. You won't need a maintenance program because you will be habituated to eating less. This guarantee is in effect provided that you do not tamper with The Enjoyable Diet™ at any time, in any way. For smooth, maintenance-free weight loss, you must use this system exclusively.

You see, The Enjoyable Diet™ is based on habit. Every eating habit you build in the first 21 days is reinforced in the rest of the diet. So if you tamper with the system -- changing the calorie allowances or the diet-day/eating day schedule; having irregular snack/meal times; skipping snacks/meals; stockpiling calories until the end of the day or week -- tampering is the habit you will build and reinforce. And you will eventually regain whatever weight you lost, and then some.

If what you're doing now isn't working, you will
have to do something different. Because if you always do
what you've always done, you can only get what you've always got.

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"I wanted to tell you that I've never before lost weight and then was able to go on vacation, go through a wedding and Thanksgiving, and not put pounds on that stayed on. Yes, my weight went up a few pounds after Thanksgiving but I was able to drop it within a few days. (Your advice about not following the urge to go right back on a "diet" was very valuable.) 

"I've pretty much stayed at 140-142 and am loving the way I feel. So many people have commented on how I look -- amazing what a difference 22 pounds can make.  This is also the first time I've lost weight when I've literally had to change the size I'm wearing, as if my entire body's composition has changed.

"Thank you so much." --- Scottie T., New York, NY

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"The best part of Mary's diet is, it was so easy to become a habit and you just get 'hooked' on it and don't want to come off." --- Margaret H., retired nurse; Vancouver BC