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On any other diet, the best part of a plateau is the end of it, when you automatically resume losing weight. What is the best part of the plateau on The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System? Four things:
- It's the only one.
- Before you even get to it, you know how long it's going to last.
- You're eating exactly as you want to the entire time, yet not gaining weight.
- From the second week of the plateau onward, you are 'hooked' on normal eating.
Do not change your calorie allowances. The length of your plateau has already been set. If you try to shorten it,
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You will compromise the habit principle and make your body fight you.
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It will take longer to reach your goal.
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You will jeopardize the permanence of your weight loss.
To sail through the plateau gracefully,
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Try new foods.
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Mark a dash on your progress chart as you finish each week.
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Keep reminding yourself: "I'm getting ready to coast."
And even though weight loss doesn't show up on your scales while you're on the plateau, notice that your clothes fit better.
How You Will Know You're Hooked on Normal Eating
Think: O.P.R.A.H. (Obviously Patrons Really Are Hooked)
The following is not a prediction; it is a description of what actually happens when you are faithful to the system and to your calorie allowances for 21 consecutive days. Signs that you're hooked begin to appear around Day 19. My clients and I have identified ten, but there may be more. By Day 22:
1. You are truly enjoying your food as never before.
2. You are no longer afraid of food.
3. Food has stopped calling your name from every corner of the universe. This realization doesn't hit you on the head. It just dawns on you one day that ---
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You have all your favourite foods in the house, yet you have no desire to wolf them all down right away. All food cravings are gone, because you've satisfied them all in the first 21 days of the diet.
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Your brain has stopped telling you you're hungry every time you see or smell food.
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You never eat just because food, like Mount Everest, is there. You can eat only one potato chip or only one cookie without wanting more. All compulsive eating is gone, because you've changed your hunger pattern in the first 21 days of the diet.
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You have stopped constantly thinking about food. When you have a problem, food is the furthest thing from your mind. When you have an unpleasant experience, you don't eat to soothe your feelings.
4. Every day feels like an eating day. In fact, early in Week 4 (about Day 24), you have to consult the calendar to remind yourself which day is which.
5. You know what time it is without consulting the clock, because you are hungry only at your planned eating times.
6. You have memorized your daily eating plan and standard menus.
7. You no longer have to count calories or weigh and measure foods, because your eyes and stomach know when the correct amount is on your plate. You automatically keep to your calorie allowances, because you only want to eat the correct amount on both days.
8. You feel well rested on rising each morning.
9. Your bathroom habits are regular.
10. You feel you could happily continue using this system forever. Well, you could, because from Day 22 on, it's easier to continue dieting than to quit. In fact, the longer you are on the diet, the easier it gets.
When you have followed the directions faithfully, you lose two pounds a week, automatically, starting in Week 5 and continuing until you reach your goal. And because every ten pounds lost represents one clothing size, you can actually plot on your progress chart what size you'll be every five weeks.
Visit thrift and consignment shops every three weeks to try on the next smaller size. It's a marvelous experience and an economical way to dress while you're changing sizes.
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"It's weird eating and losing weight at the same time.
"...even though I hadn't lost any the prior week, my clothes continue to fit better (actually, they are loose!) ...I find that I want to 'use' my calories on better foods to fill me up...I can also recognize my serving portions, which is something I've never been able to do.
"This diet is really exciting...It is truly amazing that you can eat and still lose the weight...It is just a phenomenal method because it makes so much sense...Even though the scales don't show loss, I still feel like I'm losing...
"Always so interesting to me when the scales show a weight loss when it doesn't 'feel' like I've lost anything over the course of the week...don't know why this continues to surprise me, but it does. A nice surprise!
"Everyone can't believe it when I tell them I've lost 30 pounds...by eating!
"...yesterday, an eating day, was funny because I was really struggling to eat the [whole allowance]. I just wasn't hungry.
"This 'diet' has been amazing and I continue to recommend it to everyone. I get so many compliments and I just have to brag on you! Thank you so much for all your support and guidance. You are a pleasure to have as a coach. --- Trish G., Forest VA, USA
You will want to stay on The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System, partly because you'll like being on it and partly because you might not trust its work. Besides, it is easy to continue. That's just as well because, if you stop dieting before you reach your goal, you will eventually regain all the weight you've lost, and then some. Count on it.
You will be eating well and wisely; The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System will have taught you how in the Practice Period. It is impossible to use this system for too long.
On Day 1 of the week you reach your goal, drop the diet day. You probably won't want to, but do it anyway.
"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
| Copyright © Mary Crawford, 2007. All Rights Reserved. |