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PART 5. FAQs About The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System
1. Just what is so different about this diet?
The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System
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Is a reducing diet and a maintenance diet combined.
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Is based on the Habit Principle: Changing a habit takes 21 days.
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Trains your body to be satisfied with less food in 21 days.
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Actually lowers your body's set point to match your weight goal.
You must not change the kind of food you eat, unless you have a medical or philosophical reason for doing so. Cravings and compulsive overeating disappear in 21 days, so you won't need a maintenance program after you reach your goal.
The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System is safe for those in good health. With clearance from your doctor, you can use it comfortably for as long as necessary. It is impossible to use it for too long.
But if you're looking for magic or miracles, you won't find them on The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System. You will simply be harnessing the habit you already have -- overeating -- and using it to lose weight rather than gain. I assign your customized calorie allowances for the diet day and eating day, based on the Personal Profile you send me when you order the diet.
2. This diet sounds complicated and difficult, like too much of a bother.
Granted, The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System is quite different than most diets. But every step is laid out for you in "About the Diet", Part 2. For automatic, maintenance-free weight loss, just continue to use this system until you reach your weight goal.
3. Coach, are you a physician? A nurse? A dietitian? A fitness trainer? A nutritionist? A psychologist?
"No" to all questions.
4. What are your credentials, then?
More than 25 years of intensive analysis and testing of the diet, and the success of clients who followed the directions in "About the Diet", Part 2. I am grateful for the help of all my clients. They also taught me what happens when one doesn't follow directions.
One of many things I discovered in my coaching is that no one has to give up 500 calories/day to lose a pound. After all, some overweight people normally eat fewer than 500 calories/day.
I've had several clients with such efficient metabolisms. They are not couch potatoes. Some wouldn't touch junk food for gold. One such client felt about drinking undiluted fruit juice the way most people would feel about drinking corn syrup. She pours about a third of a glass of juice, then tops it up with water.
I refuse to believe that I just happened to meet the only such individuals on earth.
5. I am a diabetic with blood sugar control without medications. I would love to start your program but you say not to. Is there any hope for my being able to do The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System?
I have never coached a diabetic client, as there are many health concerns that I'm not qualified to address.
It may well be that you could follow The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System, if -- and only if -- you got clearance from your medical doctor. If it were all right with him/her, I would consider working with you but I would require him/her to contact me beforehand with any concerns about your health. With his/her written approval, I would work closely with both of you at all times.
6. I'm constantly hungry whenever I diet. Won't the same thing happen with this one?
In your first 21 days on the diet, sometimes you will be hungry at inappropriate times, even though you are following directions to the letter. After all, you'll be changing your hunger habits.
Part 2a, Step Two of "About the Diet" shows you exactly how to handle these times.
7. What else besides food am I expected to have on this diet?
Nothing else -- no drugs, injections, weight loss supplements or special foods, no product of any kind. And there are no forbidden foods. In fact, you must eat whatever you like, unless your doctor prohibits it.
8. How can I lose weight if I eat whatever I like?
A calorie is a calorie, no matter where it comes from. What you weigh depends on how much you eat, not what you eat. Permanently reduce the amount you eat, and you achieve permanent (maintenance-free) weight loss, with or without exercise.
The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System lets you do this by fooling your body into going along with your weight loss plan. Your customized calorie allowances take you right to your goal and keep you there.
9. But can I really eat whatever I like? If I want to eat just crisps one day (triple serving, for example), then it's OK as long as it is within the daily calorie allowance?
Yes, it is. But even if you did this, it wouldn't go on for more than a week because you would tire of it. The body needs a variety of foods; The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System ensures that you get them.
If an item fits into your calorie allowance, you may eat it. If it doesn't fit, get rid of something else in your menu.
10. I need someone to hold my hand while I diet.
That's what a coach is for. You and I are regularly in contact by e-mail. But you will only need this contact until you are habituated to your weight goal allowance. You may also e-mail me at any time with questions about the diet.
11. You say I'll lose 2 pounds/week after the plateau. I'm a professional boxer; I only want to lose one pound/week. Is this possible on The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System?
Yes, it is. Make this choice in item #10 on the Personal Profile form when you order the diet.
12. I want to lose 4 or 5 pounds every week. Why can't I do that?
Because The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System is about safe, maintenance-free weight loss and automatic weight control, not about 'doing a diet'.
13. Can The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System be used for permanent weight gain?
Yes, it can. But for now, I have chosen to focus my service on permanent weight loss.
14. After every diet I've tried, I've gained back all the weight I've lost, and then some. Won't the same thing happen this time?
No, it won't. The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System shows you how to eat like a person who has never had a weight problem. For 21 consecutive days, you train your body to be satisfied with less food. After you finish the diet, you automatically keep the weight off because you have lowered your body's set point.
15. After reaching your goal and eliminating the diet day, can you later decide you would like to lose more weight and therefore set a new goal and incorporate the diet day back into your diet?
Yes, you can. I have done so myself. See 'About the Coach'.
16. I know that you must follow the instructions to the letter during the first 21 days or you must begin at Day 1 again. However what if, after the 21 days, you eat (or drink) too many calories on a diet day? Does it disrupt your newly formed habit and/or effect future/past weight loss?
If you have followed the directions, you won't eat or drink too many calories after the 21 days. You will have formed the habit of eating the correct number of calories for both days.
17. I think I just need to do this in practice;
Yes, you do. That's why the 21 days are called the Practice Period.
then I will understand it 100%.
Indeed, you will. You won't fully understand it until you do it.
18. If I continue my current exercise program and discontinue exercising after reaching my goal and eliminating the diet day, will I gain weight due to the lack of exercise? What do you suggest?
On The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System, you should exercise the way you intend to after you finish dieting. If you don't intend to exercise after the diet, don't do so on the diet. Please see 'About the Diet', Part 1c, 'One Campaign at a Time'.
19. I understand that after the 21 days, out of habit I will no longer experience the food cravings I have now. However, will I always have to monitor the amount of calories I take in from alcohol to avoid gaining the weight back?
You should have your own serving size for everything you like to eat and drink before you start the diet. Then you won't have to monitor anything after the 21 days, unless you discover a new food you'd like to try. But then, you simply decide what type of food it is ('About the Diet', Part 2a, Step One) and note how big your serving size is.
20. You say to divide your daily allowance into 3 sections (the 20, 30, 50 percents) and rearrange when special occasions arise, but keep consistent for both days. So do you rearrange on the eating day...
Yes.
...and use this new rearrangement on the diet day...
No.
...then return to the past percentages the next eating day?
Return to the original eating day arrangement. Also, you can use whatever percentages you like. I was often a lunch or dinner guest and wanted to be worry-free, so I just decided to make 20%-30%-50% my habit. I used the 50% for my guest meals, at whatever time of day they occurred.
21. You use 2000 calories, as an example of an eating day allowance, which are divided among 6 meals. So if you are allowed 800 calories on a diet day, are you supposed to divide this small amount across 6 meals?
Yes, or among however many meals and snacks you want. See 'About the Diet', Part 2a, Step Two.
22. I am outlining my plan for 6 meals: 3 snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But you say when I get hungry I can have a mini-snack in between, even though I haven't planned for it? Won't this disrupt the habit?
No. A mini-snack is part of your day's allowance. When the next meal or snack comes around, you must eat then, since that's the habit you want to build.
23. Would it be better just to deal with the hunger, knowing that eventually, I won't be hungry at that time any more?
Yes, it would. But as long as you don't exceed your allowance on either day, it's all right to have a mini-snack. After the first couple of days on the diet, though, a mini-snack will likely seem bothersome.
24. I'm getting confused by this statement: "You can change the individual items but have the same menus everyday." By menus do you simply mean always eat a breakfast, then a snack, then lunch, etc.?
A 'menu' means the types of food you eat; for example, your breakfast menu might be protein, grain, fruit, and a beverage. Please see 'About the Diet', Part 2a, Step Three.
An 'eating plan' means the number of meals and snacks you have daily and the times of day you eat them. Please see 'About the Diet', Part 2a, Step Two.
But you don't have to eat eggs every morning, right?
Correct.
25. You said alcohol is allowed as long as it is in my required calorie allowance. So if I go out for cocktails with friends from 8 pm to 11 pm on an eating day, is it okay to drink continuously during this time as long as I am in my required calorie allowance?
Yes, it is. And I hope you have a designated driver.
Will this not disrupt the habit I am trying to form because I am not staying in my required time frame for consuming calories?
Well, if you like to drink continuously for 3 hours, why not make your eating plan reflect this? A 50% (or 60% or 70%) dinner section daily would take care of this.
26. I'm also confused by this statement: 'For diet day menus, simply use one or two items from each eating day menu'. Does this mean I should eat the same thing 2 days in a row?
No, it doesn't. Please see the answers in question 24.
27. Today, I attempted to go through my diet day without counting calories. At the end of the day, I tallied up the calories and found I was over by 20. How horrible is that?
If you have worked out an eating plan, serving sizes and standard menus for all your meals and snacks, you won't go over your allowance. Just don't deliberately go over it, or that will become a habit.
Should I take away from my eating day?
Absolutely not.
28. This is all too good to be true; there must be a catch. What is it?
Actually, there are two 'catches'. The Enjoyable Diet™ Normal Eating System requires ---
1. Planning: Write down your weight loss plan before you start ('About the Diet', Part 2).
2. Patience: Actually follow your plan for 21 consecutive days to become 'hooked' on normal eating.
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