OVERWEIGHT (OBESE)? USE THIS PRACTICAL GUIDE TO START THE DESIRED CHANGE

More likely than not, you have already tried other ways of helping yourself. Well, this little guide over here is not like any other. This is not a diet plan, you will not find numbers/ratios/portions in here.

What we want to tell you is very different and it will help you.

1. STOP TRYING TO LOOSE WEIGHT. Yeah, you read it right. If you're overweight and want to do something about it, the first thing to do is to stop trying to loose weight - get it out of your head. Do not make it your goal. Trying-to-loose-weight is the beginning of a never-ending and a vicious circle that you're most likely already familiar with. The minute you decide to start loosing weight, your body gets an automatic memo to raise the defenses, start storing fat, because shortage of food is imminent.
2. CHANGE YOUR CONCERNS. So if you're not focusing on loosing weight, what should you focus on? Anything else. Got a stamp collection? Make sure you discuss it with your friends. Go to a museum to walk around and look at art. What you're looking for here is a distraction from food and change in established patterns, as well as dissipation of accumulation of feelings of anxiety around the subject of your weight.
3. STOP WORRYING/WONDERING IF YOU WILL LOOSE WEIGHT. Stress and anxiety are two of the main causes of overeating. The actual loss of weight is a byproduct. So you would do yourself a big favor if you simply accept the fact that it will happen... as a result of other things you do.
4. DO. Yup, simply do. Stop talking about it, stop planning, stop preparing and act on your desire to make a change. Action is the key word. When you eat - that's action too, and a very important one at that. Eating more than you need is an action that creates your problem. Some people choose to run (action) others choose to eat (action) in order to dissipate the energy that builds up during the day that needs to be released. If you can't run, you should find another action to do so you don't end up eating when you're not hungry.

DO:
1. Get out of your house. Do it more often, do it regularly. It will help you keep your mind off eating and will give you other options of things to do. Plus there is no comfy sofa around with a TV in front of it.
2. Walk barefoot. It will help you in more ways than you can imagine right now, so just do it.
3. Find what holds your interest. Have you ever heard someone say before: "Oh, I was so into it, I forgot to eat, time just flew by!" When we are mentally involved, for example when we really get into a project at work that is very interesting to us - that's what becomes the primary focus.
4. Start exercising. Very lightly, as much as you can, but do it. Flexibility exercises are among the best exercises to start with and you can do it at home on the floor. No need to prepare, no need for sports attire, no need to worry.
5. Have a cup of hot/warm green or mint tea before eating. This simple action will help you to determine how hungry you are and if you're hungry at all.
6. Take your time eating. Get everything out of food, not just the energy. Eating right doesn't equal suffering and awful taste of food. Take your time, enjoy the flavor, enjoy the experience. You will notice that enjoying the process without rushing makes you eat less.

DON'T:
1. Set a goal to loose so many pounds by such and such date - are you playing a game or are you looking to make a real and lasting change?
2. Set a goal to loose weight in general - that's a dead end. Haven't you done that already? Did it work? If yes, how long did it last?
3. Abruptly change your diet - that could be considered physical, psychological and emotional torture with disastrous results.
4. Abruptly start intense physical training - that would be physical and emotional torture with disastrous results.
5. Count calories or proteins or anything like that - unless you're looking to entertain yourself, don't waste your time.
6. Create a plan and try to stick to it - small changes done every day and implemented without force will take you further. When you create the goal - in your mind there is an anti-goal created immediately: yin and yang, dark and light, positive and negative. This polarity is part of everything we know. So instead of making plans of grand proportions and then suffering disappointment of equal size, or attempting herculean feats, take small steps, but do it consistently and allow room for error.

Loosing weight is a very simple formula in physiological terms - less food, more movement. Gaining weight is also a simple formula - more food, less movement. To find what you're looking for, you have to restore balance. But first you have to create the dis-balance between consumption and spending to start movement towards balance. Very simple law. But we're not all physiology, we are very complicated and we like to complicate things.

Life is movement, movement is life - so don't stop moving. Sedentary lifestyle is a silent killer, abundance of food is surprisingly demoralizing. But... You can do anything you put your mind to. Nobody is born overweight, we choose to let it happen. Whatever your genetic predisposition is, at the end of the day you are the master of your domain.

Your body is your temple, be a good keeper. You will loose weight as a side effect of improving your skill of keeping your temple.

Article by Dr. Nicholas Romanov
Composed by L. Romanov