Personal Experience: Diets that Really Work

Stop indulging in wishful thinking and start working over losing excessive weight!
Many people cherish the dream of losing weight, but do not have enough will-power to restrain themselves while eating. Irina Zinkova from the Russian city of Khabarovsk tells her story of keeping to a diet as a result of which she has lost a considerable percentage of her extra weight.

"Some time ago I cherished the dream of losing my extra 8-10 kilograms as I felt I needed to feel lighter and have better control over the body.  The extra weight at the same time posed considerable danger to my health. Each time I was conscience-stricken after eating another chocolate, I once again made an important decision to start from scratch. I intended to keep to a diet, to do morning exercises and to eat no sweets until I lost the extra weight. But each time the good intention lasted just for several days." 

"Once I decided to analyze the situation, I realized that my lifestyle kept me from losing weight. My diary helped me to do this. As it turned out, in majority of cases, my decision to start from scratch caused me to fall into a fit of anger with myself. In other words, the decision was made under the impact of negative emotions caused by my personal perception of myself."

"Once I understood the cause of the problem, I decided to act in a quite different way. It was really very important to wait for a certain amount of time to experience an emotional upturn that made me satisfied with myself. Being in good moods, every woman dreams of losing her extra weight, of developing muscles, and of living better. Indeed, at this particular moment we do not criticize ourselves but find methods to improve ourselves."

"Having arrived at this conclusion, I was absolutely confident of success and did not care which day I would lose the desired weight. My attitude at that time was as following: everything went good with me; I believed my life was a success and I could devote some time to improving myself."

"The next step to be made was to save myself from unnecessary seductive factors. These are first of all gourmets and sweet teeth among the relatives and acquaintances of mine. I would dare to say that it is more efficient to start from scratch when relatives are away: when children spend vacations at grandma's and the husband is on a business trip. This may be a really convenient moment for starting a diet."

"What is more, I absolutely put out of my head the fact that the mirror existed. It is no good to glance at the mirror for more self-criticism. For a more successful diet, women should have more positive emotions, treat life with humor and try to weigh themselves less often. It is recommended to stand on the balance only when some success is actually achieved. On no occasion, take your favorite tight dress out of the wardrobe before you achieve any visible result.  It makes no sense to determine any deadlines within which the extra weight is to be lost because your body first needs to become accustomed to a new dietary pattern. Women should better indulge in fantasies about beautiful dresses that they may put on as soon as lose extra weight and how wonderful and fresh they will look then."

"During the initial stages of my diet project, I avoided telling my colleagues and acquaintances that I was keeping to a diet. What is more, I tried to avoid thinking about my "project" myself; I never thought of the new eating regime as of punishment for the sin of overeating."

"Over the life time, I have started lots of diets, though none of them were effective. This time, I decided just to follow the principle of restraints in eating. This can be achieved through making short breaks between meals, not more than 4 hours. A good recommendation is never cook meals or go shopping while hungry. Another advice is to buy fat-free dairy products and sauces; never season salads with mayonnaise, better with vegetable or olive oil, even with lemon juice."   

"Have a habit of drinking a cup of fresh green tea with lemon because keeping to a diet means drinking a lot of liquids. During my diet, I ate proteins (meat, fish, mushrooms and sea products) with vegetables and potherbs. Fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, unsalted nuts or unleavened cookies suit wonderfully to satisfy hunger. Eat hot vegetable soup every day."

"My advice is to start every supper and dinner with a salad; when started with a salad there will be less space for a meat dish. Another secret is a white cabbage salad once a day; this salad acts as a wonderful fat burner. Oranges and grapefruits have the same qualities."

"A party dedicated to the birthday of a friend of mine helped me to like my diet. The festive table was wonderful, and I ate many dishes that I traditionally avoided eating. The feeling of heaviness in the stomach tortured me for two days and made me understand once and for all that delicacies are not in fact that good."

"In less than six months, I lost 15 kilograms of the extra weight. Today, I try to maintain my weight without spending much effort; I enjoy sports, low-calorie and healthy meals and myself."