| The first problem with dieting is that it’s seen as a temporary event. If you view dieting this way you’re likely to gain any lost weight back. To keep weight loss off you must make lifetime changes to your diet and exercise regimen. I read that in a book once and thought why would I want to eat the way the book recommends for the rest of my life. It’s too hard. That’s an important reason that you understand that whatever you do you’ll be able to keep it up to keep it off. To keep weight off you must weigh yourself every day. Once you reach your goal weight the difference is instead of losing a pound a week you want to stay below a certain weight. My current goal weight is to be below 160 pounds. Now I’ve gained four pounds in one day so if I want to stay below 160 I must not eat like crazy unless I’m below 156 pounds. To make sure I stay below 160 I’ll set my goal at 0.2 pounds less. This way if I gain four pounds I’ll be at 159.8 pounds, still be below 160. The Excel Diet spreadsheet will automatically calculate this for you. Nothing should change with your weight loss method except your daily target weight. Manage against this number and you’ll never gain the weight back. The Excel Diet helps you to always have a goal weight. This is a very important concept in keeping the weight off. Most other diets are for just reaching the goal weight. Once you stop having a goal it will be difficult to keep it off. Vacation time is a tricky time. See “Law of Vacation” on page 121 for tips during this time frame. |