There are so many diet tips flying around, who do I listen to?

Would you be willing to listen to diet tips from Scrabblers, typists, and dogs?

Believe it or not, deliberate practice is what makes someone an expert, not superior intelligence or natural superiority in a particular area of expertise.

Does this mean that anyone can become an expert? Yes, that's what it means.

The requirements for deliberate practice are (1) the tasks to be practiced are well-defined and at a challenging level of difficulty (2) there is a specific goal for improving performance of each task (3) practice is effortful (4) there is monitoring of performance so practice can be appropriately evaluated and modified.

Let's start with Scrabblers. If you compare Scrabble experts with average players, you find that the experts spend an enormous amount of time on Scrabble and Scrabble-related activities. The experts have prepared by spending lots of time studying and memorizing word lists, working on anagrams, and working out Scrabble-playing tactics.

Now, what about typists? One important difference between skilled typists and intermediate level typists is that skilled typists are faster because they have practiced looking farther ahead. By looking ahead, they could prepare a sequence of upcoming keystrokes. They could bring their fingers toward relevant keys in anticipation.

Now to the dogs. Through deliberate practice dogs get to be experts too. In the canine sport called "agility", dogs run through an obstacle course guided by their handlers. The dogs have to attend to their handlers' signals and try to successfully navigate the obstacle course without making mistakes. Expert dogs are more careful and speedier than the other dogs. They achieve their expert status by logging over one thousand hours of task-specific practice.

The diet tip is this: practice, practice, practice. But what do you practice? Scrabblers practice Scrabble, typists practice typing, dogs practice doggie agility. Dieters need to practice dieting. This is not any old practice. Again, it is deliberate practice, which means taking your dieting behavior and breaking it down into well-defined tasks. Make sure the tasks are difficult enough to challenge you but not so difficult that you can't master them in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable amount of effort. Have as your goal improvement of your performance on each task. Focus your practice on only parts of these tasks as required. Be sure to monitor your performance and use the feedback to make adjustments.

Why do all of this? Because you want to be like the experts. The expert has it easier and it's not because she's smarter or more capable. It's because she deliberately practiced and practiced. She no longer has to expend a lot of mental energy. She doesn't need to pay such careful attention to what to do and what not to do. She has practiced enough so it has become part of her. She has honed her dieting skills, organized them into fluid units of everyday behavior. This makes it likely that she won't make many mistakes.

The expert dieter is rewarded for all her hard work. She becomes successful at losing weight.

© Maria's Last Diet. Maria's Last Diet is an online weight loss support website for women. At Maria's Last Diet, you'll find the tools to fix the thoughts, feelings, and automatic habits that fight against you when you diet. Because it's never just about the food. Visit www.mariaslastdiet.com for more diet tips and weight loss motivation.

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