Maria’s Last Diet Press Kit
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MariasLastDiet.com: Here's a Website for Women that Makes Sticking to a Diet a Lot Easier
In order to lose weight on a diet…
You must be able to stay on the diet. In 2005, a study reported in the Journal of
the American Medical Association showed that people have a lot of trouble sticking to any diet, whether it is low carb, low fat, or low cal. Experts agree there are
two parts to dieting: The food plan a person chooses that lays out what to eat,
and then being able to stick to the food plan that’s been chosen. Staying on the
diet is the part that ultimately fails, and therefore is the key to diet success.
According to Dr. Kenneth Schwarz, psychologist/psychoanalyst, “people in general
– and women specifically – who rely solely on willpower and self-control will most
likely experience diet failure. We know that dieting continues to remain at the
forefront of most women’s minds, but the raw fact is that 62% of women ages 20 to 74 are still overweight. Most of the time when a woman wants to lose weight, she
reaches for the latest diet. The problem is she’s then left on her own to stick
to it. What’s too often missing is a good source of support, along with structure
and guidelines to help her stay on that diet.”
Dr. Schwarz says, “How many times does a woman say to herself, “This time I’m really going to do it!” and then fails? Having a solid support system along with a diet
is what will let her keep that promise to herself.” To this end Dr. Schwarz has
helped develop a website, http://www.mariaslastdiet.com, devoted to giving women
the tools they need to stay on whatever diet they choose. Providing inspiration
from a revealing, fictionalized drama of an everywoman’s (Maria’s) personal weight-loss
journey, the website also provides support for a woman through:
- a system for breaking through her own personal dieting obstacles
- answers to questions from women who struggle with food and weight
- weekly exercises that get to the heart of why she can’t lose weight
- up to the moment information about dieting and weight loss
- a place to express what she is going through as she diets
- the chance to hear about what other women are going through as they diet
- the opportunity to ask the questions most important to her
About Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D.
Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D. is a psychologist/psychoanalyst practicing in Connecticut,
where he is on the allied health staff at Sharon Hospital. He and his wife, Julie
Schwarz, are co-authors of the e-Booklet How to Break the First Big Rule of Women Who Stay Fat
. They publish a free monthly newsletter, as well as a system
of exercises to change eating-related habits permanently. The e-Booklet, newsletter,
and exercises as well as articles and quizzes are available when you visit http://www.mariaslastdiet.com.
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Always Something New at MariasLastDiet.com
On the website, there’s something new each day, each week, each month.
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Dieting Support e-Booklet
Our 31 page e-Booklet is a woman’s personal guide: How to Break the First Big Rule of Women Who Stay Fat.
This e-Booklet is available on the website for $9.95.
For a complimentary media review copy, please email hi@mariaslastdiet.com. Give your media affiliation in the email, and we will attach the e-Booklet to your email as a reply.
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Fact Sheet
Despite the national obsession with dieting from low fat/low cal to high protein/low carb, rates of obesity and overweight have risen significantly for adults in the U.S.: 47% from 1976-1980, 56% 1988-1994, and 65% 1999-2002.
On any given day, 45 percent of women are on a diet.
Only 33.5 percent of American adults are at a healthy weight, and the percentage is falling.
For women ages 20 to 74, sixty-two percent are overweight.
Because there are so many diets out there, it is clear that there is no one answer to weight loss. If there were an absolute solution, there would be no need for the 2,500 diet books that are currently available.
A study in the January 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association compared people on 4 major diets: Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, Zone. This study showed that none of these diets produced dieting adherence. People could not stick to any of these diets very well.
Sticking to a diet is the biggest factor in successful weight loss.
Many studies have shown that diets do not produce permanent weight loss.
There are many reasons women give for why they fail on a diet like too much life stress, having to take care of everyone else, getting cravings, needing a reward. These are true obstacles to dieting success and need to be dealt with.
It is very hard for people to change their basic habits. For a woman who is an overeater, losing weight means not turning to food habitually, a process that has become automatic and familiar to her. This requires new learning, unlearning, practice, and perseverance.
When a woman can connect with other women about food and weight problems, it can be a wonderful support system. It can help a woman check out her thinking, give her new ideas, and help her understand her own behavior that has been standing in the way of solving this problem.
There are many psychological principles at work when someone is trying to accomplish personal change, such as resistance, consciousness raising, and self-evaluation.
Many women who are overweight use food to help control their lives, to get them through very hard times and even to get them through the ups and downs of everyday life. Using food like this can be a very hard habit to break.
Self-change necessarily involves a process over time. It never happens in one instant. It involves learning, trial and error, and building new habits to replace the old ones.
Helping relationships can have an important role in personal change. A support system helps a person move through the steps that true change requires.
When women have a problem with eating and weight, they often deny or minimize the problem, blaming factors outside of themselves. Becoming aware of these self-defeating ways of thinking contributes greatly to the accomplishment of personal change.
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Bio
Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D. and his wife Julie Schwarz are co-authors of the e-Booklet How to Break the First Big Rule of Women Who Stay Fat. Dr. Schwarz is a psychologist and psychoanalyst specializing in personal change and goal achievement. He practices in Connecticut where he is a member of the allied health staff at Sharon Hospital. To overcome diet failure, go to Dr. Schwarz’s website www.mariaslastdiet.com.
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Photo
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Contacts
Maria’s Last Diet:
Julie Schwarz and Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D.
P.O. Box 681
Sharon CT 06069
hi@mariaslastdiet.com
860.248.2380
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