You say all it takes are small changes, so why do I feel like I need to make enormous changes to lose weight?

It isn't just small changes that do the trick. It's the accumulation of small changes that gives you the power and ability to lose weight successfully.

The small changes we encourage you to make are not really so small. They seem small relative to what precedes them. Each little new step you take should be relatively easy, different from what you were doing up to that point, but not very different. That's why little changes don't take much effort, and each little change you make gets you ready for the next little change. These little changes add up to a real transformation. There is power and strength gained as you go through the change process in this way. It is a multi-faceted strategy that accomplishes the following:

• Lets you gradually tear down bad habits, the same way you gradually built them up
• Helps take the pain and struggle out of weight loss
• Builds self-confidence through the experience of many mini-successes
• Avoids the impatience that comes from having only one big goal to shoot for

The whole sequence of small, cumulative change steps ends up in a complex and meaningful change in relation to your starting point. And yet, when you get there, you should feel perfectly comfortable, as though it is natural for you to be there.

This contrasts sharply with trying to change big things about you and your eating all at once. This takes huge effort and can make you feel like you are attempting the impossible, as though you are defeated before you even begin.

If you are like so many other women, you may have said to yourself in the past: OK, Monday I'm going on a diet and I'll be good. I won't cheat. I'll lose 30 lbs by Christmas. I'll eat just what the diet says, and I'll walk every day for 45 minutes.

Wow, that sounds hard and all-of-a-sudden. But, what if you said to yourself something like this: Tomorrow I will take note of times during the day when I tend to eat too much.

Doesn't that sound easier? And it will tell you a lot.

© 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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