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I lost 20 pounds with Weight Watchers, and then I very quickly put 10 of those back on. I work in healthcare, and believe me, when taking care of patients it becomes extremely clear what being overweight and/or out of shape does to your health and quality of life. But now there I was, on the front lines battling, up and down- gain 3, lose 3, gain 3, lose 3.

I kept thinking that I just needed to find that diet or plan that was just right for me, that would enable me to stick to it for more than 8 hours. My family would frequently kid me about how I had read every diet book out there, and knew more about diets than anyone they knew. Yes, I was obviously a candidate for membership in the “I know what to do, I just don’t do it” club.

Then I discovered Sandra’s Reasonable Diet podcast. With her awesome advice, I managed to lose 13 pounds over the next 8 months. That may seem unacceptably slow according to the aspirations of some who are embarking on yet another weight loss adventure . But this time, thanks to Sandra’s great insights, I did not go on a diet. She had helped me to realize that we are all on a diet everyday, even when it is the cookies- cakes-and-brownies diet.

So instead of yet another diet attempt, this time I followed the Reasonable Diet approach and determined what I was willing to do. I also determined that if I was no longer willing to do that, I would reevaluate and modify rather than going back to mindless eating and pretending that any calories consumed while a person is in between diet attempts don’t count somehow.

Then I reached an impasse. The things I had been willing to do thus far, had helped me reach this point, yet now here I was again, on the front lines battling- 3 lbs up, 3 lbs down. Although I was not battling to stay out of the “overweight zone,” I was battling nonetheless. I wanted to lose that last 5 pounds, but more than that I wanted to reach a place of peace and stability, a place where thoughts about food and weight did not claim such a large chunk of my mental energy. At that point in time, I received the email from Sandra about the Spring Fling (4 week telephone group) offer. I decided to give it a try.

At our first call during the Spring Fling we set a weight loss goal for the 4- week program. I picked 4 pounds for a nice even pound per week, but I knew that my goal for participating in the program had nothing to do with losing a certain amount of weight over a certain period.... it had to do with peace of mind.

Being able to ask, and get personal answers to my questions and issues, led to insights that dramatically changed my reactions to food. Over a one week period, I went from feelings of struggle and conflict to feelings of real peace of mind and ease in regards to food choices.

So what did I lose in those first four week? Three pounds. What did I gain? The start of a new, normalized relationship with food, and an understanding of what Sandra means about having peace of mind and feelings of integrity in this area of life. (And by the way, those three pounds pushed me over the line to the next size down, into my skinny jeans. And that also is a very good thing!)

It has only gotten better from there...as I've signed on for more classes, so that I can make this calm feeling about food and my diet a way of life.

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