"Build up -- Don't Let Down”
© 2006 Sandra Ahten

Janet said that she was having coffee with a friend and debating, “Donut or no donut.”

Friend said, “I don’t eat donuts.”

“Never? Why not?” Janet asked.

“I pinpoint one food a year that is not ‘good’ for me and just give it up. I gave up donuts three years ago,” Friend replied.

Janet got to thinking about it and realized that, indeed, she has given up different foods through the years also. For example, she stopped eating french fries a couple of years ago. She told me, “It wasn’t that big of an effort. It just took some thoughtfulness for awhile. I don’t care that much about french fries. I realized that I only ate them because they were served with the sandwich. Now I just make sure that I order enough food so that I don’t need the fries to fill me up. Sometimes it’s a salad or fruit. Sometimes just the sandwich is enough.”

Does Janet need to deprive herself? Does Janet need to be dieting? Does the friend? You wouldn’t think so to look at them. But this is how overweight people get thin. This is how thin people stay thin. Yes, there are the rare exceptions – folks who have the proverbial “hollow leg” and can eat anything and not gain weight. But that is not the reality for most of us.

Look again at what Janet said: “It wasn’t that big of an effort. It just took some thoughtfulness.” Now ask yourself, “What could I change for the better in my diet or lifestyle, without much effort, if I gave it some thought and did some planning and preparation?”

Think of your diet as the buildup plan. Make small changes that you can build upon. Start with changes that don’t require much effort -- things that, when considered alone, are not that big of deal to you.

During our conversation Janet said she had observed that if you saw someone eating an apple in public, invariably, they were thin. Why? Probably because they gave it some thought and then devised a strategy. They thought, “I’m probably going to be hungry sometime after I leave the house. I don’t want the consequences of just eating what ever is available.” They made a strategy: “I’m going to start buying apples so that I can take one with me when I leave the house.”

Can you really lose weight on the buildup plan? Making such small adjustments? Well, certainly it is better than the plan most people use to lose weight, which I call the letdown plan. This is when you start a diet in a gung-ho fashion; fail at some small part of it, or have a week when you don’t lose; then feel a great let down and use the letdown as the reason to abandon the diet and with it every single one of the good habits you’ve started establishing.

Behavior modification experts say that habits that all started at the same time usually end at the same time. The build up plan gives you a chance to start behaviors that you will be able to keep, even when the rest of your eating or exercise plan may come crashing down around you. (Is that why they call them crash diets?)

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t follow a directed diet. Maybe you should. Just take time to decide what habits you are sticking with regardless of whether the diet sticks or not. Use the buildup plan as the mainstay of your diet strategy.