The Diet Guy

I Don't Want To Die

Most dieters or people I see with weight issues actually perceive themselves to be quite positive about their weight and their lives. They are taking action and moving on but what they say will very much dictate the results they will get.
 
What they think is a positive mindset is actually based on fear and what they don't want, as opposed to optimism and what they do want.
 
Let me give you some examples.
 
How many times have you said or heard other people say
 
1. I don't want to die
2. I don't want to be the fat mum in the playground
3. I don't want people to laugh at me
4. I don't want to wear big clothes
5. I don't want to go to a wedding looking like I do now
6. I don't want to get on a plane when I can't fit in the seat
 
etc etc
 
But all of these require you to feel bad! They all require you to think about the thing that upsets you, hence you have to feel upset or uncomfortable. Therefore, if you desperately don't want people to laugh at you for being overweight, you then think about it, you then feel bad so you then use food to cheer yourself up. You then are in what is called a vicious circle.
 
So what do you really want? Most dieters don't know, or won't allow themselves to think about it, dream it, imagine it and then do it.
 
So let's turn around those six points above, what if you said instead.
 
1. I want to live
2. I want to look great in the playground
3. I want people to wolf whistle me
4. I want to wear that new dress I saw in the shop window
5. I want to look fantastic at that wedding
6. I want to bounce about in my airline seat with room for three others
 
It's just a decision to change what you don't want to what you do want. Even better of course is once you had decided what you do want is to make it even stronger by deciding to do it.
 
So
 
1. I will live my life and love it!
2. I will look amazing in that playground, in fact I'll look amazing wherever I am, and whatever I am doing.
3. I will have people say how great I look, and I'll know that I look great.
4. I will wear that dress I really want, and I will feel great in it.
5. I will look amazing on that wedding day.
6. I will get on that plane and make a point of sharing my seat with at least one of the cabin crew.
 
And then don't doubt it, go ahead and do it!
 
If you don't know what you want though then you will always be in neutral and not move forwards, let me give you another example of when most people know what they want!
 
When you sit down tonight in front of the TV then you are likely to make a decision on what you want to watch and not what you don't want to watch!
 
You may think, I want to relax and have a laugh so I'll watch X-Factor, or you might think I want to watch Brucie and the dancers on Strictly, and guess what! You will!
 
But would you sit there and think
 
I don't want to watch the shopping channels, I don't want to watch a documentary, or a quiz, I don't want to see a round of golf, and I definitely don't want to watch a movie, I don't want to view anything in black or white, or any programme with songs in it, I don't want to watch the news channels or anything with David Dickinson on it...
 
Of course not!!

Therefore if you know what you want to watch on the TV tonight and are happy to think of that, then what is stopping you think of what you want with one of the biggest things in your life! Your Health

The Language Of Dieting

Do you really want to lose weight ?

If you "lose" something then you tend to go looking for it. For example, I lost my mobile phone last Christmas and spent days pulling up the sofa cushions until eventually I found it in the car! Therefore, never say you are "losing" weight as this says to your unconcious mind that you need to find it again.

When I talk to people about their weight I talk about reducing it as opposed to losing it, as that is much more sustainable and if you reduce something it stays reduced!

The point of this is basically the language people use when it comes to their weight does tend to dictate the result. If someone says that reducing weight is "hard" then guess what they find it? If you think of anything in life you do really well then I am certain that at the heart of it you will enjoy doing it! Therefore if you want to do really well with your weight maintenance then enjoy it! and always talk about it in positive terms.

If you are negative you can't help but take on the physiology and mindset of the words that you speak.

As an example keep repeating these words below for 20 seconds and see how you feel.

HARD, TIRED, BORED, SAD, HUNGRY, ANGRY

Now check your body, are your shoulders down? are you slouched over? do you feel anything but those words?

Ok....now keep repeating these words for 20 seconds and see how you change ?

EXCITED, HAPPY, INQUISITIVE, LAUGHING, GIGGLING, FUNNY

You can't help but start to feel the feelings, and your mind must process what you say and will then go and search out what that is like.

This is absolutely why how you talk about yourself and how your weight management is going is key to success! Keep saying "I am a failure" and you will be! In NLP there is a saying of "Perception is projection" which basically means if you think something you will act something and that is so true when it comes to the mindset of weight.

If I say don't think of a red car, absolutely don't, do not picture that red car, don't in anyway think of a red car that is a 7 seater red car with a big yellow aerial on the top, you can't help but start to think about it. Therefore when you say something is "impossible" or "tough" then that is exactly what you will find.

So what if you decided to change your language to positive language, why not laugh about what you are doing, enjoy it. Ultimately if you are in control of yourself and your weight then that is such a positive step in your life, hence why wouldn't you be pleased and over the moon? 

What's Different This Time?

'If You Keep Doing The Same Thing Over Again You Will Keep Getting The Same Result' 

The saying above is one of the cornerstones of my work, therefore if you, or someone you are working with, continues to do the same thing then they will continue to get the same outcome. Therefore, my job as a coach when working with people, is to help them make changes so they get a different result.

 

If, for example, when you get in the car today you change the frequency on your radio from FM to AM then you will get a different radio station, you have to! There can be no other result. Therefore, when you look at what you do with your weight, are you really making changes which will affect the final result?

 

I see many people who have "failed" on a diet time and time again giving it one more try. The problem of course is, if they failed last time and are just doing it exactly the same way again, why would it suddenly work for them?

 

Diets are great. They have a function, which is to get you slim. Ultimately, all diets that control calories will work, so why do so many people fail on them? We all know that if we eat less calories than we burn then we can't fail but to get slim, and yet the obesity problem is getting worse. The reason, of course, is that so many of us use food for other reasons than nutrition. I used to use food for comfort, to relieve boredom and for many other reasons and without dealing with the true issues then all I was ever going to do was rent some small jeans for a while.

 

If I look at myself then I tried absolutely every diet under the sun. I did everything from the spinach and steak diet, through to the slimming clubs, through Atkins and a whole host of diets but never found success. The reality is that I didn't actually change anything, all I did was try a different diet everytime and blamed the previous diet for not working for me.

 

When I finally did reduce my weight I made some major changes. For a start, I had a realistic target that I really wanted to achieve. I believed that I could do it and never questioned myself. I could see nothing but positivity in becoming slim, therefore I totally changed my mindset and I got a different final result.

 

So when people come and talk to me 1-2-1 I am fascinated to know if they have not been successful on loads of others diets and why doing another one is going to make them succeed. If someone overweight understands the true reasons they got big then they have the choice to do something different.

 

I love working with successful people. For me, what is more important in a dieter is that they are happy, and therefore, I am a happiness counsellor with a bit of dieting advice on the side.

 

If a dieter is truly happy being themselves, and with their life, then they can, and will, be slim. If a dieter believes that they are "doomed to fail" as they have so many times before then they have already made a decision to fail.

 

So if you are currently on a diet, struggling to get back on a diet or debating whether to do a diet, then my advice is instead of just thinking which diet is next, take a step back! Look at why you want to be slim? What changes are you going to make both short term to allow weight reduction, and also long term to ensure you maintain your new figure. If you change the way you think about yourself and your weight you will ALWAYS get a different result.

 

The day I became slim was the day I actually believed I could do it. It's just a shame for me I spent 17 years believing I would fail and doing that instead. Being slim is 99% in your mind and 1% in the diet you choose. Therefore be nice to yourself, and realise that although in the past you may not have got the result you wanted, the next time you can, if you choose to. Remember overeating is a behaviour and not a disease, therefore you can't cure being big, you just need to change the behaviour, and that is possible in everyone!

 

If you answer these questions to yourself truthfully and search out the answers then you can make a fantastic detour on your journey and achieve amazing things.

 

What do you need to do to get better at managing your weight?

 

What do slim people do that makes them slim and what can you do to copy that?

 

 What can you do to enjoy weight management more today?

 

How good can you become at weight management? How much fun can you have while doing that?

 

What is the biggest change you can make today that will have a positive outcome in terms of your weight?

 

and of course

 

What stops you doing it?

What Would You Do Differently?

If you were 10% better at dieting what would you do differently ?

Then do it...

Laugh Your Way To Slimdom

I was always fascinated when I was on my last diet why I hadn't done it sooner!

 

I was loving the fact I was feeling healthier, had more energy, was able to buy lovely clothes and was getting loads of compliments...therefore why would I not enjoy the ride?

 

I used to talk about Slimdom as if it was a town that I was going to arrive at. I used to joke about when I got to Slimdom I was going to be building a nice big four bed detached and settling down there for the rest of my life. I could even picture myself slim in my nice big house in Slimdom!

 

Therefore, I had a target in my mind and, even better, I never doubted the target or the result and in no way did it feel unachievable or alien to me.

 

It is important to laugh and enjoy the ride because, for example, if I say to you now how many FOR SALE signs did you see last time you put your house up for sale and looked to move, or when you were getting a new car how many more of that make and colour of car did you suddenly seem to notice?

 

The human mind has a system for finding what it is expecting to see. So if you are looking for the fun and enjoyment of being on a diet and what that can offer you, then you will find it.

 

If you think that being on a diet is a hard time and not much fun then that is exactly what you will look for and find.

 

Because the mindset of dieting is just a perception, we went out last year on Saturday night and played Bingo! I knew I would be bored stiff and not want to be there but my wife already knew that she would enjoy it and love crossing out random numbers for cash.

 

Therefore that is exactly what happened, I didn't like it and she did! Now we both experienced the same Bingo session, we both sat there crossing out legs eleven and yet she perceived it as fun and I perceived it as boring.

 

But ultimately she enjoyed the experience and I didn't...she also won £20 but there you go!

 

So turning this to you, do you enjoy dieting? If not, are you looking for the good stuff? With whatever diet you choose and whatever weight you may be starting from there are always short term gains, medium term gains and then the big final result of you being slim.

 

If you don't believe me by the way that it can be fun then just try it for one week for me...for one week just realise how amazing you can be at reducing weight...whenever you think you are struggling or may have trouble then look for the positives, look for something to make you smile, and of course remind yourself of why you want to be slim and visualise yourself being there.

 

And as my final point to hopefully prove this, just say this sentence for me

 

FUN SMILE HAPPY SLIM LAUGH JOKE ENJOY LAUGHTER

 

And then tell me that you couldn't start to feel like you wanted to smile? Because your body can't stop itself reacting to what you think. Therefore believe you can and you will.

 

As a final thought before you mail me and say what about the tough days etc...I sat there on Xmas Day 2005 not eating anything and watching nine people eat their Xmas Dinner...to keep myself amused I wired up 12 party poppers to all detonate at the same time and shot them across the dinner table half way through dinner, now I was looking for something to enjoy about the experience and I found one.

20 Benson's Please

I used to be a heavy smoker in my teens and 20's, I would smoke between 20 and 40 a day until I was 25 and then decided to just stop. I tried for years and years to stop with patches, plastic pipe's, chewing gum and willpower but all I could ever do was cut down to around 10 a day and then gradually go back up again.

When I was cutting down I used to see cigarettes everywhere, I would smell them, I would see adverts for them, I would see people lighting them and be obsessed with what I couldn't have.

But then one day in the car back in 1999 I decided to stop, I flicked the butt out of the window and thought 'I'm done...'

And I have never smoked since, I didn't need willpower, or gum, or anything, I felt lousy for a few days as the physical addiction went cold turkey but after that I forgot about the fact I used to smoke.

Until a few months ago !

I was on a course with a good friend who asked me to go and buy her 20 cigarette's in the lunch hour as I was going to the supermarket for a sandwich.

I walked in and got my lunch and then went to the cigarette counter and looked at cigarettes! It hit me like a brick that I was now such a non-smoker that I hadn't for years even bothered to look at the counter, I noticed that suddenly cigarettes were nearly six pounds a pack (they were about three when I stopped), and that they now had big labels on them with pictures. I noticed that there were new brands I had never seen or heard of before.

As I walked back to the course I thought this over and came to realise that someone who really is over something doesn't even notice anymore that it is a problem.

And I am that same now about food, when I was big I was a pudding person! I loved my desserts and especially profiteroles and sticky puddings. When I used to diet I was always obsessed with not being allowed them and had to try and avoid the aisles in the supermarket.

But now I don't ! I don't crave them anymore and don't even notice them when I am shopping, if I go out for a meal I may well have some but now I can take or leave it without feeling like I am being hard done-by or in a prison.

I was out with a friend last week who stopped smoking for New Years and was telling me constantly how he was now a non-smoker and hadn't smoked for 18 days. Now that is fantastic and well done to him but it will be when he forgets about cigarettes to the point he never talks about them anymore that he truly will be a non-smoker.

You Are What You...

EAT or THINK ?
 
Which did you immediately think?
 
As Bill said in his mail to me, he immediately said EAT, but then realised that you are actually what you think.
 
And it is so true. I spend a lot of time working 1-2-1 with clients and those that truly believe that they are doing really well, that they are succeeding, that they are brilliant, happy, great and motivated, generally are!
 
But I then get people who believe they are destined to be permanent, professional dieters. That they are useless, a waste of time, failures, doomed to be fat and generally never get to goal and they are right!
 
My interest as a counsellor is to get to the bottom of why they think they can't succeed. Of course, if you have dieted over 20 years and done hundreds of diets and lost weight and regained weight and failed, then history tells you that this time will probably be the same!
 
The reality is that the next diet could be your last ever diet! It is now nearly four years since I dieted and I now don't diet at all. That would have been an alien concept for me when I was big. Even the thought of being slim was so remote, so unlikely, so unbelievable that I never thought I could actually do it....but I did!
 
And the sole reason I got slim is that I thought I could do it! I decided one day that I was going to look at life positively, I was going to laugh about dieting, I was going to be sarcastic and giggle my way to slimdom and I did. Every other diet I had ever done I did with a grumpy face and moaned about it all the time. I kept saying about what I couldn't have, what I wasn't allowed, how unfair that all my friends were slim and could eat what they like, how my metabolism was slow, how I put on weight by looking at a cake but because of all that I was always feeling sad, bad and down in the dumps! Because when I felt bad, I ate, it all went wrong.
 
So how positive are you about diet and your weight?
 
Do you dive on the scales with a smile or a squirm?
 
Do you choose your menu in a restaurant on what you can't have?
 
Do you really enjoy dieting, enjoy being slim?
 
Someone mailed me to ask me now I am slim is it a battleground everyday with food and the answer, the true answer, is not anymore! It really used to be for me. My life revolved around food and dieting, even when I first got slim 4 years ago I was living my life in total fear and horror of being overweight again...but if you fear something then you constantly think about it and therefore go back to it.
 
So, are you what you think? If I say now 'You are briliant, fantastic and a really nice person who is great'
 
Do you believe me? Do you read it and think 'No I am not!'
 
Because as soon as you become at peace with yourself then you will find that picking a diet that fits in with your lifestyle is actually much easier.
 
You can be slim, you can never diet again, you can live your life without worrying about food...you just have to think you can!

Welcome To My Blog...

Hello there!

I'm Mike Scott and this is my home on the internet where I like to share some of my own thoughts and experiences. I spent 20 years being a professional dieter and got bigger every year but back in 2005/6 I reduced my weight for the last time and stopped dieting forever.

   
 

I reduced my weight by 11 and a half stone (161 pounds) in 20 weeks.

It was when I dealt with WHY I ate and not WHAT I ate that the success really started to flow.

I know if I managed to do it, then everyone can do it! I hope this blog helps others help themselves.

To your amazing success

Mike ;-)

P.S. I actively push back against advertising on the site to keep it clean and without prejudice, but it does cost me a lot of money to run the blog and the newsletter. If you can then any donation towards the monthly costs would be appreciated. The donate button is in the top right hand corner. Thanks

Back To Blogging

Well it's been four years since I last did a blog entry !

When I was on a diet back in 2005/2006 I used to blog every day with how I felt about myself and the world around me, I blogged in September 2005 to say I was going to have a last chance at dieting and would see how I got on!

It was then a mad twenty weeks as I shrunk by the minute and I really enjoyed blogging that journey, unfortunately the blog site I used then went bust and lost my blog so I only have fond memories of doing it.

Anyway fast forward to 2010 and I love writing a weekly newsletter to people but a lot of the time I have something midweek to comment on or chat about and therefore I decided to start up blogging again.

I keep getting called by people 'the diet guy' when I meet them and I thought it was a nice persona to have as although I haven't actually dieted for years I do believe that I can help others help themselves get slim! and more importantly be slim forever as ultimately dieting is ok but it's much more fun to do something else !

Anyway hope this blog can help people and I always value other's input, feedback and of course humour ! You can post comments on any of my posts using your Facebook login or register on here and I look forward to creating a community of success and having some giggles along the way.

To our success !

Mike ;-)