For me, diets used to be about following and finding the perfect plan. No matter how many times I tried diets and failed, I would continue to believe that there was a perfect plan. I dieted for about 20 years starting in my teens. I never maintained the weight I lost. Eventually I gave up. That was a good thing.  If you’ve been on a plethora of diets and still are not what you would like to be years later, why not quit dieting?  This will be the first step in you finally getting thin and quitting the diet mindset.

People come to me after years of dieting who are not in shape and unhealthy and are still looking for the perfect plan/diet.  People who diet on and off over the years adapt a mindset, habits and eating plans that can become a set of complex eating “disorders” that may be part of the real reason a person can’t lose weight long term.

Even when people loose weight and are the weight they would like to be, they still talk and act like a dieter.  Many times diets don’t educate you in ways that will allow you to make your own choices.  You must rely on being on or off a diet.  This does not work long term. You need to be able to be at piece with your body and food.  If you are constantly keeping your weight at bay, counting calories, feeling frustrated and deprived, you will not succeed. Who could live with this pressure that weight loss typically represents? The odds are that the weight will eventually return because the main component of many diets is calorie restriction and deprivation.

If you took 10 people that don’t diet and are in shape and ten people that constantly diet and compare the mindsets regarding eating and dieting, you would consistently hear two totally different ways people think and behave as a group.   The goal is to uncover the mindset of healthy, moving, mindsets and adapt a new way of thinking and believing to drive your behaviors in not a controlled manner, but making enjoyable choices.

Here are my ten tips for your success plan

1-       Make exercise a habit not an option

2-       Take it one meal and one day at a time

3-      Get off the scale and use your clothes as a better measure for success

4-      Eliminate processed foods

5-      Build you support system for motivation

6-      Find a good mentor who does not diet to be healthy and hang out with them!

7-      Take a multi vitamin everyday to get boost your energy

8-      Dedicate time to goal set and review those goals from time to time

9-      Realize fitness is a choice and then act on that choice everyday

10-   Eliminate as much sugar from your diet as possible

By Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips has a 20 year history as a certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant, teaching lifestyle management, nutrition, weight training, cardiovascular, fitness testing, and behavior modification.  Carolyn is featured on WFSB Channel 3’s, Better CT and on radio 96.5 TIC FM with Damon Scott as the fitness expert every Wednesday.

Carolyn Phillips is founder and CEO of Fit Behavior (http://www.fitbehavior.com) and. Carolyn’s Menu of Life (http://www.Caroylnsmenuoflife.com) The facility has a 13 -year history and has been awarded winner of the best place to workout and best Pilate’s studio by the Hartford Magazine and voted best by The Hartford Advocate for its nutrition and cardio program. Carolyn won the prestigious 40 Under Forty award from the Hartford Business Journal for outstanding leadership in the greater Hartford area.

Carolyn has over 25 years of combined comprehensive sports and education experience.

• ·         2000-2010 ACE Certified Personal Trainer
• ·         2010 ACE Certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant
• ·         2007-2010 Featured on Better CT Channel 3 as a Fitness Expert
• ·         2009-2010 96.5 TIC FM's Damon Scott radio show as the weekly Fitness Expert
• ·         2007-2010 The Mary Jones Radio Show, WDRC-AM 1360 - guest Fitness Expert
• ·         2008-2010 West Hartford Community Television - Fitness Expert and Group Instructor on air
• ·         1990-2010 Guest Speaker on ESPN, WHCN, WCCC, WDRC
• ·         2002-2010  President - Board of Directors at Chrysalis Center Inc.
• ·         2009 BS in Organizational Leadership, Quinnipiac University
• ·         2007-2008 Published writer for Natural Nutmeg Magazine
• ·         2007-2008 Nutmeg Community Television - Fitness Expert and Group Instructor on air
• ·         2000 40 Under 40 Award from the Hartford Business Journal
• ·         2004 Licensed Professional Mountain Biker
• ·         1998-2004 CT State and Regional Mountain Bike Champion
• ·         1990-1997 CT State Bodybuilding Champion and National Competitor
• ·         1974-1980 VT State Gymnastic Champion and Junior Olympics Competitor
• ·         3 years coursework in Health Sciences

·         Currently studying for Master's Degree in Nutrition

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