It takes less than a minute - sometimes even seconds - to blow a diet. Here's how to keep it together, stay on your diet so you can get to your goal. It only takes a minute, but it's that "make-or-break" kind of minute.

You don't need to keep falling off your eating plan. This one minute act will give you the control you need to really stick to it.

It goes like this:

Slow down
Think
Open your mind
Pay attention

When you put together the first letters of each direction, it spells out S-T-O-P. This is how to STOP yourself from losing control:

Slow down
A common reason people get into diet trouble is that they act on impulse. After all, you have probably trained yourself well to reach for food instantly without thinking about it. It's pretty much an automatic response at this point. A response to what is an individual matter. It might be a reaction to something distasteful or painful or hard or even just annoying. For some people it's even the way they respond to feeling good, proud or relieved. What reaching for food so automatically does is render you helpless, simply a creature of habit. You can very successfully interfere with this mechanism by first slowing down. You don't need to beat yourself up or take a hot bath or go for a walk. Just slow down, take a moment. That's all.

About the Author:
Dr. Kenneth Schwarz, a psychologist and psychoanalyst practicing in Connecticut, and his wife Julie are the founders of www.mariaslastdiet.com, a website offering strategies and support for diet success. Dr. Schwarz provides tools to help women succeed regardless of which diet they choose. Sign up for their free newsletter and receive ongoing support for total diet success.

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