No More Diets - Avoiding Weight Creep

22nd April 2006

Contents

Feature Article:

Avoiding Weight Creep

New on my Think Slim Blog this week:

Hoodia gordonii - Diet breakthrough or not?
The Duvet Diet
The Baby Food Diet
(see http://smallchange.typepad.com/thinkslim/ )

Recipe of the Week:

Pasta Pizzicato

Hi!

Spring has arrived in Edinburgh and all the weeds in the garden along with it. But never mind, all that planting, digging and grass cutting will be good exercise.

We have just laid a new lawn in the front garden (or at least a circle of grass - lawn is a bit of a grand term for it) so we are hoping that we get lots of soft Scottish rain overnight and beautiful sunny days. So far this week the weather has been very kind :)

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth
Personal Weight Loss coach

http://www.SimplySlimming.com

"The friendliest place to lose weight on the web"

P.S. If you've missed any issues of this ezine, you can find all 35 of them on the No More Diets back issues blog at http://nomoredietsezine.blogspot.com

Feature Article : Avoiding Weight Creep

For many of us being overweight is not the result of a bout of serious overeating over a short period (although that happens often enough too). It's the result of a couple of pounds here and couple of pounds there.

All those occasions when you have a little too much over the festive season or on a business trip or vacation soon add up if you never get around to losing the weight you gain.

Or it may be just the result of the pound or two that adults tend to put on every year over the age of 25 simply by eating a tiny little bit too much each day and moving just a tiny bit too little.

The problem with weight creep is that you often don't notice it until one day you catch a horrible sideways view of yourself in a shop window or you find that you suddenly have to buy a size larger in clothing.

So how to you avoid it?

1. Weigh yourself often

Make sure that you weigh yourself at least once a week so that you can see when the pounds start to creep on. I am actually a fan of daily weighing and use an average weight for the week as my measure (as there can easily be daily fluctuations of a pound or two due to the kind of food you ate the day before, fluid retention or hormonal changes).

2. Put on weight? Take it off again!

If you show a weight gain of over 2lbs over your normal weight, do something about it immediately! Start being more careful about what and how much you eat and step up your level of activity until you lose the weight you gained.

3. Make keeping slim a habit

Avoid those little weight gains in the first place by getting into sensible eating habits. Simple things like eating only when you need food and stopping when you're satisfied rather than when you ate so much you have to loosen your waistband go a long way towards avoiding weight creep. So does keeping your body moving throughout the day. Get a pedometer and clock up those steps!

4. Use your clothes

Have at least one all-seasons outfit which shows the bulges if your weight creeps up and try it on or wear it once a week. If it appears to have shrunk in the wash - it hasn't - you have grown. Time to do something about it!

With these strategies you can avoid getting slowly bigger over the years and put a halt to weight creep. After all it's only once you stop gaining weight that you can seriously think about losing it.

First learn to stabilise your weight. And once you are sure you're not gaining any more, you can more easily judge how to reduce your intake and increase your activity just a little bit to steadily lose more weight.

Has your weight crept up lately? Do something about it starting today!

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

Make being slim a habit!

If you want to lose weight for good, discover the 24 keys to permanently losing weight with the Diet Exit Plan. This is an online coaching program which helps you think and act like the slim person you are inside. You'll see how to take on those slim habits and slot them more easily into your life.

You get all the support and encouragement you need to succeed too. The Diet Exit Plan manual is accompanied by 8 weekly modules and help from our weight loss coach is always on hand.

Not only that, we've also included 3-months membership of the Simply Slimming online slimming club with DAILY motivational messages about building, automating and planning your success, plus articles, recipes and tools. All for a single payment of just £47 (about $87). See it all at http://www.SimplySlimming.com

Recipe of the week : Pasta Pizzicato

Easy, tasty and satisfying food. Serve with a green salad.

475 calories a serving.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 - 4 red chilli peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
110g (4oz) chorizo in one piece, diced
300g (11oz) dried pasta shapes

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the garlic, chill and celery for a few minutes. Add the chorizo, the tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced a little. Season to taste. Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet instructions then drain and mix with the spicy sauce. Serve immediately.

New on the members' site this week

In the Recipes section

• Pea and leek soup
  
• Oriental chicken salad
  
• Sweet Chilli Beef Stir Fry

In the Ask Simply Slimming section

• Solve night time overeating

On the forum (All about Attitude section)

• Tip Sheet : How to deal with a slip positively

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.

P.S. Know anyone else who would like a copy of this ezine? Please pass it on. If you received this from a friend you can get your own copy at http://www.SimplySlimming.com Look for the link to "Free report".

Legal and admin

Copyright 2006, J. Small All Rights Reserved.

This newsletter provides information for general purposes only and is not intended as a substitute foe medical or health advice from professionals. The accuracy, completeness and suitability of the material for your needs has not been assessed or verified and cannot be guaranteed. This disclaimer also applies to any recommendations or links within the newsletter. You bear responsibility for your own health research and decisions. Please consult with a professional health care advisor before embarking on a weight loss or exercise program or making any personal health decisions. No liability can be accepted for the use made of any information contained within the newsletter or obtained by following any links or recommendations within it. If you do not wish to accept the above conditions you may not use our materials.

No More Diets - Why You Should Eat Chocolate (and how)

15th April 2006

Contents

Feature Article:
* Why You Should Eat Chocolate (and how)

New on my Think Slim Blog this week:
* Dramatic Weight Loss with Yoga?
* Instantly Lose 10lbs
* Three steps to Weight Loss Success?
* TV leads to Junk Food Diet
* Drink Yourself Slim
(see http://smallchange.typepad.com/thinkslim/ )

Recipe of the Week:
* Warm bacon and mushroom salad


Hi!

I loved this notice spotted on a board at my local farm food shop in Edinburgh this week

"The 4 major food groups:-

* Milk Chocolate
* Dark Chocolate
* White Chocolate
* Chocolate Truffles"

With all the chocolate eggs around just now in the shops for Easter, there's an article about chocolate too for this week's ezine.

Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it and a happy weekend to those of you who don't.

Love

Janice Elizabeth
Personal Weight Loss coach

http://www.SimplySlimming.com

"The friendliest place to lose weight on the web"

P.S. If you've missed any issues of this ezine, you can find all 34 of them on the No More Diets back issues blog at http://nomoredietsezine.blogspot.com

Feature Article : Why You Should Eat Chocolate (and how)

Chocolate is the one food many of us crave yet it's full of the bad stuff - fat AND sugar in huge amounts. Now and again there'll be a study saying it's good for you (usually funded by a chocolate manufacturer, funnily enough) but, on balance, chocolate is not the best thing from a nutritional point of view.

So why am I saying you should eat it?

I always say you should eat food you love whether you're trying to lose weight or not and that you should not deprive yourself of anything you truly like. If it's something you pine for, banning chocolate completely simply gives it the power of the forbidden and increases your craving for it.

On the other hand if you stuff down chocolate bars like they are going out of fashion, you're not going to lose weight.

The important thing is to take a long hard look at your habits. If you eat an occasional square of chocolate, then there's no reason to change that. But if you have a HABIT of eating chocolate with every cup of coffee or turning to the vending machine for a Mars Bar every time you feel a bit bored or fed up at work then it's a habit you need to change.

Work on changing your habits so that chocolate is an occasional pleasure not a routine calorie-loaded snack you don't even think about.

And make sure you break any links in your mind between your emotions and chocolate.

Did chocolate ever cheer you up longer than it was in your mouth? No!
Did chocolate ever love you back? No!
Did chocolate ever gave you a hug and wipe your tears away? No!
Did chocolate ever make you laugh? No!

So stop thinking it has the power to do anything at all to your mood! It doesn't - it's just a food choice like any other that you are free to select or reject among the many better and worse food choices available.

There's only one reason to eat chocolate.

You should eat chocolate if you truly like the taste. And you should enjoy it for the pure pleasure of it. Buy the very best chocolate you can afford in tiny quantities and save it for a time when you are ready to appreciate it and give it your full attention. Get every calorie's worth of pleasure out of it (because there are a lot of calories). Make the whole experience worth it.

One of these indulging in chocolate experiences is worth ten times the pleasure of guiltily eating the vending machine chocolate bar so fast it doesn't touch the sides.

Enjoy your chocolate as a occasional special treat, and take away the power you think it has over you.

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

Make being slim a habit!

If you want to lose weight for good, discover the 24 keys to permanently losing weight with the Diet Exit Plan. This is an online coaching program which helps you think and act like the slim person you are inside. You'll see how to take on those slim habits and slot them more easily into your life.

You get all the support and encouragement you need to succeed too. The Diet Exit Plan manual is accompanied by 8 weekly modules and help from our weight loss coach is always on hand. Not only that, we've also included 3-months membership of the Simply Slimming online slimming club with DAILY motivational messages about building, automating and planning your success, plus articles, recipes and tools. All for a single payment of just £47 (about $87). See it all at http://www.SimplySlimming.com

Recipe of the week : Warm Bacon and Mushroom Salad

Who knew salad could be so mouth-watering?

180 calories a serving.

Serves 6

2 pitta breads
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons walnut oil
half teaspoon Dijon (French) mustard
6 rashers lean bacon, trimmed and chopped
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
375g (12oz) mixed mushrooms, sliced
Mixed salad leaves

Mix the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, walnut oil and mustard to form a dressing. Dry fry the bacon until crisp and set aside. Add the sunflower oil to the pan and fry the mushrooms until tender. Meanwhile toast the pitta bread on both sides and cut into small pieces. Add the dressing to the mushrooms and heat through. Toss the bread, bacon and mushroom mixture with the salad leaves and serve immediately.

New on the members' site this week

In the Recipes section

* Chilli Bolognaise
* Pork Stroganoff
* Spinach and Chickpea pilaf

On the Forum (Anything else to share section)

* Take a break movie

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.

P.S. Know anyone else who would like a copy of this ezine? Please pass it on. If you received this from a friend you can get your own copy at http://www.SimplySlimming.com Look for the link to "Free report".

Legal and admin

Copyright 2006, J. Small All Rights Reserved.

This newsletter provides information for general purposes only and is not intended as a substitute foe medical or health advice from professionals. The accuracy, completeness and suitability of the material for your needs has not been assessed or verified and cannot be guaranteed. This disclaimer also applies to any recommendations or links within the newsletter. You bear responsibility for your own health research and decisions. Please consult with a professional health care advisor before embarking on a weight loss or exercise program or making any personal health decisions. No liability can be accepted for the use made of any information contained within the newsletter or obtained by following any links or recommendations within it. If you do not wish to accept the above conditions you may not use our materials.

No More Diets - Inspired to Burn Calories

8th April 2006

Contents

Feature Article:
Inspired to Burn Calories

Recipe of the Week:
Banana Muffins

Hi!

Although we had a fluttering of winter weather yesterday in Edinburgh, we don't get that much snow at all here. Children learn to ski on the local dry ski slope, and I've been taking my 8 year old son for his first ski lessons there this week.

He has come back from each lesson happy and glowing, having been out in the fresh air for over two hours (and it's pretty fresh on an Edinburgh hillside!) despite falling over a lot and struggling with getting up the hill on the tow contraption. He came back yesterday proudly clutching his level 3 certificate and can't wait to go again.

Anyway, he was my inspiration for this week's article "Inspired to Burn Calories" although burning calories was the last thing on his mind.

What would make you happy and glowing (apart from toasting yourself in front of a log fire)?

Have a great weekend

Love

Janice Elizabeth
Personal Weight Loss coach

http://www.SimplySlimming.com

"The friendliest place to lose weight on the web"

P.S. If you've missed any issues of this ezine, you can find all 33 of them on the No More Diets back issues blog at http://nomoredietsezine.blogspot.com

Feature Article : Inspired to Burn Calories

The very word exercise conjures up fear and dread in many of us. It's a word that we associate with hard work, huffing and puffing and being pretty uncomfortable.

But if you feel like that about exercise, it just means that you haven't found an activity which inspires you yet - an activity which you look forward to rather than dread.

How can you get that magic inspiration which will make you want to move your body?

1. Find the courage to try new activities

There are activities out there that you will love. You just have to find them. But you won't find them by sitting in your armchair, dismissing exercise as "not for you".

Research all the activities you can do in your local area and try them out one by one, starting with the ones which appeal to you the most and those you've never considered trying. Give each one your best shot, get over the initial learning hump and see if it works for you.

Many people whose only exercise was running a mile when they hear the word "gym" have learned to love moving their bodies with fencing, ice-skating, ballroom dancing or horse riding.

2. Find an outcome to be proud of

Sometimes it's not so much the activity which inspires you but the results. You will be more motivated to exercise if you set yourself a target and move towards it bit by bit each week.

Log your activities and progress so that you can see the new you in the making as you get fitter and stronger. Just think how proud you would be if you went from getting out of breath walking for 5 minutes to jogging for 20 or managing a 5 mile hike.

3. Find a cause to believe in

Many charity events have inspired people to physical achievements they would not have thought possible. The charity relying on you and the visibility of your success or failure among your sponsors will help drive you on to succeed. How many walkers or runners would have given up their training if it were not for helping a chosen charity?

Look out for local and national events and get into training to help a good cause, while doing yourself some good too.

4. Find a truly challenging goal

There a some expeditions throughout the world to places you can only dream of which require you to get into good physical shape. Do you think you could be inspired into action, if your end goal was a mountain-climbing holiday in Peru, Sea-Kayaking in the Galapagos or Tracking the Snow Leopard in the Himalayas? These are just some of the thousands of expeditions available out there. What kind of expedition would inspire you? You may just dream of lounging on a beach on a paradise island, and that's fine too. Make it a goal to be in fantastic shape on that beach and get inspired!

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

Make being slim a habit!

If you want to lose weight for good, discover the 24 keys to permanently losing weight with the Diet Exit Plan. This is an online coaching program which helps you think and act like the slim person you are inside. You'll see how to take on those slim habits and slot them more easily into your life.

You get all the support and encouragement you need to succeed too. The Diet Exit Plan manual is accompanied by 8 weekly modules and help from our weight loss coach is always on hand. Not only that, we've also included 3-months membership of the Simply Slimming online slimming club with DAILY motivational messages about building, automating and planning your success, plus articles, recipes and tools. All for a single payment of just £47 (about $87). See it all at http://www.SimplySlimming.com

Recipe of the week : Banana Muffins

Healthier than a slice of chocolate cake when you need a treat at just 155 calories a muffin.

Makes 12

2 large ripe bananas
75g (3oz) soft brown sugar
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 egg
125 ml (1/4 pint) milk
200g (7oz) self-raising flour

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade (375F/Gas Mark 5). Mash the banana together with the sugar and oil. Beat the milk with the egg and stir into the banana mixture. Fold in the flour. Spoon into 12 muffin cases or non-stick muffin tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and well-risen.

New on the members' site this week

In the Recipes section

• Sweet Pepper Stew
  
• Balsamic Steak
  
• Thai Chicken burgers

On the Forum (Anything else to share section)

A new weight loss technique? (with free e-book)

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.
P.S. Know anyone else who would like a copy of this ezine? Please pass it on. If you received this from a friend you can get your own copy at http://www.SimplySlimming.com Look for the link to "Free report".

Legal and admin

Copyright 2006, J. Small All Rights Reserved.

This newsletter provides information for general purposes only and is not intended as a substitute foe medical or health advice from professionals. The accuracy, completeness and suitability of the material for your needs has not been assessed or verified and cannot be guaranteed. This disclaimer also applies to any recommendations or links within the newsletter. You bear responsibility for your own health research and decisions. Please consult with a professional health care advisor before embarking on a weight loss or exercise program or making any personal health decisions. No liability can be accepted for the use made of any information contained within the newsletter or obtained by following any links or recommendations within it. If you do not wish to accept the above conditions you may not use our materials.

No More Diets - To Count or Not to Count (calories)

1st April 2006

Contents

Feature Article:
To Count or Not to Count (calories)

Recipe of the Week:
Chicken Cacciatore

Hi!

I had a request this week to add calorie counts to recipes and as I have been thinking about this for a while I decided that I'd get my trusty calculator out and start giving the calorie counts for everything.

It's not that I advise my clients to count calories - I think it's a bad idea (and you'll see why in this week's article) but sometimes it's quite nice to know that you're not eating too many in one go.

Have a great weekend

Love

Janice Elizabeth
Personal Weight Loss coach

http://www.SimplySlimming.com

"The friendliest place to lose weight on the web"

P.S. If you've missed any issues of this ezine, you can find all 32 of them on the No More Diets back issues blog at http://nomoredietsezine.blogspot.com

Feature Article : To Count or Not to Count (calories)

You'll find lots of advice around about counting calories to lose weight. And in fact it does seem simple enough to work out how many calories your body needs in a day and then to just eat less than that. You don't even need to change what you eat as long as you keep within your calorie limits.

But if you have ever tried to lose weight in this way, you'll know that it's not as straightforward as all that.

1. All calories are not created equal

A calorie is simply a unit of energy in scientific terms but when you eat, the calories in different food groups (fat, protein and carbohydrate) are processed in different ways by your body with some foods being more likely to be converted to body fat than others.

So if you eat all your calories as fat they are more likely to become actual body fat than those you eat as protein. Now how do you account for that in your calorie counting?

2. Metabolism

Some people use up calories more slowly than others due to a slower metabolism. Generally the differences are so small as to be insignificant with one notable exception.

If you have been through a period of eating too little, your body switches into starvation mode and starts conserving calories and storing as many as it can as fat.

So a person with an average calorie intake can eat more calories than the strict dieter!

This makes it difficult to work out how many calories you need and in fact if you have been eating too little you might do better to start eating a little more and get your metabolism back to normal before trying to lose weight - it will be faster in the end!

3. Not everything comes with a label

It's reasonably straightforward to work out calories if you eat nothing but pre-packaged food or cook with standard ingredients but you will tear your hair out with frustration if you eat out a lot or buy ready prepared foods in delicatessens or bakeries.

4. You will underestimate

Hands up everyone who has ever said that the bit of cake you had on your friend's birthday "must have been about 300 calories" - mmmh - 700 to 800 more like! And that blob of mayonnaise? How big was that blob? Just a teaspoon? I don't think so! If you underestimate calories you can easily overeat and put on weight while thinking you are only eating your calorie quota for the day.

5. Counting is tedious

Despite all the programs around that are supposed to help you calculate the calories in your food, you have to be really dedicated to record everything in the programs and let's face it, life is really too short for that amount of tedious calculation and fretting about exactly how many calories there are in the food you eat.

So should you forget about calories?

Unfortunately if you don't care about calories at all, you do yourself a disservice too. It helps to have a rough idea of the relative calorific values in food so that you can make an informed choice. If you know about calories you can plump for the lower calorie food where it's as easy to make that choice as a higher calorie one.

Knowing about calories also helps you to remember not to pile on the salad dressing and spoil an otherwise low calorie lunch and to think before grabbing a handful of salted peanuts at 6 calories a nut.

So keep a balanced view about calories and don't ignore them altogether.

The best way to lose weight without counting every calorie is to choose food you know to be healthy and realtively low in calories (low in fat, sugar and salt and high in fibre, vitamins and minerals) and to eat just enough of it to satisfy your appetite, eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full.

Those who are naturally slim don't count calories all day long. They simply respond to their body's needs. So if you want to be slim your whole life long you need to get into the habit of eating in the same way.

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

Make being slim a habit!

If you want to lose weight for good, discover the 24 keys to permanently losing weight with the Diet Exit Plan. This is an online coaching program which helps you think and act like the slim person you are inside. You'll see how to take on those slim habits and slot them more easily into your life.

You get all the support and encouragement you need to succeed too. The Diet Exit Plan manual is accompanied by 8 weekly modules and help from our weight loss coach is always on hand. Not only that, we've also included 3-months membership of the Simply Slimming online slimming club with DAILY motivational messages about building, automating and planning your success, plus articles, recipes and tools. All for a single payment of just £47 (about $87). See it all at http://www.SimplySlimming.com

Recipe of the week : Chicken Cacciatore

Serve with brown rice and green vegetables

Serves 4

250 calories per serving

2 tablespoons olive oil
450 g (1lb) chicken breast, chopped, without skin
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
150ml (1/4 pint) white wine
400g (14oz) can chopped tomatoes
12 black olives (without stones)
12 capers

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and brown the chicken over a high heat. Lower the heat and add the garlic and herbs and cook for a minute or two, then add the wine. After a minute or so add the tomatoes and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until the chicken has cooked through and the sauce has reduced. Add the olives and capers, heat through for 2 - 3 minutes and serve immediately.

New on the members' site this week

In the Recipes section

• Roast cod with herb crust
  
• Camembert stuffed mushrooms
  
• Frozen yogurt pots

On the Forum (Anything else to share section)

• How can affirmations help?

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.

P.S. Know anyone else who would like a copy of this ezine? Please pass it on. If you received this from a friend you can get your own copy at http://www.SimplySlimming.com Look for the link to "Free report".

Legal and admin

Copyright 2006, J. Small All Rights Reserved.

This newsletter provides information for general purposes only and is not intended as a substitute foe medical or health advice from professionals. The accuracy, completeness and suitability of the material for your needs has not been assessed or verified and cannot be guaranteed. This disclaimer also applies to any recommendations or links within the newsletter. You bear responsibility for your own health research and decisions. Please consult with a professional health care advisor before embarking on a weight loss or exercise program or making any personal health decisions. No liability can be accepted for the use made of any information contained within the newsletter or obtained by following any links or recommendations within it. If you do not wish to accept the above conditions you may not use our materials.

No More Diets - Expecting Weight Loss Miracles?

25th March 2006

Contents

Feature Article:
Expecting Weight Loss Miracles?

Recipe of the Week:
Pork and Saffron pasta

Hi!

I've been having fun and games with technology this week while Simply Slimming was being moved onto a new server. The site is up and running OK but there are a few last minute bits and pieces I'm hoping to iron out over the weekend - we'll see!

When thing go wrong, what do you reach for? With me, it's chocolate.

As a weight loss coach people sometimes think I am immune to overeating and junk food but I can overeat quite as much as anyone - so I understand the attraction - I just don't get into the habit of it.

Eating chocolate at a particularly low point really doesn't matter except when you start describing every day as crisis or disaster so that you can eat more of it!

Have a calm and happy weekend

Love

Janice Elizabeth
Personal Weight Loss coach

http://www.SimplySlimming.com

"The friendliest place to lose weight on the web"

P.S. If you've missed any issues of this ezine, you can find all 31 of them on the No More Diets back issues blog at http://nomoredietsezine.blogspot.com

Feature Article : Expecting Weight Loss Miracles?

When you decide to lose weight do you always expect yourself to perform miracles with a complete change in diet and level of activity overnight (and then get sorely disappointed when you don't make it)?

It's almost impossible for normal human beings to undergo a complete change of lifestyle overnight. It's just not sustainable for most of us.

On the other hand losing weight just doesn't happen at the drop of a hat. It takes some input from you. If you think you can lose weight by

• starving one day and making up for it the next (in triplicate)
  
• continuing to eat fried, fatty foods every day
  
• guzzling milk shakes, sugary soda, beer or wine
  
• sitting about all day and driving everywhere in your car
  
• changing very little in your eating habits

then you are bound to be disappointed. There are no easy short-cuts despite the glut of messages from the marketing world pushing the latest diet product or best-seller. If you think any pill, patch or potion you buy from the latest miracle ad pushed through your letter box is going to make a difference without changing your habits then you are wasting your money on empty dreams.

It's not easy to change, certainly not as easy as believing the shiny ad on the latest miracle that comes with the post, designed to make you think you can lose 4lbs a day without trying and all "scientifically proven" and "guaranteed". But it's something you have to do for the sake of your shape and health. Your habits are what got you where you are today so losing weight means changing them!

So how do you go about losing weight?

It's a question of balance between doing too much and doing too little. It means consistently moving towards healthier habits step by step. Don't try to change everything at once and set yourself up for failure but DO make some changes and get used to them and then move on to make more.

And even if you don't quite want to give up pursuing those miracle products or the latest diets, then do yourself a big favour and make some healthy changes anyway even if you just take one small step in the right direction at a time. At least you'll be making some progress!

Copyright 2006, Janice Elizabeth Small

Make being slim a habit!

If you want to lose weight for good, discover the 24 keys to permanently losing weight with the Diet Exit Plan. This is an online coaching program which helps you think and act like the slim person you are inside. You'll see how to take on those slim habits and slot them more easily into your life.

You get all the support and encouragement you need to succeed too. The Diet Exit Plan manual is accompanied by 8 weekly modules and help from our weight loss coach is always on hand. Not only that, we've also included 3-months membership of the Simply Slimming online slimming club with DAILY motivational messages about building, automating and planning your success, plus articles, recipes and tools. All for a single payment of just £47 (about $87). See it all at http://www.SimplySlimming.com

Recipe of the week : Pork and Saffron Pasta

An unusual pasta sauce which is easy to make after work

Serves 4

350g (12oz) dried pasta
6 strands saffron
300ml (half pint) chicken stock (broth)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped
225g (8oz) minced (ground) pork
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile mix the chicken stock with the saffron. Heat the oil in a pan and gently cook the onion, garlic and herbs until the onion is softened. Add the pork and chilli and stir until the pork is browned then stir in the stock, tomato paste and soy sauce and cook for a few minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve with the pasta.

New on the members' site this week

In the Recipes section

• Quick egg and bacon supper
  
• Sweet and sour chicken
  
• Cheese and sweetcorn chowder

On the Forum (Anything else to share section)

• One minute guide to achieving anything

Have a great week

Love

Janice Elizabeth

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this newsletter. If you have any comments or suggestions for future issues, please let me know.

P.S. Know anyone else who would like a copy of this ezine? Please pass it on. If you received this from a friend you can get your own copy at http://www.SimplySlimming.com Look for the link to "Free report".

Legal and admin

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