Last week, Bev wrote a really interesting post about willpower and fitness. In it, she referenced a NYT article that said that willpower was like money in the bank -- if you spend some of it on one task, you'll have less of it for another. In other words, willpower is finite.

But then, reader Aymon pointed out another NYT article that calls willpower -- at least when it comes to dieting -- a myth. Many dieters think they can rely on willpower alone. When they fail, they blame themselves.

But according to scientists, it's impossible to succeed on willpower alone. Hunger, appetite, emotional eating -- it's all tied up into brain chemicals, hormones, and lifelong habits. (You:On a Diet is an excellent resource to learn all about those chemical reactions). It's exactly why crash dieting doesn't work. Instead, most diet programs recommend behavior modification to help people lose weight. A good example of this is food journaling, where you write down everything you eat.

Source

Source

ow many Sunday nights have you sat -- full from a weekend of over-indulging -- saying, "That's it. Tomorrow I'm starting my diet."? It's easy to commit on a full stomach, but the truth is that lasting weight loss takes patience, hard work, planning, and a whole lot of commitment. So how do you know if you're ready to take the plunge? The Early Show recently talked with nutritionist Samantha Heller and asked her the hard questions about preparing for weight loss. Some of her tips include:

• Be realistic about how motivated you are. If you find your motivation flagging, examine the reasons why.
• Create a specific plan about how you're going to lose the weight.
• Set small, achievable goals for yourself and don't be afraid to reward yourself when you reach them.
• Journal everything you eat and don't skip meals to save calories.
• Be kind to yourself whether you had a good day, or a bad one.

What about you -- are you ready to take the weight off?

Source

You've started exercising. You've cut back on fat, salt, and sugar. You've added more fruits and vegetables to your diet, lean proteins, plenty of fiber. You're losing weight -- nothing can stop you now, right? Hopefully, that's true, but there are some diet blunders that can cause major roadblocks on your path to success. Knowing about them ahead of time may help you head them off, so that you can reach that goal weight and have that fit, healthy body you've been waiting for. So what are the five worst "dieting sins"? EDiets has them, and they include:

Source